Preview your interview

Preview catches problems that reading the guide can't.

Preview is for studies the AI moderator runs. A study you moderate yourself has no question guide for the AI to follow, so there is nothing to preview and Strella does not show the Preview button. Check your screener from the Screener tab instead.

Steps

1. Click Preview

   Top-right of Build. The preview starts from the beginning of the guide. Use the question list in the call to jump ahead. What happens next depends on the Allowed devices in Interview setup.

   • Screen recording off (any devices): a new tab opens on the participant join page. Continue in this tab.
   • Desktop and mobile, screen recording on: a dialog asks where to take the interview, Web or Mobile app. Continue opens the new tab: Web runs the interview there, Mobile app shows a QR code.
   • Mobile only, screen recording on: no choice to make; the new tab shows a QR code.

   

2. Join the call

   On desktop, allow microphone access. When your study allows two or more languages, first pick the language to preview in from the menu above Allow. It lists only the allowed languages and starts on the default. The AI moderator greets you in that language and begins.

   For a Mobile app preview, scan the QR code with your phone's camera. It opens the interview in the Strella app, so install the app from the App Store or Google Play first if you haven't already. The app shows the same unpublished guide you see in Build.

3. Know what preview covers

   Preview plays the full guide, every section, in order, and skips screener qualification, so conditional routing doesn't apply. That's by design: you're checking wording and flow, not eligibility. To confirm that qualifying vs. disqualifying answers and conditional sections send people to the right place, test through a share link as a participant would.

   A web preview skips camera and screen sharing. To try screen recording as a participant experiences it on a phone, preview in the Strella app.

4. Take the interview

   Answer like a participant would, and pay attention to:

   • How the moderator's voice reads your questions. Awkward phrasing is much more obvious out loud.
   • Whether follow-ups help. Are they useful, or do they repeat what you already asked?
   • Whether tasks make sense. Can you tell what success looks like from the instructions alone?
5. Move between questions

   In a web preview, the two arrows at the bottom left of the call move one question back or forward without answering. The count between them, such as 4 / 9, opens a list of every item in the guide, grouped by section as in the question guide in Build. Type in its search box to find an item, and pick a row to jump straight to it.

   • Going back asks the question again from the start, and a new answer to a survey question replaces the earlier one. It steps over statements and images that move on by themselves.
   • Jumping forward skips the items in between without asking them.
   • Previous is off on the first question. Next is off on the last one, so end the call to finish.

   The Strella app has no arrows or list.

6. Note issues, then fix in Build

   Close the tab, go back to Build, and edit. Repeat preview as needed. Preview interviews show up in Results → Interviews alongside real ones (delete them if you want to keep the list clean), but Strella excludes them from analysis.

Tips

• Preview both branches of any randomization step (refresh until you get the other one).
• Preview in the Strella app if your study allows mobile. Mobile participants take the interview in the app, and the layout is different from the desktop call.
• Opening the preview link on your phone shows the app screen with a Get Started button that opens the interview in the app, or store links if it isn't installed. For a desktop-only study it shows the same "only available on desktop" notice a participant would see.
• Have someone else preview too. They will catch confusing phrasing you no longer notice.

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