Card sorts and card scores
Participants sort or score cards as part of the conversation, so you get structured answers and they get a proper task, not a form. More on card sorts and card scores.
AI-moderated interviews by chat
AI-moderated interviews that make your data better
An AI-moderated interview is a study where an AI asks the follow-up questions. In Qualzy it runs as a chat across a full Qualzy Discussion, with the usual activities. You set what a good answer looks like for each question, the AI follows up while the participant is still there, and you can step in and moderate whenever you like.
What to call it
Many researchers would call this an AI-moderated interview
That’s fair. AI-moderated interviews come in different kinds, though, and most of them are a single conversation by voice or video, over in one sitting. Ours is a multi-day study run as a chat inside Qualzy Discussions, with real activities, photos and video, and a researcher who can step in at any point. We call it the AI-moderated chat.
A single AI-moderated conversation
One sitting, usually by voice or video. The AI asks a set of questions and follows up on the answers, and the interview ends when the conversation does.
The AI-moderated chat in Qualzy
A Qualzy Discussion that participants complete as a chat over several days. The AI moderator works to the goals you set for each question, through card sorts, pin tasks, diaries, photos and video, and you can moderate alongside it.
Why we built it
A whole qual study, run as a conversation
For over 15 years we’ve helped researchers run multi-day online discussions and diaries, so we know what it takes to get good data. When we set out to give participants an easier way to take part, through chat, we knew a standard chatbot wouldn’t do.
So the chat sits on top of the same qualitative platform. You build the project the way you always have, with its days, questions and activities, and only the way participants experience it changes. Participants get something they enjoy using, and the data you get back is as good as it’s always been, or better.
01
AI that improves the answers
Most AI in research is there to make things quicker and cheaper. We use it to make your data better.
The chat follows up when you’re not there, it works to the goals you set, and it runs inside a project you’ve built the way you always have.
02
The full qualitative experience
Multi-day qual discussions are about deep answers, with responses as text, images and video, plus activities like card sorts, pin tasks and diaries.
The chat runs every activity type except ideation and screen recording, and the AI moderator, working to your goals, takes the depth and clarity of each answer further.
03
The AI works for the researcher
The AI moderator works towards your goals, and you can still moderate yourself whenever you want to.
Anything you ask lands in the participant’s feed, so they can answer you and carry on with the chat.
Probing
Vague answers get immediate pushback
An AI moderator can react the moment a participant says or posts something in the chat.
Set a goal for a question and it can push back straight away on what the participant has said, so you get the depth of answer you need, rather than finding the gap a week later in a transcript.
- You set the goal and how hard to push for an answer
- The AI considers the context to spot an incomplete answer
Photos
Photos become part of the conversation
The AI moderator looks at each photo as it arrives.
It can check that a photo shows what you asked for, and if you want to know more about what’s in it, it can ask about that too.
- A photo that isn’t what you asked for is picked up straight away
- Collect one photo or several, as part of a natural conversation
Photos and video come in through the uploads activity.
Video
Collect video clips that tell a story
The AI moderator reads the full transcript of a video clip as soon as it’s uploaded.
Say exactly what the video needs to cover, and the moderator makes sure you get it. You end up with more video clips, of higher quality, to use in your analysis.
- Videos that veer off topic get pushed back on
- A video that gives half an answer gets a follow-up, and a second clip completes it
Every clip is transcribed and analysed like any other video in Qualzy.
Activities inside the chat
Proper qual tasks, without leaving the chat
A chat doesn’t mean your project has to make compromises. Every activity type except ideation and screen recording runs inside the chat: the task opens from the conversation, the AI moderator works to your goals within it, and the chat carries on when it’s done. Three of them in action:
Pin tasks with goals for each region
Draw regions over the parts of an advert, pack or page you care about and give each one a goal. When someone pins there, the moderator asks more. More on pin tasks.
Diaries alongside the chat
Each diary entry is its own short chat, with a choice of question types and the same AI moderation as the main chat. More on diaries.
The feed
You’re still the moderator
Some projects need more than the AI moderator can give. They need participants to talk to each other, and they need a human moderator to get involved.
That’s what the feed is for: a social-media-style home page for the project, where participants can start discussions with each other and your probes are put in front of them.
- Responses likely to start a conversation are picked out and shown to other participants
- Interesting findings from activities become moderator discussions for everyone to join
- Probes you ask as a moderator are put to the participant
The usual worries
Researchers have tried AI interviews. Many weren’t impressed.
Like many new technologies, conversational AI has brought a rush of new tools into research. The thing is, creating something that will converse with participants is easy. It’s much harder to build something that supports the rigour needed for high-quality research.
Weak probing
A superficial answer and it simply moves on
In the AI-moderated chat you set a goal for each question and how hard to push. When an answer falls short, the moderator follows up while the participant is still there.
The trade-off
A big saving isn’t worth a big drop in quality
The chat costs nothing extra on a Qualzy Discussion. Its job is to make each answer more complete, and you can read and moderate every response as you always have.
Who built it
It feels made by developers, not by researchers
The chat runs on a qualitative platform that researchers have used for over 15 years, with the days, activities and moderation tools their projects rely on.
Qualzy Discussions
Prefer a forum? It’s the same project
There are three ways for participants to complete a Qualzy Discussion: as a forum, the way Qualzy has always worked; as a chat; or as an AI-moderated chat. The chat follows the flow and structure of the project itself, so it works without the AI too. You build the project once, with the same activities, and choose how participants take part.
Whichever you choose, every response gets the same AI analysis: a summary and key points as each one arrives, Maizy Chat whenever you want to query the data, and themes once fieldwork closes.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is the AI-moderated chat an AI-moderated interview?
Many researchers would call it one, and that’s fair. Most AI-moderated interviews are a single voice or video conversation. The AI-moderated chat is a multi-day study run as a chat inside Qualzy Discussions, with activities, photos and video, and a researcher who can step in at any time.
How much extra does the AI-moderated chat cost?
Nothing extra. The AI-moderated chat is offered as an alternative to the standard, forum-style way for participants to complete a Qualzy Discussion. There’s no additional cost.
Can I run a chat without the AI?
Yes. The chat takes people step by step through the activities in your project, with or without AI moderation, so if you want the chat but not the AI, that’s entirely possible.
Can I still moderate a project that uses the chat?
Yes, in exactly the same way as any other project. Anything you ask a participant appears in their feed, so they can answer you easily before carrying on with the chat.
What decides when the AI follows up?
You do. For each question you say what a complete answer contains and how hard to push for it. The AI moderator follows up only towards that goal.
Which activities work in the chat?
All of them except ideation and screen recording. Open questions, photo and video uploads, card sorts, card scores, pin tasks, forms and diaries, personal canvases, social posts and journeys all run inside the chat. If your study needs an ideation or screen recording activity, run it as a forum.
How long does a chat study run?
As long as the Qualzy Discussion it belongs to. A quick discussion typically runs for three to five days.
Where does the AI run, and is participant data used to train it?
The AI can run in your project's home region. Run through Amazon Bedrock, whether your project is in Australia, Europe or the United States, the AI runs there too. Nothing participants say is used to train any AI model.
What do participants need to take part?
Just a web browser on any device, with nothing to install.
15-minute Discovery Call
Talk to us about running a study as a chat
Book a 15-minute call to talk through what you’re working on, and whether a study run as a chat is the right fit.