When a prospective methinks customer recently asked Aditi for the three features researchers most recommend, she quickly provided these answers that were received very well. So, we turned her answers into a blog, hoping that this information will help more researchers learning about methinks.
1. The virtual ‘backroom’ for observers and clients:
Managing the virtual backroom during an interview can be a stressful situation for moderators, whose main purpose is to ensure a smooth conversation between the participant and themselves. methinks offers a unique link for observers and stakeholders, which is separate from the conversation happening between the moderator and participant.
The advantages of this are:
a. Observers can hop on and off – it does not disturb the interview. Upon request, methinks can provide Observer chat logs.
b. Observers are muted automatically – researchers don’t have to worry about them forgetting to mute the microphone when talking or messaging amongst themselves.
c. Observers can communicate with the moderator through a separate chat window, unknown to the participant and,
d. They can make their own notes on the platform.
Of course, ethically, you still have to tell Thinkers that there are observers who are listening in, but they won’t be disturbed by the silent observers..
2. In-interview UX.
methinks offers valuable features to help researchers make the most of any given interview, including:
a. Ability to share questions prepared in advance and share files with participants during the interview. The questions get time stamped and recorded. The answers can be bookmarked for easy clipping and stitching after the interview (see “c” below).
b. Participants can answer questions during the interview too, by clicking on an option when it pops up during the interview.
c. Ability to create bookmarks during the interview simply by clicking a button that aids coding in the qualitative analysis process.
d. Being able to share your screen and request participants to share their screen, so you can see what they see, as they test your website or app.
3. App testing:
Until now, seeing a research participants full mobile UX has been a cumbersome process, requiring a research participant to share their screen with researchers by connecting their mobile device to a computer via cable, install a third-party app to mirror the mobile screen, allowing researchers to view the mobile UX as the participant used the mobile device. methinks removed all of those hurdles, researchers just push a button to initiate the screen sharing process and participants, who accept and share their screen instantly.
Aditi Suryanarayan
Aditi has administered hundreds of interviews with methinks Thinkers on behalf of methinks customers. And, she talks with consulting and in-house qualitative research experts every day. Her primary role is advising researchers on survey and interview structure and process, providing outstanding counsel on creating objective results and listening.