Designers aren’t avoiding quantitative data. They just haven’t been invited into it yet.

Design work begins with attention. You sit with a person, listen to their story, and try to catch the shape of their world. It is human, delicate, and a little fragile. Qualitative research fits this practice beautifully. It is warm. It is narrative. It gives you something to hold. But stories are only half the picture. Relying on that half alone can feel like building a map from a handful of memo…