Every research objective calls for a different approach. Use this guide to select the most effective tool before you start.
Tool Overview & Sensitivity to Objective
Tool | Best For | Sensitivity to Objective |
Auto-FGD | Uncover the "why" with AI-moderated focus group discussions | HIGH |
Self-Managed FGD | Uncover the "why" with real-time, self-moderated discussions — offers more depth | HIGH |
Creative Ranking | Identify winners by ranking up to 200 assets to find top performers in minutes | MEDIUM |
Attention Heatmaps | See what grabs attention first with Saliency and Gaze maps | MEDIUM |
Auto-FGD and Self-Managed FGD are most sensitive to how your research objective is written. The quality of the objective directly shapes the quality of the output — read the dedicated objective-writing guides before starting.
Practical Tool Combinations
Run an Attention Heatmap or Gaze analysis first, then follow up with an Auto-FGD or Self-Managed FGD to uncover why certain visual elements attract attention.
Run a Creative Ranking to identify your top-performing concepts, then use a focus group discussion to dig deeper into consumer preferences behind the winner.
Why combine tools? Reduce blind spots in decision-making and build stronger, evidence-backed recommendations supported by multiple data points.
Note: Tool combinations are available for custom AI communities created via Managed Services. Contact the Socialtrait team to set this up.
Tips
Define your problem statement first. If you can write it in one sentence, you're more likely to pick the most efficient tool.
Check asset quality. Blurry images or low-quality videos can mislead attention tracking results.
Iterate quickly. Run smaller tests, learn, refine, and re-test.