dscout now has built-in AI analysis features for both unmoderated (dscout Express and Diary) and moderated (dscout Live) research methods. This document will walk you through everything you need to know for using AI analysis features effectively, including:
- AI analysis for unmoderated research (dscout Express and Diary)
- AI analysis for moderated research (dscout Live)
- Give us feedback!
AI analysis for unmoderated research (dscout Express and Diary)
How to use AI analysis
Triggering analysis
Once you have AI analysis turned on for your account, you’ll see the AI settings button in the top right corner of dscout, right next to the “Account management” button (you have to be in the “Analyze” page in Express or one of the analysis tabs in Diary in order to see the button).
Click on the AI settings button in order to open up the modal and follow the instructions to trigger analysis.
In Express, you can trigger analysis once per mission; in Diary you can trigger analysis once per Activity. We recommend waiting until a mission or activity has at least 15 entries in order to get the best analysis results.
Interacting with analysis
Once you trigger analysis, you should see the AI analysis appear within a few minutes (though this can take up to several hours, depending on a number of factors). In Express, you’ll find AI analysis under each open ended, talk out loud (only available in Usability missions), screen recording or video question in the questions tab. In Diary, you’ll find AI analysis on the open-ended responses tab under each open ended, screen recording or video question. Task questions are not currently included in AI analysis.
In our unmoderated tools, AI analysis consists of an AI summary and AI themes. The summary is a static paragraph summary of responses to a given question. The AI themes are a list of 1-20 themes that summarize responses to a given question, which are then auto-tagged back to responses. You can click on themes to filter responses to just those that are tagged with that theme. Applying multiple theme filters will yield any responses that have one or more of those themes tagged to them. The AI theme bar chart will automatically update with any global mission-level filters that are applied.
For each question that’s analyzed, our AI reviews the question and determines a unique analysis approach, so you might see some differences between questions (i.e. some questions may receive no summary, no themes, or multiple theme lists).
You can return to the AI settings button at any time to temporarily toggle off the AI summary and/or themes. Toggling the AI analysis on/off does not re-trigger or alter the analysis in any way.
Tips for designing Express/Diary missions with AI analysis in mind
AI analysis works best on simple, straightforward questions. Consider splitting up double or triple barreled questions into their own prompts, and strategically using closed ends to optimize filtering capabilities with AI analysis.
For example, instead of this…
Which of these concepts is your favorite? Why is that concept your favorite? What would you change or improve about that concept?
Try this…
-
[single select] Which of these concepts is your favorite?
- Concept A
- Concept B
- Concept C
- [open end] Why is that concept your favorite?
- [open end] What, if anything, would you change or improve about that concept?
With this approach, you can use filters from question 1 to see how the AI themes differ by concept in questions 2 and 3.
AI analysis for moderated research (dscout Live)
How to use AI analysis
Triggering analysis
In dscout Live, you don’t have to do anything to trigger analysis! After each session you run, AI analysis will automatically start running if your account has the features enabled. Generating analysis should take a minute or two (though this can take up to several hours, depending on a number of factors).
Interacting with analysis
Once AI analysis is generated for a Live session, you can navigate to the sessions page and then click into an individual session in order to see the analysis. Within an individual session, you’ll see the AI analysis block above the session transcript.
In dscout Live, AI analysis consists of a handful of bullet points that summarize what happened in that session, in chronological order.
As with AI analysis in Express, you can open up the AI settings button at any time to temporarily toggle off the AI summary. Toggling the AI analysis on/off does not re-trigger or alter the analysis in any way. You can find the AI settings button in the top right corner just above the transcript.
Tips for designing Live missions with AI analysis in mind
AI analysis in Live works pretty similarly for a wide range of interviews, so there’s not much to keep in mind when planning your interviews. Given that the AI analysis is a general summary, it works best for more broad, informal or foundational studies. AI analysis will still generate for more structured interviews (such as usability or concept tests), but it might not be as useful, as it does not have the context of your given product/study.
Give us feedback!
These features are still new to all of us, and it’s important to us to continue to develop AI features that work with researchers. As you use these features, we’d love to hear what you think, whether you have positive or negative experiences. Across all tools (moderated and unmoderated), you’ll find a “Give us feedback” button in the AI settings pop-up. Navigate there to tell us what you think!