Setting up an Express mission
Through Express, you can run a Media Survey or a Usability Test. Not sure which type of activity to run? Check out this guide.
- Creating an Express mission
- Setting up a Media Survey
- Setting up a Usability Test
- Recruit Tab
- Create Tab
- Submitting for Review
- Launching your Mission
- Scoring
Creating an Express Mission
Creating your Express mission is simple: From your project home page, tap "Create Express Mission" on the left-hand side of the screen and choose your activity, either a Media Survey or Usability Test.
Now that you’ve chosen your activity, head to the correct setup walkthrough:
Setting up a Media Survey
First, you will choose your recruitment method (this can be changed later if needed). You can use an automatic or manual recruit through the dscout panel or invite your own participants with a share link. To learn more about your recruitment options with Express, read this guide.
You will then select the device you want your participants to use to complete this mission. Express media survey missions can be set to either mobile or desktop when recruiting through the dscout panel. If recruiting via a shared link, only desktop missions are currently available.
Lastly, you will include a title for your mission. Note that your mission title is participant-facing (don’t worry, you can edit this later if needed before you launch your mission).
Now you are ready to move on to the Recruit tab.
Setting up a Usability Test
First, you will choose your recruitment method (you can change your recruitment method as needed before launching your mission). You can use an automatic or manual recruit through the dscout panel or invite your own participants with a share link. To learn more about your recruitment options with Express, read this guide.
Usability tests are continuously recorded, meaning the entire session is recorded from beginning to end. Choose your recording option. Screen and Camera will record your participant and their screen throughout the duration of the mission. Screen only captures the screen and audio, but not the participant’s video camera.
*Please note that Usability Tests can currently only be conducted on desktop / laptop computers.
Lastly, you will include a title for your mission. Note that your mission title is participant-facing (don’t worry, you can edit this later if needed before you launch your mission).
Now you are ready to move on to the Recruit tab.
Recruit tab
Now that your Express mission has been created, you will begin by filling out the Recruit tab. The Recruit tab is where you will target and screen your potential participants and set up the mission details.
Teaser & Incentives
Participant limit
- Set a limit to the number of paid entries you would like. Once the count of paid entries is reached, the dscout system will automatically close the mission. Note that you will only see these paid entries in the Analyze Tab.
- Media surveys can include up to 1000 participants
- Usability tests can include up to 100 participants
- Any Express mission that recruits with a shared link has no participant limit and will need to be closed manually once the desired number of submissions has been reached.
Incentive
- Media Surveys: Choose from a range of incentive amounts between $2 to $25. You can pay scouts $2 for a quick mission and up to $25 for longer missions that include photos & videos. Keep in mind, though: incentives should be determined by the types of questions and level of effort required to complete your Express mission.
- Usability test: Choose from a range of incentive amounts between $10 to $200. Incentives should be determined by the types of questions and level of effort required to complete your Usability Test. We recommend $20 for a 20-30-minute mission.
- If you have questions about determining incentive amounts, reach out to your point of contact on the Success team!
Teaser
- Describe the general objective of your Express mission and what the scout will have to complete in the mission. This would also be a good place to communicate if there’s a possibility of research beyond this Express mission. Pro tip: keep your teaser general and do your best to not reveal any of your knockout logic here to encourage unbiased and honest responses.
Targeting Attributes
Targeting attributes can be used to better target your scout audience; upon launch, the Express mission will only be seen by scouts who meet the criteria you've specified in your targeting attributes. If you don’t include targeting attributes, the mission will be available to all scouts to apply. Learn more about Targeting Attributes.
To include targeting attributes, select the Targeting Attributes menu item and select the desired attributes to target on from the Targeting Attributes menu on the right-hand side. Select the criteria you want to include in your mission. For example, this education attribute will only target people with the highest education level of some high school or high school graduate.
Screener Questions
If recruiting through the dscout panel, you will use the screening questions to determine participant eligibility. Screening questions are not available if you are using a share link to recruit your own participants. Read more about Bring Your Own Participants and your Express recruitment options.
Screen
- These questions are where you can narrow down the dscout scout pool to collect responses from the scouts with the experiences and attributes you need.
- You can include up to 5 single or multi-select termination questions (knockout or must-selects) at the beginning. All screening questions must include a knockout or must-select.
- Scouts will move directly into the mission after passing your knockout criteria, so it is important to include these questions to avoid low-quality data.
- After an entry is assessed for quality, the scout and their entry will be available in the Express mission viewer and put on a 7-day payment hold. During this time, you may review the entry to ensure the scout appropriately responded to all mission prompts. After 7 days, the payment will be automatically released to the scout unless it is flagged for low quality.
- You must include at least one screener question in the recruit portion of your Express mission.
- Single-select Screening questions can also include quotas.
Create tab
The Create Tab is where you will design your mission by providing mission instructions and adding questions.
Instructions
The "Instructions" section gives you a preview of what scouts will see after completing the Recruit portion of—and qualifying for—your Express Mission.
Tap "Settings" in the right side column while viewing the Instructions section to toggle on the option to write a custom message as well as additional documentation, which allows you to add a consent form to your mission. (Note: additional documentation is a limited feature dependent upon your account's subscription and configuration. Chat with your dscout Account Manager to learn more!)
Writing your question script
To begin adding questions to your mission, select the Add button and choose your question type. Media surveys and usability tests have many similar question types, but some questions are unique to the specific activity. Check out our Express Question types guide for a full breakdown of each question type, question description, and which activity it is available in.
- You can include an unlimited number of questions in an Express mission.
- Media Surveys can include an unlimited number of photo uploads and can include up to three video prompts.
- Usability Tests can include up to 10 task questions.
Thank You
Tap the "Thank You" section in the left-hand panel to view what scouts see when they complete your Express Mission. Similar to the "Instructions" section, you'll see a Settings menu in the right-hand panel where you'll have the ability to write a custom thank you message for scouts.
Once you have finished designing your mission, get ready to launch!
Submitting for review
If recruiting through the dscout panel, before launching your Express mission, you will have to Submit for Review to your Research Advisor. The RA will be reviewing your research design for question clarity, knockout and skip logic, and scoring issues. You will also need to verify that your form of payment is in the dscout system since payments are automated for Express missions after being placed on a 7-day hold (read more about Express mission payments here).
When you've finished drafting your Express mission, simply tap the "submit" button on the bottom right hand corner of the Setup page. Our team will be notified that you're ready for a review, and your point of contact on the Customer Experience & Research team will reach out to you within two business days with next steps! Once the mission has been approved for launch you can launch your mission.
Launching your Mission
Select the green launch button in the upper right-hand corner to launch your Express mission. Confirm your mission details on the launch review module. It is important to note that Express missions can not be edited once they are launched, so we recommend previewing the mission using the Preview mode to confirm everything is correct before you launch.
Scoring
dscout wants to help you collect meaningful and high-quality data.
In media surveys, dscout completes an automated quality assessment and scoring of every entry submitted to your Express mission. The results of a scout's quality will determine whether or not they get paid for completing the Express mission. Scoring includes the following:
- Assessing expressiveness (i.e.grammar and response length) of open-ended questions not assigned a 140 char limit as well as transcripts.
- Assessing length of video responses in addition to metrics like audibility, luminosity, shakiness, and more.
In usability tests, dscout will ensure that scouts’ media is successfully uploaded. If it doesn’t successfully upload, they will be removed as a participant and replaced with a new participant.
After an entry is assessed for quality, the scout and their entry will be available in the Express mission viewer and put on a 7-day payment hold. During this time, you may review the entry to ensure the scout appropriately responded to all mission prompts. After 7 days, the payment will be automatically released to the scout unless it is flagged by you or your team for low quality.
Note: only “approved” scouts can submit entries to your Express missions. These scouts have proved a minimum level of quality through their work on screeners or other missions.
Now that you have launched your mission, you are ready to dive into the data: