Methods
AI moderated
studies
Conduct voice-based sessions with your participants, asking questions, probing for detail, and surfacing insights in real time. All without scheduling a single call.
Quick answer:
What are
AI moderated studies?
AI moderated studies are voice-based interviews, run autonomously by AI.
You set the questions and objectives then AI Moderator runs the sessions for you. It follows your structure, probing deeper on participants' answers, and adapting in real time. Then after the sessions wrap, your data's already analyzed, organized, and ready to act on.
The method is an evolution of self-guided research, not a replacement for human-moderated interviews (1:1 interviews are still invaluable!)
What you get is the scale and speed you're used to, plus real interview depth.
How it works
Research that
runs itself
Build your study
Start in the Dscout builder to set your research objectives and questions. From there, decide how deep the follow-up questions should go (no scripting required!).
Enable AI Moderation
Participants join whenever it works for them. AI Moderator asks your questions in order, listens closely, and follows up when there's more worth uncovering.
Analyze what you heard
Review recordings, read transcripts, and let AI-powered themes surface the patterns across responses. Spend less time digging through data and more time deciding what's next.
Control built into
every conversation
Structured questions, smarter follow-ups
Choose from Talk Out Loud, scale, and multiple-choice questions, then decide how deep AI should probe and which topics it covers—no need to be in the room.
Turn-based and natural conversation modes
Switch between turn-based sessions, where participants click Continue for longer, thoughtful answers, and natural conversation, for faster back-and-forth exchanges.
Tasks with screen recording
Add task-based questions to observe real behavior. Participants complete a task on a website or Figma prototype, confirm completion, and the AI follows up (with everything recorded automatically).
Show what you’re testing
Attach up to five images per question to gather reactions to concepts or designs. Teams can use this across Talk Out Loud, scale, and multiple-choice questions.
Speak their language
Participants get to use whichever language they're most comfortable with. AI Moderator supports 26 languages today, with more coming on request.
Analysis that keeps up
Emerging Themes groups response patterns into playlists so you can see what matters at a glance. Quant reporting on Talk Out Loud and closed-ended questions fills in the numbers behind every theme.
Why
Dscout?
It’s all in one place
Panel, recruiting, incentives, study builder, and analysis are all within the same platform, so AI Moderator fits right into your existing Dscout workflow. So there's no stitching tools together and no context switching.
Built on a decade of research expertise
AI Moderator doesn't just ask questions—it runs on the research rigor Dscout is known for, applying best practices for follow-up depth, participant experience, and data quality to every session.
Per-participant depth, at any scale
Get individual session recordings, transcripts, and summaries for every participant, not just an aggregate of results. You can easily exactly what each person said and the context.
Research-grade rigor, built in
Camera and screen recording stay on throughout the entire session for data quality and participant accountability. Dscout's RA team also reviews every study, so you're not launching without a second set of eyes.
When to use an
AI Moderator?
Quick-turnaround usability tests
AI Moderator probes for clarity and additional detail in real time, so you never end up with a half-answer. Teams can build, launch, and get results fast.
Multi-language research
Run the same study across 26 languages with consistent follow-up quality. Participants respond in the language they're most comfortable with, and AI Moderator adapts its probing to match.
High-volume concept testing
Get real-time reactions from every participant, at scale. AI Moderator probes each response on the spot, so you're not just collecting feedback,you're getting the "why" behind it.
Initial screening before in-depth interviews
Use AI Moderator to identify your most compelling participants, then bring them in for a 1:1 session for a deeper conversation.