Product Corner: Data Cleaning Gets an Upgrade
Product Corner | September 3, 2025
In OpinionRoute’s 12 years of building a better way to work for MRAs, our key to success is attention to the details that demand effort and energy for our clients. We focus on the way things get done in the small parts. We call these things microprocesses.
These microprocesses are essential to project success, but often are under-invested in from a tech standpoint. We spotlight the problems, root causes, and costs of inefficiencies, and then we go have fun building fixes.
In this new feature, we’ll be spotlighting common issues within MR Operations and how we invested in fixes for clients just like you.
Problem: Data Cleaning is a Time Suck
Data cleaning is a vital, but time-consuming, highly manual process. This essential microprocess requires retrieving data from survey tools, reformatting, working in the file, reformatting again, and then finally re-uploading QC IDs into a survey tool.
While essential, data cleaning is a profit-killer due to escalating labor costs. Even the simple act of downloading and uploading the data is painful for researchers in every company. That pain leads to avoidance and procrastination, which inevitably causes project delays.
OR Solution
Survey API > Navigator QC Flow
In this essential microprocess, we saw two areas we could improve.
First, the process of cleaning data could and should be consistent and more efficient. For that, we launched QC Flow with AI Copilot last year. With QC Flow, data cleaning becomes more objective, consistent across colleagues, and way faster thanks to an AI copilot and smart utilities for decision making.
Second, we wanted to address what one client rightly called “Download Upload Hell”. To streamline things, we built an API between Forsta’s Decipher platform and our Navigator Platform. Here’s how it works:
- The API Imports the data into QC Flow at the researcher’s leisure through a click of a button.
- The AI copilot and smart tools give Researchers a faster, but consistent way of cleaning data based on their own expertise.
- The API then reconciles QC removal statuses in the Navigator and back into Decipher after cleaning is finalized.
Outcomes:
Hours of aggregated work are eliminated through this Navigator API. Teams move ~80% faster and project schedules stay on track.
If your team is bogged down by inefficient microprocesses like data cleaning, it’s time to take a smarter approach. Let’s talk about how our tools — like QC Flow and the Navigator API — can help you reclaim time, reduce labor costs, and keep your projects moving. Contact us here.