Set up a screener
Screeners help you find the most qualified participants to take part in your research study. Whether you need participants for a Diary study or an interview, you’ll start by building a screener. Screeners combine targeting attributes and preliminary questions to determine a participant’s relevance to your research needs.
Note: If you’re building a usability test or media survey mission, the recruitment process is built in. You do not need to build a screener to fill these missions. However, you can add participants from a past screener to a new usability test or media survey. For more information, see Add participants from a screener to a usability test or Add participants from a screener to a media survey.
Screener types
When building a Dscout screener, you can choose one of the following recruitment methods:
Recruit from the Dscout Panel: Screen and recruit participants from Dscout's existing pool of over 100,000 Scouts. You'll be able to review applications and hand-pick who you want to invite to research studies.
Invite your own participants: Share a link with your own potential participants so you can screen them prior to inviting them to a research study. (These screeners are not available to members of our Dscout Panel or Partner Panels, nor will your participants be added to either panel.)
Recruit from Dscout's Partner Panels: Screen and recruit participants from Dscout's Partner Panels (like Respondent). You'll be able to review applications and hand-pick who you want to invite to research studies.
When selecting a screener type, think about whether you already have a group of people you want to participate in your research study. If you do, inviting your own participants might make the most sense. If you don’t, recruit from one of our available panels.
Create a new screener
When creating a screener, you’ll start by establishing the basic details like how long the screener will remain open, how many participant openings you have, and more. You’ll also give your screener a title and an image, which are great opportunities to make your screener fun and engaging.
Tip: Dscout AI can help you draft an entire screener, even if all you have are a few details about your target audience. Go from idea to insights—fast. For more information, see Draft a study with Dscout AI.
Navigate to the project where you want your screener to live.
Click the Screeners tab at the top of your project.
Click the Create screener button in the top-right corner of the page.
Select a recruiting approach, depending on who you want to participate. For more information, see Screener types.
Tip: If you have an existing screener you want to use as a starting point, click Duplicate an existing screener. You'll then have a copy of your previous screener you can modify to fit your current needs.
Click Continue.
Enter a screener title. This title will be visible to your participants. Or, click Skip for now.
(Optional) Click Add an internal screener name, then enter a name only visible to you and your collaborators.
Click Create screener.
Next, you’ll land on the Overview tab for your screener. Under Setup on this tab, you can customize your screener’s appearance, your screener’s details, and the details of the Diary or live interview mission they’re applying to participate in.
Appearance
Under Appearance, you have the chance to customize the look and feel of your screener. Here, you can configure the following settings:
Hero image
Upload an image to display on your screener webpage. You can choose an image provided by Unsplash or upload your own.
Company branding
Display or hide your company branding on your screener webpage. When toggled On, participants will see your company’s name and logo. When toggled Off, participants will not see your company’s name and logo. For more information, see Company branding.
Screener details
Under Screener details, you can customize the logistics of your screener. Here, you can configure the following settings:
Teaser description
A brief summary of your research to give participants an idea of what they can expect. Be as descriptive as you want, but don’t give too much away to avoid application bias.
Openings
The number of candidates you will invite to take part in your research mission.
Screener application limit
The total number of applicants allowed to complete your screener. By default, this is set to five times your selected openings.
Screener open for
The number of days your screener will remain open if your application limit is not met. If your application limit is met, your screener will automatically close regardless of this selection.
Mission details
Under Mission details, you can tell your research candidates a little more about the mission they’re applying to be a part of. Here, you can configure the following settings:
Start date
The date your research mission will begin.
Duration
The number of days your research mission will run. For interviews, we recommend using one day if you only plan to conduct one session per participant.
Incentive
How the candidates selected to participate in your mission will be compensated. You can select:
Monetary. (An additional field will appear for an amount.)
Non-monetary.
None.
Most Dscout projects pay between $20-$200, depending on how much time and effort is required, and how niche the recruit is.
Targeting attributes
Note: Targeting attributes are only available when recruiting from the Dscout Panel or Dscout's Partner Panels. If you’re inviting your own participants, it’s assumed that your participants already meet these requirements.
Once you’ve created your screener and configured the basic details, the next step is to define your target audience. You’ll do this using targeting attributes, which let you set identifying characteristics for your ideal participants. For example, you can set an age range your qualifying participants must fall into. Or, you could specify that qualifying participants must have access to a certain streaming account. You can mix and match these attributes however you see fit. Participants who do not meet your specified targeting attributes will be automatically disqualified and will not be able to participate in your mission.
On the Overview tab of your screener, click Targeting attributes in the left sidebar.
Select from the list of Categories.
Click an attribute to add it to your screener. The attribute and its associated options will be added to the center panel of the builder.
Select your desired value(s).
Click Done.
Once you’ve added attributes to your screener, Dscout displays the potential reach of your screener in the top-right corner. This gives you an indication of how much of our Scout pool meets your criteria. To further refine your study’s reach, you might also choose to exclude recent participants or balance the demographics of your participants. You can access these settings by clicking Settings in the Targeting attributes side panel:
For more information on balancing your participant demographics, see Participant balance.
Screener questions
When you’re ready to add questions to your screener, you’ll do so under the Screener tab. Screener questions fall into two categories:
Knockout questions: Questions with disqualifying logic. With knockout questions, you designate a correct answer. If a participant selects anything other than that answer, they do not proceed with your screener, nor are they invited to participate in your research mission. For more information, see Knockout questions.
Standard questions: Questions that neither disqualify nor qualify candidates for your mission.
To add questions to your screener, use the Add buttons in the left sidebar or the center of the builder:
You can combine knockout questions and standard questions, but we recommend you have at least one knockout question to help narrow down your candidates. In total, your screener can have 20 unique questions, including one photo and one video question. For a list of available question types, see Question types in screeners.
If you'd like to change the order of your questions, ensure you're not in editing mode for the question you'd like to move. Then drag and drop the question to your preferred position.
(Optional) Submit a screener for review
Once you have created your screener (and its associated Diary study or live interview mission), you can submit it for review by a Dscout Research Advisor. This helps ensure that your Scouts have the best experience and that you'll receive the most useful responses. For more information, see Optional pre-launch review for screeners and missions.