In order to ensure your interview sessions go as smoothly as possible, here are some best practices that you should follow before, during, and after:
Before an interview session
Deciding on scheduling
Setting up an interview study is quick and easy, but there are a few things you need to consider:
Most of the time, it will save you time to set up your schedule by building and assigning availability time slots before launch. This allows your participants to sign up for any available session time slots you’ve created.
You can always edit your availability schedule later by returning to the Schedule tab after launch:
- When using the bulk generator on the Schedule tab in Setup, the daily start and end times can be changed after study launch to generate new time slots as needed. You can also bulk assign time slots to yourself and/or another moderator by choosing moderator(s) from the filter schedule view.
- The end date can be extended, or you can individually move an unscheduled time slot. Unscheduled time slots can be deleted or moved as needed.
- When running collaborative research, you can assign time slots to up to two moderators using the filter schedule view, or when editing a specific time slot.
- After launch, you can publish your updated schedule availability once you’re ready to share it with participants.
- We recommend offering enough time slots per participant being invited to your study.
If you have a smaller sample size or would like additional flexibility for timing, manual scheduling might be a good option for your interview session. With this option, you can manually schedule your participants after they have accepted your invite and completed the hardware check (desktop studies only).
- Once your participants pass the hardware check (linked in their study invite), they will appear in the Manage Calendar sidebar in the “Unscheduled” section.
- You can message the participant to confirm their availability and then click “Schedule Now” on either the Manage Calendar or Manage participant Table.
Writing instructions for participants
Regardless of which scheduling option you choose, it is important that participants receive our system set-up information. The default Invite message to participants includes the following to-do list and troubleshooting steps, but you can always personalize the message:
“Here are a couple of things you must do to prepare before our session:
1. Below is a link to your To-Do List. Please complete your To-Do list before our session so you have time to reach out with any problems or questions.
- Your interview session to-do list [For desktop studies]
- Mobile interview session participation guidelines [For mobile studies]
2. And in case you're experiencing trouble connecting, please take a look at our troubleshooting guide for helpful tips:
Troubleshooting firewall issues
Thanks, and see you online!”
When participants are scheduled, they’ll receive a confirmation notification with details on the session — including date, time, and the name(s) of the moderators they’ll meet.
Onboarding participants and testing set-up
To prevent technical problems during your call, it is critical that both you, other moderators, and participants test your set-ups and ensure Chrome or Edge has permission to screen record. As soon as a session has been scheduled, send the participants a note that looks something like this:
"Thanks for agreeing to chat with us face-to-face in an interview session! We’re excited to connect with you soon. Before your scheduled interview, you MUST complete the To-Do List below. (Please do this RIGHT NOW so we know that we can count on you!):Your interview session to-do list
If you have trouble connecting to your session, this guide is your best bet for solving any issues: Troubleshooting firewall issues"
If any of the tests result in failure, or if participants have any questions or concerns, direct them to live@dscout.com for additional support.
The vast majority of technical problems with interview sessions are the result of a poor internet connection or firewall configurations. This is why testing your set-up ahead of time is important! If possible, plan to connect your computer to the internet via Ethernet during your call.
Be sure to bookmark this article on Troubleshooting Your Interview Session in case you run into any problems in-session. While your research advisor will do their best to respond promptly to any concerns, following that guide will be the best way to get your call back up and running quickly. This is particularly important if your call is taking place outside of Dscout's regular business hours (9:00am - 5:00pm Central Time).
Setting up stimuli
Dscout’s built-in Stimuli feature allows you to engage your participants and capture their responses to images, videos, and links. Once you have added stimuli, you and/or your co-moderator can easily bring up that media during the session.
Make sure that you give yourself time to set up your stimuli prior to your sessions.
During your session
Starting your session
It’s a good idea to join your session a few minutes early. This will give you and any collaborators time to make sure that your computer setup is working, and to get ready for your participant!
You should also send a message to the participant about 5 minutes before the session starts. Let them know that you are joining the session, and that they can message you in-app with any questions or problems that may arise.
Re-joining a dropped session
Most of the time, sessions run successfully without interruption. Most technical problems are related to a poor internet connection; you can keep tabs on your connection by looking at the bandwidth indicator next to your name.
If you do encounter a dropped call, don’t panic! Stay in the session – simply refresh the page, and the participant will be able to re-join.
If you exit out of the session when a call drops, you and the participant may be unable to re-join. In this case, you’ll need to add a new session. Go to the Manage page > scroll to the participant’s name > click on the dropdown arrow next to the scheduled time slot > click “Add Session.”
Making the most of your session
During your session, there are many tools that you can use to improve the experience.
Markers and notes can help you keep track of key moments and make analysis easier. Pressing the green “Mark time” button in the center of the screen, or simply hitting “ctrl + m,” will create a marker at the exact time you create it. Then you can give this marker a title to help stay organized. There are a couple of key use cases for markers. First, they are a great organizational tool - you can create a marker to indicate a change in conversation topic. Second, markers can make finding a quote much easier - just create a marker every time the participant says something quotable, give it a quick title, and you will be able to quickly locate the quote. In the Notes tab on the right-hand side of the screen, you can write time-stamped notes. You can also create markers and notes after the session is over.
If you would like to see participants interact with stimuli, such as media or prototypes, you can utilize participants’ ability to screen share during a session. Just ask your participant to press the screenshare icon at the bottom right of their screen.
After your session
Viewing Your Completed Session
If your session isn’t accessible to view right away, don’t panic! The system will need a few minutes to package everything up for you. Once they are ready, you’ll be able to view your completed sessions on the “Sessions” page.
Once your session has uploaded to the platform, you will be able to create clips (snippets from the full session) by either clicking “Create Clip” in the upper right of the video image, or by highlighting part of the transcript and clicking “Create Clip” there. Clips are easy to review, download, and share with others.
At any time after launch, you can filter your session data to focus on specific interviews you’ve moderated.
Take advantage of the session analysis tools that you have at your disposal, including transcripts, clips, notes, and the session timeline! For more information, see View interview session recordings.