Conversation AI is a question type powered by Skipper, aytm's AI assistant, that engages respondents in dynamic conversations. Capable of extending a short 1:1 interview and asking follow-up questions, Conversation AI is fully integrated into the aytm platform, enhancing research efficiency by eliminating the need for separate qualitative study setup, analysis, and additional recruitment costs.

Want to learn more about Conversation AI? Enroll in Best Practices for Conversation AI in the Lighthouse Academy!

Building a Conversation Question

1. In the Survey Editor, click Add a question.
2. Select Conversation question and type or paste a topic or prompt into the question field.
3. Click the Talking Point text field and type or paste up to 15 talking points. These are the main topics you wish to discover during your research.

⚠️ Note: If the total N is larger than the n of conversation, the predicted LOI will be calculated proportionally. Keep in mind that while expanding the question with additional talking points can enhance the conversation, each additional talking point contributes to the LOI, which could lead to respondent fatigue.

Conversation Details

Beneath the Talking Points, use the Collection, Depth, Input, and Style settings to further enhance your question.

1. In the Collect up to field, type the number of responses you'd like to collect. The upper limit is less than or equal to your total sample size. To obtain comparable insights, we recommend collecting three times the number of classic 1:1 interviews. Explore other factors in our guide, Best Practices for Conversational AI.
2. Depth refers to the number of follow-up questions Skipper may ask per talking point. Click the Depth dropdown to select:
   • No follow-up questions — 0 follow-ups per talking point.
   • Get some clarifications — ~2 follow-ups per talking point.
   • Pursue more details — ~3 follow-ups per talking point.
   • Discuss each topic in depth — ~4 follow-ups per talking point.
3. Click the Input dropdown to choose how data will be collected: text only, text and audio, or audio only. Learn more about the respondent experience using audio here.
4. Click the Style dropdown to select how Skipper conducts the conversation:
   • Formal — a straightforward and conventional approach.
   • Engaging — uses emojis and slang in conversations.
   • Adaptive — Skipper adjusts to the respondent's tone.

⚠️ Note: Keep the LOI in mind. In practice, Skipper may decide to ask more or fewer follow-ups depending on the quality of the response given.

Conversation Quick Preview

It's always best to preview your entire survey before launching, and particularly important to preview more complex elements like Conversation AI. Previewing allows you to experience the survey firsthand, evaluate the flow, ensure all desired information is gathered, and determine the appropriate number of follow-up questions.

1. Click Preview above the question to see the Conversation AI in action.

⚠️ Note: Each preview and survey session is unique, much like a real human conversation. Skipper may respond slightly differently each time, even when the topics, prompts, and replies remain the same.

Respondent Experience Using Audio

When respondents arrive at this question with an audio option enabled, they'll first see a prescreener to confirm their audio input is working. After the prescreener, Skipper begins the conversation.

• Response Options: Respondents can type or voice-record their responses, as allowed in the question settings. If they choose audio, they can:
  • Click the microphone button to start speaking. Skipper records their voice for up to 60 seconds and transcribes the response. If the recording exceeds 60 seconds, it stops automatically and sends the response.
  • Click the Play icon to listen to the audio they just sent.

⚠️ Note: Respondents may still skip the question once they've started it by clicking the Skip button at the beginning of the conversation with Skipper.

Viewing and Analyzing Responses

Once the survey is live, responses to the Conversation question display on the Results page as an open-ended question. You'll see an overview of direct quotes, or view responses as a chart categorized by topic or as a word cloud.

1. Click the first dropdown to isolate responses to individual talking points.
2. Click the middle dropdown to change the visualization:
   • Quote tiles — view individual quotes from respondents.
   • Responses per topic — view a graphical representation of the various talking points.
   • WordCloud — view a visual display of the most frequently used words and common themes.
3. Use the search field to search for keywords within responses.

💡 Tip: To enable Skipper Autocoding for your survey responses, keep the Skipper Autocode box checked at the bottom of your Survey Editor page.

Advanced Features and Audio Options on the Results Page

1. To view full conversations in the Open-Ended questions interface, click the comment bubble next to a question or at the top of the page. Responses are sorted by Respondent ID, each representing a single conversation between a respondent and Skipper.
2. If you have Sentiment Analysis enabled, sentiments may be applied to each individual talking point within a single conversation. Use the menu along the top of the response pane to sort and filter responses, and utilize the verbatim coding menu to tag and organize the data.
3. Click the gear icon to select an accent for Skipper's voice and a different accent for the respondent's voice, then press the headset icon to begin playing the text. Click Stop to stop the audio.
4. To download the audio, click Download audio — a separate tab will open, allowing you to download the audio as an .flac file.