What's in your ideal qualitative analysis software?

We will soon start work on the next update for Quirkos. We have a number of features people have already requested which we plan to add to the next version, including file merge, memos, and a lot of small tweaks and changes to the interface to show more data and make some operations easier.

However, there is still time to let us know what you would like to see in future versions of Quirkos. How about Word import, where highlights can be turned into already coded data? Do you want to see wordclouds and keyword counting?

As for the memos: how would you like these to look? Do you just need memos for parts of text, or for each time you code something as well? How should these be displayed when working, and integrated with the reports? Are these best as a separate section, or integrated as side notes on the rest of the data? Should it be possible to code memos? What about the terminology we use - is it confusing?

As we grow, it's a challenge to think of all the different ways people want to use Quirkos, including people working on very long qualitative text sources, as well as small snippets from open-ended questions in surveys. We would love to hear your feedback, either by dropping us an email (info@quirkos.com) or by completing this short survey with some questions on what is and isn’t working well for you in Quirkos, and also what features are most important for you in the future.

We are also starting to assemble a team of intrepid beta testers, who have volunteered to try out early releases of Quirkos and test how they work. Since we support so many different platforms (and soon Android as well) it becomes very difficult for us to make sure Quirkos behaves properly on so many different operating systems and computers. So if you were interested in getting involved, again drop us an e-mail, and you’ll get a great chance to shape Quirkos and contribute to making it work just the way you want!

Finally, it’s worth reiterating that these comments really do make a direct difference on what we choose to do. We are a small company, with a smallish number of users at the moment so we can be very responsive. And most of the additions from previous updates were things requested by users. So come and join us, and let’s try and make Quirkos the dream qualitative software for everyone!