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The discussion guide is the script the AI moderator follows. It’s organized into questions — the individual topics you want to cover. Creating a study covers the study record a guide attaches to.

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Start with the AI builder

The AI Study Builder is trained on what great discussion guides look like and knows Humanize’s systems inside out. It’s the best way to create a guide. You have two starting points:
  • Describe what you want to learn — tell it your research goals in plain language and it builds the full guide for you.
  • Upload existing materials — drop in a previous study, research brief, internal doc, or anything relevant. The builder uses it as context to generate a guide that fits your goals.
You can always edit the generated guide afterward — add, edit, or reorder questions. But start with the AI. It’ll get you 80% of the way there in a few minutes.
The more specific you are, the better the guide. “Understand how first-time users experience our onboarding flow and where they get stuck” produces a much better guide than “learn about users.” Tell the builder exactly what you’re trying to get out of the study.

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What’s in a question

Each question has:
  • Topic — what the AI moderator will discuss.
  • Goals — the specific things you want to learn in this part of the conversation.
  • Priority — Low, Medium, or High.
  • Stimulus — optional media to show participants (more on stimulus).
You can reorder questions by dragging them. The AI moderator works through them in order but may adjust based on how the conversation goes.

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Priorities matter

If a session runs long, the AI moderator spends less time on lower-priority questions so the important ones get covered. Mark your must-have topics as High priority. A typical guide might look like:

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Built-in review checks

As you edit, the builder reviews your guide and flags common problems — leading questions, compound questions that ask two things at once, forced choices without a neutral option. Each flag explains the issue and offers a Fix with AI button that rewrites the question for you. They’re suggestions, not blockers; accept the fix or ignore it.

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Writing good questions

One topic per question. If you’re trying to learn about two different things, split them into two questions. “What do you think about pricing and onboarding?” will get you muddy answers about both.
  • Write goals for yourself, not participants. The goal is your internal note — “Understand whether users find the current checkout flow frustrating.” The AI moderator uses it to guide the conversation but doesn’t read it aloud.
  • Give each question several specific goals. The AI moderator uses them to decide what to follow up on, like “Find out what made them switch” or “Learn what they’d expect to pay.” The builder suggests five to seven for a focus group and three to five for an interview.
  • In a focus group, plan for about one question per 10 minutes. A 60-minute group fits about six. The builder warns you if your guide and session length don’t match.