Creating Your First Study

Creating a study in Koji means turning your research question into a structured interview plan — and the AI Consultant does most of the heavy lifting. You describe what you want to learn, and together you build a research brief that guides every interview.

The whole process typically takes about 5 minutes.

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Starting a New Study

On your dashboard, you'll see a greeting:

"What do you want to learn?"

Type your research question or goal in the text input below. There's no special format required — just describe what you want to learn in plain language. Here are some examples of good starting points:

• "Why are users dropping off during our onboarding flow?"
• "How do small business owners currently manage their invoicing?"
• "What factors influence a parent's choice of after-school programs?"
• "I want to validate whether remote workers would pay for a co-working day pass."

Click Start study to begin. The AI Consultant opens a conversation to help you design your research.

The more specific you are, the better the AI Consultant can help. But even a vague starting point works — the Consultant will ask follow-up questions to sharpen the focus.

You can also start from the Studies page at /dashboard/studies, where a New study button is available, or choose a template from the template library on the main dashboard.

What Makes a Good Research Question?

The best research questions are:

• Specific — focused on a particular behavior, decision, or experience rather than a broad topic.
• Open-ended — designed to explore "how" and "why," not just "what" or "how many."
• Actionable — tied to a decision you need to make or a problem you need to solve.

For example, "Tell me about user experience" is too broad. "Why do first-time users abandon the checkout flow before completing a purchase?" gives the AI Consultant much more to work with.

For more guidance, see Writing a Research Question.

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The AI Consultant Conversation

Once you've entered your research goal and clicked Start study, the AI Consultant takes over as your research design partner. Think of it as working with an experienced qualitative researcher who's helping you plan your study.

Here's what typically happens:

1. Clarifying Questions

The Consultant will ask you a few questions to understand the context:

• Who is your target audience?
• What decisions will this research inform?
• Have you done any prior research on this topic?
• Are there specific hypotheses you want to test?

Answer in as much or as little detail as you like. The Consultant adapts to whatever you provide.

2. Methodology Suggestion

Based on your research goal and context, the Consultant will recommend a methodology. Koji supports several established qualitative frameworks:

• Mom Test — great for validating product ideas without leading the participant.
• Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) — ideal for understanding what "job" users are hiring your product to do.
• Customer Discovery — structured exploration of problems, needs, and existing solutions.
• Exploratory — open-ended conversations for early-stage research.
• Lead Magnet — designed to gather quotable statistics and insights for public reports.
• And more — the Consultant draws from a range of methodologies and can blend approaches.

You don't need to know these frameworks in advance. The Consultant explains why it's recommending a particular approach and how it fits your goal. If you have a preference, just say so — "I'd like to use the Mom Test approach" — and it'll adjust.

Learn more in Understanding the AI Consultant and Choosing a Methodology.

3. Research Brief Creation

The Consultant drafts a research brief — a structured document that defines:

• Research objectives — what you're trying to learn, stated clearly.
• Target audience — who you should be interviewing.
• Key themes — the main topics the interviews will explore.
• Success criteria — what a "good" answer looks like for this research.

This brief becomes the foundation for the interview plan. Review it carefully — this is where you can make adjustments before the interview questions are generated. For a deeper look, see Understanding the Research Brief.

4. Interview Plan and Structured Questions

Based on the approved brief, the Consultant builds an interview plan — the actual conversation flow that Koji's AI will use during interviews. The plan includes:

• Opening questions — warm-up questions that ease the participant into the conversation.
• Core exploration questions — the main questions that dig into your research themes.
• Structured questions — interactive question widgets that capture quantifiable data during the conversation.
• Follow-up probes — adaptive questions the AI will ask based on what the participant says.
• Closing questions — wrap-up questions that capture any final thoughts.

Structured Question Types

Unlike traditional survey platforms that only collect checkbox data, Koji combines conversational AI interviews with interactive structured questions — giving you both qualitative depth and quantitative rigor in a single session. The available question types are:

• Scale — numeric ratings like NPS (0-10), satisfaction (1-5), or likelihood (1-7). Configure min, max, and endpoint labels.
• Single choice — pick one option from a list. Great for segmentation and preferences.
• Multiple choice — select all that apply. Useful for feature usage, pain points, and tools used.
• Ranking — drag to order items by preference or priority.
• Yes/No — binary questions for quick screening or confirmation.
• Open-ended — free-form conversational questions for qualitative depth.

Each structured question can be configured with probing depth (0-3 follow-ups) so the AI automatically asks follow-up questions to understand the "why" behind every rating or selection. For scale questions, you can enable anchor probing — after a participant gives a rating, the AI asks what would change that score.

Learn more about designing effective structured questions in the Structured Questions Guide.

The interview plan isn't a rigid script. Koji's AI uses it as a guide but adapts in real time based on each participant's responses, following up on interesting threads and probing deeper when it detects valuable insights.

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Uploading Context Documents

Want to give the AI Consultant more background? You can upload context documents during the study creation process. Supported file types include:

• PDF — research reports, product specs, strategy documents.
• TXT — plain text notes, interview transcripts from previous research.
• DOCX / DOC — Word documents with any relevant background.
• JSON — structured data like survey results or analytics exports.
• MD — Markdown files with notes or documentation.

The Consultant reads these documents and uses them to craft more relevant questions and better-targeted research. For example, uploading your product's feature documentation helps the Consultant understand what specific features to ask about.

You don't have to upload anything — it's entirely optional. But if you have relevant context, sharing it produces noticeably better interview plans.

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Reviewing and Iterating

Before publishing, take time to review both the research brief and the interview plan. Ask yourself:

• Does the brief accurately capture my research goals? If not, tell the Consultant what's missing or off-track.
• Are the interview questions going to surface the insights I need? Read through the plan and imagine a participant answering each question.
• Are the structured questions well-calibrated? Check that scale ranges, choice options, and probing settings match what you want to measure.
• Is the methodology right for my situation? If you're not sure, ask the Consultant to explain the trade-offs.
• Is the target audience well-defined? Vague audience definitions lead to unfocused interviews.

You can go back and forth with the Consultant as many times as you need. Say things like:

• "Can you add a scale question for NPS with a 0-10 range?"
• "Add a multiple choice question about which features they use most."
• "The tone feels too formal — make it more conversational."
• "I want to focus more on the switching behavior and less on general satisfaction."
• "Switch to a Jobs to Be Done framework instead."

The Consultant will revise the brief and plan based on your feedback. There's no limit to how many iterations you can do.

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Publishing Your Study

Once you're happy with everything, hit Publish. This:

• Locks in your research brief and interview plan.
• Generates a unique, shareable interview link.
• Moves the study from Draft to Active status.

Your study is now live. Share the interview link with participants and start collecting responses. You can customize the branding of your interview landing page to match your organization's identity.

For more on publishing and what happens next, see Publishing Your Study.

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First Study Checklist

Before you publish, make sure:

• Your research question is specific and actionable.
• The research brief accurately reflects your goals.
• The interview plan covers all the themes you care about.
• Structured questions have appropriate scales, options, and probing settings.
• The target audience is clearly defined.
• You've uploaded any relevant context documents (optional but recommended).
• You've read through the interview questions and imagined participant responses.

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Next Steps

• Understanding the AI Consultant — learn how to get the most out of your research design partner.
• Structured Questions Guide — design effective structured questions for quantitative data capture.
• Publishing Your Study — what happens when you go live.
• Choosing a Methodology — a deeper look at the qualitative frameworks Koji supports.
• Sharing Your Interview Link — distribution strategies to reach your target audience.

Further reading on the blog

• Koji vs Strella: The Real Comparison of AI-Moderated Research Platforms (2026) — Strella hit $1.6M ARR with enterprise pricing. Koji wins on transparency, six structured question types, and accessibility. Honest 2026 comp

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