> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.humanize.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# FAQ

> Common questions about Humanize.

## Getting started

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is Humanize?">
    Humanize is an AI-moderated focus group platform. You write a discussion guide, recruit participants, and our AI moderator runs live multi-participant video sessions for you. After sessions finish, Humanize analyzes everything and gives you themes, quotes, emotion analysis, supercut video reels, and a full summary.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How is this different from a survey tool?">
    Surveys give you structured, quantitative data. Humanize gives you qualitative depth — real conversations where participants explain their thinking, react to each other, and go off-script. The AI moderator asks follow-up questions based on what people actually say, so you get the "why" behind responses, not just the "what."
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need research experience to use Humanize?">
    No. The AI Study Builder generates a discussion guide, screener, and settings from a plain-language description of what you want to learn. You can also upload existing materials — previous studies, research briefs, or discussion guides — and the builder uses them as context.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How long does it take to set up a study?">
    A few minutes with the AI Study Builder. Describe your research goals, review the generated guide, tweak anything you want, and launch.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Study design

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What's in a discussion guide?">
    A discussion guide is organized into **moments** — the individual topics or questions you want covered. Each moment has a topic, goal, priority level, follow-up probes, and optional stimulus materials (images and videos). The AI moderator works through moments in order but adapts based on how the conversation goes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I run something other than a focus group?">
    Yes. Alongside focus groups, Humanize runs **1:1 interviews** (one participant, better for sensitive topics or detailed walkthroughs) and **surveys** (participants answer on their own, no live session). Focus groups are self-serve; interviews and surveys are set up with our team — [email us](mailto:support@humanize.app).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What languages can I run studies in?">
    English (US) and Canadian French are available directly in the app, and non-English results carry a Show English translation toggle. The AI moderator's voice supports 42 languages in total, so if you need a study in another one, [get in touch](mailto:support@humanize.app) and we'll set it up. [Full list](/study/creating-a-study#study-language).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I upload an existing discussion guide?">
    Yes. Upload a PDF or text file and Humanize converts it into the structured format automatically. You can also upload research briefs, previous studies, or other materials to give the AI builder more context.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What formats work for stimulus?">
    Images (PNG, JPG, GIF) and videos. Attach them to specific moments in your guide and the AI moderator shows them automatically during the session. Always add a description so the AI moderator knows what participants are looking at.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I edit my study after launching?">
    Some things, yes — like adding new recruitment rounds. Avoid changing the screener once participants have started answering it: different people would be asked different questions, which breaks segments, quotas, and comparisons across your sample. Finalize your screener and guide before going live.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## The AI moderator

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How does the AI moderator work?">
    It speaks to participants in natural, conversational language. It follows your discussion guide, asks follow-up questions based on what people actually say, manages turn-taking, shows stimulus materials, and wraps up the session. You don't need to be there.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does the AI moderator ask follow-up questions?">
    Yes. It generates follow-ups based on what participants say, not just the scripted probes. If someone says something interesting or vague, it digs deeper. You can also add specific probes to any moment in your guide — we recommend 5–6 per moment.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does it handle off-topic responses?">
    It acknowledges the comment and steers the conversation back to the current topic. If the tangent is relevant to a later moment, it may note it and come back to it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the Director Agent?">
    A secondary AI that runs behind the scenes during sessions. It tracks remaining time, tells the AI moderator when to move on or go deeper, ensures high-priority moments get covered, flags quality issues, and can reorder moments based on how the conversation is going. You don't interact with it directly.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Participants and recruitment

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I recruit participants?">
    Two ways: use Humanize's built-in panels (access to 5+ million participants across B2C and B2B) or share a direct link with your own list. Either way, participants go through your screener and automated quality checks before joining.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How many participants can be in a session?">
    You set the group size when creating your study. Smaller groups (3–5 people) tend to get richer discussion. Larger groups cover more perspectives per session.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I get B2B or professional recruitment?">
    B2C panels are fully self-serve in Humanize. For professional audiences (decision-makers, developers, healthcare workers, etc.), [email us](mailto:support@humanize.app) and we'll set up a recruitment plan.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I bring my own participants?">
    Yes. Copy your study's unique participant link from the Recruitment tab and share it via email, Slack, social media — wherever. Participants click the link, fill out your screener, pass quality checks, and get scheduled into a session.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if a participant has technical issues?">
    Before joining, every participant goes through device and environment checks — camera, mic, lighting, and connection stability. This catches most issues upfront. If something comes up mid-session, the Director Agent monitors quality and the AI moderator adjusts.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do you stop fraudulent or low-effort participants?">
    Humanize checks at three points: when someone applies (are they a real, distinct person, applying from where your study expects, answering your screener like they're reading it), before they join a session (device and environment), and after the session (did they show up, stay, and take part). Flagged applicants show on the Recruitment tab with the reason.

    If a session doesn't meet our quality bar, we re-run it at no additional cost. [More on participant quality](/study/participant-quality).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I get charged for no-shows?">
    No. You only pay for participants who actually show up and actively participate. Humanize handles scheduling and no-show management automatically.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I recruit a specific mix of participants?">
    Set up segments and quotas. You define segments from your screener answers (say, iPhone users vs Android users) and give each one a target count. Recruitment fills each segment and screens out overflow automatically. [More on segments and quotas](/study/segments-and-quotas).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Sessions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How long are sessions?">
    You choose: anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes per session.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What do participants see during a session?">
    A video call interface. They see the AI moderator's avatar, other participants' video feeds, and any stimulus materials. They talk naturally, like a regular video call.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Analysis and results

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How long does analysis take?">
    Usually a few minutes, depending on how many sessions and how much discussion there was. You'll get notified when results are ready.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What results do I get?">
    Six types:

    * **[Summary](/results/summary)** — answers to your research objectives with evidence and confidence levels
    * **[Deep Dive](/results/deep-dive)** — how the discussion actually went, moment by moment
    * **[Themes](/results/themes)** — patterns across all sessions with quotes and quantitative data
    * **[Emotion analysis](/results/emotion-analysis)** — what participants felt, read from their words, voice, and face
    * **[Supercuts](/results/supercuts)** — auto-edited highlight reels, plus clips you can request in plain language
    * **[Explore](/results/explore)** — a chat interface to ask questions about your data and generate charts

    You can also [export](/results/exporting) the report as a PDF or slide deck.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How are video clips generated?">
    Humanize automatically identifies key moments from recordings — strong opinions, emotional reactions, debates, clear articulations of findings — and edits them into supercuts: seamless reels built around each theme and discussion topic. You can browse and filter by topic, participant, or theme. [More on supercuts](/results/supercuts).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does emotion analysis work?">
    Each participant contribution is read on three channels — the words, the voice, and the facial expression — and classified into one of seven emotions. The interesting part is when the channels disagree: someone saying positive words in a flat voice gets flagged so you can watch the clip yourself. [More on emotion analysis](/results/emotion-analysis).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I share the report with people outside my team?">
    Yes. From the Summary's Export menu, create a share link — anyone with it reads the live report in their browser, no account needed. Links last 7 days. Shared reports carry the same anonymization as the app.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I share clips with people outside my team?">
    Yes. Every supercut and clip has a Share button that creates a public link valid for 24 hours. After it expires, generate a new one anytime.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Humanize generate quantitative data?">
    Yes. Every theme and finding carries how many participants expressed it, so you can tell a pattern from a one-off. Findings report counts rather than percentages — on a sample of twelve, "58%" implies a precision the sample doesn't have, so you'll see "7 of 12" instead.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Data, security, and privacy

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How is my data stored?">
    All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Study data lives in managed databases with access controls. Session recordings are in secure cloud storage with time-limited access URLs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is my data used to train AI models?">
    No. Data sent to third-party services (transcription, text-to-speech, video processing, AI analysis) is used only for processing your sessions. It's not used to train third-party models.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What about GDPR?">
    Participants consent during signup before any data is collected. They're told sessions will be recorded. You can request deletion of participant data by contacting us. Processing is covered by our data processing agreement. Need a DPA? [Email us](mailto:legal@humanize.app).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Who can see my study data?">
    Participant data is scoped to your study and only accessible to users with permission. It's not shared across studies or with other customers. Studies are visible workspace-wide by default; mark one **private** to limit it to you and the people you add.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I require two-step verification?">
    Yes. Turn it on in workspace settings and every member is prompted to set up an authenticator app before they can continue.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Pricing and support

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How does pricing work?">
    Pricing depends on your research needs — volume, participant type, session length, and how often you're running studies. We work with each client to build a plan that fits. [Get in touch](mailto:support@humanize.app) and we'll put together a proposal.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is there a free trial?">
    Reach out to us and we'll figure out the best way to get you started. [Email us](mailto:support@humanize.app) and we'll walk you through the platform.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I contact support?">
    Email [support@humanize.app](mailto:support@humanize.app). We usually respond within a few hours on business days.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>