Run exploratory AI interviews from a research goal

Turn a research goal into a focused exploratory interview in Versive, with a sample brief, moderator instructions, a pilot, and evidence review.

Exploratory AI interviews are useful when you know what you need to learn but not the exact questions to ask. You give the AI a research goal, and it runs the conversation, following up on what each participant says the way a skilled interviewer would.

In Versive, the Exploratory question type does this. It's currently in beta. For a fixed opening question with adaptive follow-ups, use an AI Question instead.

Write a focused research goal

The research goal is the interviewer's brief. A vague goal like "learn about collaboration" leads to a wandering conversation. A good goal names the decision, the experience to explore, and any ground rules:

We're deciding whether to improve teammate invitations or workspace setup first. Understand the participant's most recent attempt to get a colleague working in a shared tool. Explore what triggered it, the steps they took, where they got confused, and how it turned out. Ask for concrete examples. Don't assume they had a problem, and don't pitch a solution.

Anything you'd tell a human moderator belongs here: what to focus on, what to avoid, and how to handle someone who hasn't had the experience.

Build the study

1. Create an AI-moderated study, or let the study assistant draft one from your goal.
2. Add screening questions to make sure participants have the relevant experience.
3. Add an Exploratory question with your research goal.
4. Set the turn limit to control how long the conversation runs.
5. Add structured questions, such as a rating, for anything you want to compare across participants.

The customer discovery template is a good starting point.

Choose the right question type

Mixing them works well: structured questions give you numbers you can compare, and the exploratory conversation explains them. See User interviews vs. surveys.

Pilot, then scale

Take the study yourself, then run a few real participants before recruiting widely. Check that the interviewer asks for specific examples, stays on your goal, and wraps up in a reasonable time. If it drifts, tighten the research goal. If it keeps missing an important topic, ask about that topic in its own question.

Analyze the conversations

Versive summarizes each interview, and Insights pulls out recurring themes across participants, each linked to the quotes behind it. Exploratory conversations cover different ground with different people, so note whether a theme came up on its own or in response to a direct question. See Thematic analysis, automated.