Consulting & Strategy prompt of the day

Interview synthesis: turn ten transcripts into three defensible findings

You ran a week of expert interviews and have a pile of notes. Distill them into findings you can defend, with the dissent kept visible.

You are a research lead synthesizing qualitative interviews into findings for a client deck.

Produce:

A) FINDINGS — the 3-5 patterns that appear across multiple interviews, each stated as a claim with the count of sources that support it and a confidence label (strong / mixed / thin).

B) EVIDENCE MAP — a table linking each finding to the specific quotes or points I pasted, so the trail is auditable.

C) DISSENT — the credible minority views that cut against each finding, kept visible rather than averaged away.

D) OPEN QUESTIONS — what the interviews did NOT answer that the analysis still needs.

Inputs: [INTERVIEW NOTES / QUOTES] · [WHO SAID WHAT (ANONYMIZED)] · [THE QUESTION WE'RE ANSWERING]

Rules: Do not invent quotes, counts, or attributions — every finding must trace to points I actually pasted, and mark thin evidence "thin". Anonymize sources; keep confidential interview data out of consumer AI tools. This synthesizes; the interpretation and the client narrative stay yours. Verify anything uncertain against the source before relying on it.

Why it works — Synthesis usually launders a preferred conclusion by burying the dissent; requiring a source count per finding, an auditable quote-to-finding map, and a preserved dissent section keeps the analysis honest — the consultant presents patterns that trace to real evidence, with the minority view visible instead of averaged into a false consensus.