Once you've paid, your study runs itself. Responses come in, they're checked and prepared for analysis, and Skipper writes your report. You don't need to drive any of it. This article explains what each card on the Fielding stage is telling you while that happens.
In This Article
The Fielding Stage
The Fielding stage has four cards, in order. Each one opens when its turn comes and closes when the work behind it is finished—nobody presses anything to move them along.
| Card | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Checkout | Your order, and after payment, your receipt. |
| Collection | How many responses are in, out of how many you paid for. |
| Data Cleaning | Quality checks on the responses, run by Data Centrifuge™. |
| Analysis | Your data being prepared for the report. |
The cards that haven't started yet stay visible but greyed, each one naming what will go in it—Responses as they arrive, Data Centrifuge quality checks, Statistical analysis of the responses.
In All studies, your study's status follows the same path: Fielding, then Analyzing, then Report once the report is written.
Waiting for Launch
As soon as your payment clears, the study reads Fielding and the Collection card opens at 0 responses. Collection doesn't start at that moment, though. Our team reviews every Bridge survey and launches it, and only then do responses begin to arrive.
⚠️ Note: A study that reads Fielding with 0 responses soon after you've paid hasn't stalled—it's waiting for that review. You don't need to do anything, and you won't be charged again. Bridge doesn't post a message when the survey goes live; the count simply starts to move. [CONFIRM: typical review turnaround to quote here]
Collecting Responses
Collapsed, the Collection card shows your count—for example 142 / 400 responses. Expand it for a progress bar with the percentage complete, under the heading Fielding Progress and the line Collecting responses: 142 of 400 complete.
The count updates live as each respondent completes the survey, so you can leave the study open and watch it move. It only goes up—if a response is later rejected, the number you've already seen stays.
Reaching your target doesn't close the survey instantly. The responses are checked and accepted first, and the card switches to Fielding complete when that's done.
💡 Tip: You can ask Skipper how fielding is going at any point—it can see the same progress you can. While the study is collecting, its design stays locked, but you can still step back to the Design stage to read what you set up.
Cleaning and Analysis
When collection closes, the Data Cleaning card reads Data validated, and the Analysis card opens. Your study now reads Analyzing.
The Analysis card prepares your data for the report. Its pill reads Preparing data with a percentage, and the line under the progress bar names the current piece of work and how long is left—for example Open-ended coding, about 4 min left. Other phases you may see include Sentiment analysis, MaxDiff calculation, Conjoint utility calculation, and Report data assembly.
How long this takes depends on your survey. Open-ended questions, MaxDiff, and conjoint all add work, so a survey with several of them takes longer than one without.
If Data Preparation Fails
If something goes wrong, the Analysis card shows Needs work and Skipper explains in the chat. Where trying again can help, the message comes with a Try again button:
- Preparing the data took too long. Try again.
- The statistics service could not be reached. Try again.
- Preparing the data was interrupted. Try again.
If you see a different message, such as The data could not be prepared for this survey., a retry won't fix it—contact support from Bridge and include the study's name.
On to Your Report
When your data is ready, Skipper posts The report data is prepared. Creating the report. and starts writing. The report card's pill reads Building while it works, which usually takes a few minutes. Your study keeps reading Analyzing until the report is published, then switches to Report.
Skipper sums up the main findings in the chat when it's done. Posters, and personas if your account has them, follow shortly after. See Your Bridge Report.
You may also get aytm's standard Your survey on aytm is delivered! email when collection finishes. Its link opens the survey's statistics in aytm; your Bridge report follows in Bridge a little later.