---
title: "Run an interview"
url: "https://docs.alisx.com/how-to/ideate/run-an-interview/"
---
# Run an interview

Set up an interview so that Alis talks to the people who hold the answers, one at a time, whenever suits them, and brings what they say into one report on the project. Use it when the context you need is in other people's heads.

## Prerequisites

- Editor or Owner access on the project.
- A clear idea of what you want to find out and from whom. Alis works only from the plan you give it.

## Set up the interview in the console

1. Open the project and click **Interviews**, then **New interview**. (From **Interviews** in the main navigation, **New interview** first asks which project the interview belongs to.)
2. Choose how to start:
    - **Write a purpose**: under **What do you want to learn?**, describe what the interview should find out, by typing or dictating. Add images or PDFs participants should open and comment on under **Shown to participants**, and material only Alis reads under **Background for Alis**. **Instructions for Alis and report focus** holds **How should Alis run it?** and **What should the report focus on?**; participants see neither.
    - **Use your questions**: add a question list, learning objectives or a form export, and click **Create draft**. Alis keeps your questions word for word and drafts the rest.
    - **Plan it with an agent**: copy a prompt into Alis or the coding agent you use, plan the questions there, and bring the draft or the questions back.
3. Click **Continue**. **Review and publish** shows what participants will see: the title, the introduction, the opening question and how long it should take. Alis drafts them; change any of them.
4. Under **Who can join?**, choose:
    - **Anyone with the link**: whoever you share it with can join.
    - **Only people I invite**: add email addresses, or a domain such as `@example.com` for internal research. They confirm their email before joining.
5. Optionally, set **Availability** (when it closes) and **Keep answers anonymous**.
6. Under **Try it before anyone else does**, **Preview** opens the conversation as a participant would have it. Nothing you say is saved.
7. Click **Publish interview**. **Save draft** keeps it unpublished.

Nobody is emailed. Publishing turns the link on; the link reaches people when you send it.

## Invite and manage participants

1. On **Interviews**, open the interview and click the **Share** tab.
2. Under **Invite people**, pick **Invitation** (for people you haven't invited yet), **Reminder** (for people who haven't started) or **Link**. Edit the message if you like, then copy it, or use **Open email draft** for the people on your list. **Link** has **Copy link** and **Copy embed**.
3. To change who may join, open the **Setup** tab and edit **Participants**. **Who manages this interview** adds people who may edit, share and present the interview, or only read its answers.
4. On the **Overview** tab, under **Participants**, **Draft reminder** writes a nudge for someone who hasn't finished, and **Request follow-up** asks someone who has finished for more.

**Close interview** and **Delete interview** are under **More interview actions**.

People you add later are not notified automatically either; send them the link.

## What a participant experiences

A participant needs no account. Where the interview asks for it, they first confirm their email with a code. They read the welcome, choose a language and click **Start talking** or **Type instead**. They can upload files and **Share your screen**, and click **Finish interview** when they are done. If they leave partway, they can come back to the link on the same device and carry on.

## Read the results

Open the interview on **Interviews**; the **Overview** tab holds the results. **Report** is the synthesis across everyone; **Alignment opportunities** lists the patterns the answers surfaced, each with the evidence behind it, and offers **Answer it myself** or **Follow up with an interview**. **Participants** shows each person's state; click a participant to open their notes, transcript and any files they shared.

To change what the report emphasises without changing what participants are asked, click **Edit focus** on the report, edit **What should the report focus on?** and save; the report is rewritten.

## Related

- [Run internet research](https://docs.alisx.com/how-to/ideate/run-internet-research.md)
- [Share a project](https://docs.alisx.com/how-to/ideate/share-a-project.md), for giving people access to the project itself rather than to one interview