Snip, Snap, Insight!

The treasure hunt problem

Imagine a study where 300 people film themselves trying a new snack. One consumer leans in, sniffs the pack, wrinkles her nose, and says: “It smells stronger than I expected, but in a good way.” Another tilts his head and whispers: “Love how easy this is to open.”

Now multiply that by hundreds of videos. You know the gems are in there, but where? Traditionally, someone had to sitdown and scroll, tag, cut, repeat. It worked, but it was like panning for gold with a teaspoon. Necessary, yet painfully slow. And the risk? Missing that exact smile, that little hesitation, that moment that makes the insight click.

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Enter the Reel Editor

That’s why we built the Reel Editor.

Think of it as a highlight DJ, powered by AI. You set the theme, it spins the tracks. Ask it for “all the positive comments when people opened the packaging” and it serves up a reel in seconds. Want “everything consumers said about the odor of the product”? Done. Curious about “positive comments on texture”? No problem.

After the keywords, you will understand sentiment, context, and nuance. That woman who wrinkled her nose? She’ll be there. That man who loved the easy opening? He’ll show up too. The Reel Editor dives into the sea of footage and comes back with the pearls.

From hours to highlights

What used to take days of scrubbing through endless footage now takes minutes. Instead of a flood of raw video, you get sharp, meaningful reels that bring patterns to life. It’s like switching from flipping through dusty photo albums to scrolling a perfectly curated feed.

And here’s the best part: no voice gets lost. With AI scanning across the full dataset, every subtle reaction has the chance to be included. Every little “hmm”, every spontaneous “wow”, every eyebrow raise—it’s all in play. 

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Seeing insights, not just hearing them

The magic of video has always been in how it makes research more human. Numbers can tell you what, but video shows you why. Now, with the Reel Editor, that human layer doesn’t just stay buried in hours of footage—it shines through in curated reels that amplify insights.

So instead of reporting, “Consumers loved the pack opening”, you press play. A chorus of faces lights up. “That was easy!” one says. “So satisfying”, adds another. You don’t just hear it—you see it, you feel it. Suddenly, data isn’t abstract. It’s alive.

Snip, snap, insight!

At Haystack, we’ve always believed that good research is about connection. About bringing you closer to the people you’re designing for. Video does that better than anything else—and now, with the Reel Editor, we can do it at scale.

Turning hours of raw footage into moments that matter. Snip, snap, insight—it really is that simple.