When you start new research, you choose one of two paths:
Start with a Tool (Direct Access) — for when you already know which research method you need: Auto FGD, Self-Managed FGD, Creative Ranking, or Attention Heatmap. Each runs on its own.
Start with a Goal (Guided Workflow) — for when you know what you're trying to accomplish and have a pain point or intent in mind, but aren't sure which method to use. The system pre-configures the right combination of methods, criteria, and study plan for you.
Step 1: Select a Scenario
Choosing a scenario lets the system pre-configure evaluation criteria and methodology for you automatically — you don't have to build a criteria set from scratch. See the Pick a Winner and Strategic Concept Validation articles for each Workflow's full scenario list.
Context Brief (optional): You can upload a PDF or DOCX brief to give the system more background for personas to be aware of, and to inform how your final report is written. This is context only — it will not change your research objective or your evaluation criteria.
Step 2: Submit Your Assets & Select Target Audience
Upload requirements differ by Workflow — see the dedicated article for each. Either way, you'll also select the target audience community you want to test against.
Only communities with at least 150 members (personas) can be selected for a Workflow. Smaller communities won't appear as an option here — this ensures statistical significance when surveys are conducted.
Asset type, file size, resolution, and duration limits follow the same rules as the underlying research method used (Survey, Creative Ranking, etc.) — see the pricing & limits article for each method.
Step 3: Criteria & Study Plan
This screen shows the auto-configured setup for your scenario — all of it is editable before you run the study.
Research objective — a suggested objective is pre-written based on your scenario; edit the text directly if you want to sharpen it.
Evaluation criteria — each scenario comes with a default set of criteria and suggested weights (e.g. Click / Action Intent, Offer Clarity, CTA Clarity). You can:
Turn any existing criterion off if it doesn't apply to your study
Adjust any criterion's weight
Re-rank criteria by priority using the up/down arrows
You cannot add a criterion beyond the pre-configured set. If you remove one, make sure the remaining weights are adjusted so they still total 100% — otherwise the study won't reflect your intended priorities.
Additional context — some scenarios require a primary brand name before you can continue (where Brand Attribution or Brand Fit is a configured criterion); look for the field marked with an asterisk.
Auto-configured study plan — shows the research stages that will run for your study. For scenarios where a visual criterion is relevant, this typically includes an Audience Survey and Attention Heatmap plus a final report-generation stage; for scenarios without a visual criterion, Attention Heatmap won't run.
Step 4: Review & Submit
A final summary of your scenario, audience, assets, evaluation criteria, objective, and study plan. From here you can:
Back — return to the previous step to make changes
Exit — closes the setup and returns you to your dashboard without starting the study
Save as draft — keep your setup without running it yet
Start Research — begins the study
