In this article
At a glance
When research is fast and frictionless, teams do more of it. And more research means more decisions shaped by real consumers.
If research is slow, it gets skipped
A small team. Multiple markets. Tools designed for someone else.
Matt Harris runs research and insights for Canva's EMEA team. His team is small. The markets they test in span multiple countries and languages. And before Conveo, the tools they relied on couldn't keep up.
Panel availability was a constant problem. When an idea needed testing fast, the platform they used simply didn't have the respondents. Projects stalled. Timelines stretched. And there was a second, quieter cost: the more a tool frustrates a team, the less they reach for it.
"The more you get those frustrations, the less likely you are to do that kind of thing again. So it just shrinks the amount of research you do, and shrinks the opportunities to actually bring the customer into those conversations with the stakeholders."
Matt Harris, Research & Insights Lead, Canva
When research tooling creates friction, teams adapt by doing less research. Fewer studies. Fewer consumer voices in the room. More decisions made on instinct. For a company whose product exists to serve creative professionals at scale, that gap was real. Matt even built his own theme-coding tool to fill it, a sign that the market wasn't giving researchers what they actually needed.
Research rigor won the RFP
Five platforms evaluated. One chosen because the team understood researchers.
Matt ran a formal RFP in late 2025. Five platforms evaluated. He went in with clear criteria: speed, stimulus randomization, theme coding, and a team that understood the work.
What made Conveo stand out was visible in the product itself.
"What stood out about Conveo was the expertise in research across the team, and just evident in the products as well. In some of the small decisions about how the products were developed, randomization of stimulus, coding of facial expressions to analyze emotion. The fact that they were thoughtfully implemented in the product so early gave me confidence that the team understood what I was looking for, understood my needs as a researcher."
Matt Harris
Conveo was built by people who are researchers. That showed in every feature, and it was what finally convinced Matt his team had found the right partner.
6 P.M. Study live. Results before breakfast.
The moment that reframed what research could be.
The clearest proof came early. Canva's team was in a meeting discussing creative directions for an upcoming brand campaign. The question: would the energy they were exploring resonate in the market? Normally, a study would have been scoped. A brief would have been written. And by the time the answer arrived, the decision was already made. More often, the research wouldn't have happened.
This time, Matt walked out of the meeting at 6 p.m. and launched a study in 15 minutes.
"I had a study live by 6:15 p.m., and I had results by first thing in the morning."
— Matt Harris
No agency. No lag. No waiting for panel slots to open. The question went in at 6:15. The answer came back overnight. A second study ran shortly after, and when the results landed, Matt sent them directly to stakeholders. No post-processing. No additional analysis. "The exec summary was perfect. That was kind of job done."
Research becomes a reflex
Twelve studies later, it's just how the team works.
The 6 p.m. moment changed something. Not just the workflow, but the idea of what research could be.
"I don't think it's the case anymore that doing research has to be this big investment in time and money — mainly time — this chore that slows everything down. I think it can be a resource that you can just, and should just, tap into constantly and frequently as you're making decisions."
Matt Harris
Researchers who build studies for a living have high standards. When the setup flow slowed them down, they said so and Conveo responded. A direct-build option now exists for anyone who wants to get straight to work.
Consumer insight spreads across the team
Multiple markets. Stakeholders building their own research.
The Germany brand marketing team now builds and runs its own studies. Matt gave them a login, walked them through the workflow, and stepped back. They've been running independently ever since.
"I've got no problem with stakeholders just spinning up a templatized Conveo study, getting results back and using it. I don't even have to be in the loop."
— Matt Harris
Germany works because there's someone on the ground. Most markets in a lean research team won't have that. Conveo handles the language, which means a study in any EMEA market doesn't require a researcher who speaks it.
A lean team can't be everywhere. With Conveo, they don't need to be.
Consumer understanding, available to everyone who needs it
From the research team's tool to the whole company's resource.
The vision for how Canva uses Conveo doesn't stop at faster studies. The next step is a direct integration between Conveo and Canva, where stakeholders can interact with research results themselves, pull themes, and build presentations, without needing a researcher to translate.
"I can say, 'we just ran a study in Conveo, can you go and analyze it and pull the top five themes with quotes into a Canva presentation?'"
— Matt Harris
A research function that puts the customer in more rooms, more often. Insights available to anyone in the business who needs them, at the moment they need them.
"The companies that win from here are the ones who have the greatest understanding of their consumers, and apply that understanding for the key decisions in the business."
Matt Harris
For Canva, winning means making sure every market, every campaign brief, every creative decision has a consumer voice in the room. Even at 6 p.m. on a Thursday.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to set up a study in Conveo?
Most studies can be built and launched in under 15 minutes. Matt Harris at Canva set up a study at 6:15pm during a working day and had results the following morning. The platform handles guide creation, respondent recruitment through panel partners, and automated analysis, so there is no agency briefing, no scheduling lag, and no manual synthesis required.
Can non-researchers run studies in Conveo without specialist support?
Yes. Canva's Germany brand marketing team runs their own studies independently, without looping in Matt's research team. Conveo's templatised study formats and guided setup flow are designed so that business stakeholders can get to results on their own, while researchers retain oversight and can step in for more complex projects.
Does Conveo support research across multiple languages and markets?
Yes. Conveo conducts interviews in multiple languages, which means EMEA or global teams can run studies across markets without needing a researcher fluent in each one. Canva used this to expand their research coverage across multiple EMEA markets within a single six-month period.
How does Conveo compare to traditional panel and agency research?
Traditional panel research requires agency briefings, respondent scheduling, and manual analysis, often stretching a project to several weeks. Conveo compresses that cycle significantly by combining AI-moderated interviews, integrated panel access through partners like Respondent.io and User Interviews, and automated thematic analysis. The result is research that can run overnight rather than over weeks, at a fraction of the agency cost.
What kind of research does Conveo work best for?
Conveo is built for qualitative research at scale: concept testing, creative direction, consumer behaviour, brand and messaging research, and in-context usage studies. It suits teams that need the depth of real consumer conversations but cannot afford the timelines of traditional qualitative methods. Canva's EMEA team used it across brand campaigns, creative direction decisions, and market-specific consumer understanding.
About the author
Rómulo Rejón
Head of Customer Marketing
Rómulo leads Customer Marketing at Conveo, turning the results customers achieve into things they can use: visibility inside their organization, recognition as innovators in their field, and a network of peers redefining how insights get done. Customer stories, references, advocacy programs, and executive communities all serve that goal.
More by Rómulo →Qualitative insights at the speed of your business.
Conveo runs AI-moderated video interviews and structures everything they say.
