Method · 07
Qualitative synthesis that resists survey theater
potsim treats synthesis as craft: clustering meaning, naming mechanisms, and preparing claims — never pretending eight interviews equal a national sample about QuickBooks buyers.
Affinity with accountability
Print debriefs from interview methods. Cut quotes. Cluster until each pile answers “what mechanism is this?” Rename piles until a new teammate understands them without a briefing. That renaming moment is synthesis quality control.
Cross-check clusters against market observation. If interviews complain about migration dread but public partner content never mentions it, you found either a silent friction or a sampling bias. Either finding matters. Document the uncertainty instead of smoothing it into a confident slide.
From clusters to actionable artifacts
Produce three artifacts only: pattern cards for friction work, role notes for decision-maker research, and draft claims for positioning synthesis. Anything else is theater. Keep a living link to touchpoint maps so each pattern knows where it appears in the journey.
When QuickBooks appears as a comparison landmark across transcripts, synthesize the role it plays — default, foil, migration destination, or advisor mandate — rather than forcing a single narrative. Category landmarks are multi-valent; your synthesis should say so.
“Synthesis is finished when the argument can survive a skeptical champion, not when the sticky notes look tidy.”
potsim field principle