Based in New York, Barbara Weisfeld takes up the role of vice-president and is responsible for overseeing, growing and developing the qualitative and UX team. She will also create methodologies for clients.

Weisfeld has previously worked with companies including Maru/Matchbox, WPP Added Value and JWT on a consultancy basis.

The company has also appointed Meaghan Willis as an associate director, based in the Toronto office, and research analyst Nicole Beremovica, in New York, to work with Weisfeld.

An additional support and operations team supports the division locally and globally.

The move follows Savanta’s acquisition of Paris-headquartered UX and qual specialist MindSpark Research in early 2022.

Nikki Lavoie, executive vice-president of global experience strategy at Savanta, said: “I am excited to roll out the qual and UX team to the rapidly growing Americas team at Savanta. The ability to conduct robust and creative qualitative explorations will support our existing broad range of quantitative products, as well as our product and tech-focused clients working in user experience.

“This new unit allows us to provide more holistic insight support to those seeking to deepen their knowledge of their users and customers, and we look forward to growing this team in the coming weeks and months.”