AI interviews, in place of forms
Bring the question. AI brings the craft.
The handbook, every interview, every close reading — AI carries the whole craft of research.
When to read, whom, and which version to keep — the judgment stays yours.
One study runs through this page: one counselor, one question, 24 students, three years.
01The verdict, up front
Surveys are fundamentally broken.
Everyday research comes in two forms: send a form, or hire interviewers. A form locks its questions before you know what to ask — miss one angle and the data is dead. Real interviews catch the truth, at $50–200 a session — never affordable for everyday research. This isn't about better tools. The form itself is broken.
Real interviews · always existed
per interview
$50–200
the process
schedule · transcribe · code
one wave, 24 people
$1,200–4,800
Not the interviewer's fault — they just never fit everyday research.
The form · the compromise
Q7 · How satisfied are you with your program?
Q8 · Anything else? (optional)
That tick was supposed to hold this sentence.
“Some days I honestly love this program. But the workload nearly moved me out last year.”
Design is guesswork
old wayQuestions locked before you start; miss a crucial angle and the data is useless.
new wayOne sentence, co-authored into a full handbook with the Design AI.
Filling is tedious
old wayMandatory word counts, irrelevant follow-ups; respondents click randomly to finish.
new wayA real conversation — tap when hurried, go deep when engaged.
Analysis is shallow
old wayMechanical percentages; the why gets buried.
new wayA deep reading per person, then a synthesis across them.
Expected answers only confirm what you already suspected. The valuable part is what respondents bring up on their own — your blind spots.
The full research lifecycle, reimagined.
02Craft nº1 · design
Not from a blank page.
Her entire brief
Her
I want to know how this year has treated our students.
Design AI
The flip side of that question is the moment of almost leaving. I'll write the interviewer as someone who waits — never pushing — and start the outline from each student's concrete days. Here's a first draft; you edit.
Three exchanges later, the handbook looked like this — she reworded two lines.
Interview handbook · draft 2 · AI-drafted, edited twice by her
Interviewer persona
Warm, never pushing. When a student pauses, wait.
Theme outline
- 1How the year went — start from one concrete day
- 2What weighs most — coursework, relationships, money
- 3The moment of almost leaving — and what came after
Other tools help you collect and display. None helps you design the research itself.
03Craft nº2 · interview
Send one link.24real interviews.
The AI interviewer talks with each student one by one — chasing surprises, hearing what goes unsaid.
no progress bar · no endless checkboxes · a few dollars a session · any language
Transcript · wave 1 · 2026 · anonymized ✓
R-0427
Interviewer
You ticked “somewhat satisfied.” What would it take to reach “very”?
Respondent
Honestly, the coursework — last year it nearly moved me out of the program.
flagged: coursework → carries into wave 2 next year
Interviewer
“Nearly moved out” — what kept you?
Respondent
I decided to hold on for one more semester. Then it slowly got better.
tension: staying vs. leaving → into the reading
Multi-model anonymization · every session · the product's only automatic step
04Craft nº3 · the reading
Not a dashboard. Documents.
AI-written · on her trigger · cites 3 turns
Portrait
Second-year, engineering. Short answers, always concrete; the words grew when “staying” came up.
Tension
Staying, or leaving. The thought of switching was real; so was the decision to hold on one more semester. Both are his.
Wants
Not a lighter load — a visible end to it.
AI synthesis · reads the 24 readings · she selected all
7
nearly left
6
stayed — not for relief
Coursework is the heaviest theme (19/24). But among the 7 who nearly left, 6 stayed not for relief — but for a person, or a course.
A finding no form could ask for; it exists only where someone reads it out.
A re-run is a new version, never an overwrite.
The craft is AI's. The judgment is yours.
Analysis runs only when you start it. When to read, whom, and what to keep — your call.
Your data never trains anything
How privacy is structural →05Next year
The same interviewer, who remembers everyone.
Next year, send the link again. The interviewer arrives carrying what each person said last time, and picks up where it left off — one continuous, years-long conversation. Snapshots go stale; a trajectory compounds. It is also why institutions stay.
Same respondent · three annual waves
R-0427
Wave 1 · 2026
Interviewer
How was the year, really?
Respondent
Hard. The coursework nearly moved me out.
Wave 2 · 2027
Interviewer
Last year you said the workload nearly moved you out — how does that choice look now?
Respondent
I stayed, and I'm glad. It eased after second year.
Wave 3 · 2028
Interviewer
Two years on — does switching still come up?
Respondent
Never again. This path became mine.
Other tools: a snapshot, every time.
Qualiask: a trajectory, over years.
Talk, don't tick.
Bring the question. AI brings the craft.
Create a project, say your question, send the link. Understand your users, track a cohort across years, or run real research where no team exists — free during beta.