> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.userintuition.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Interview Modes

> Interviews run as chat, voice, or video. How the three differ in what they capture, what participants have to allow, and what they cost.

Every study runs in one of three formats: **chat**, **voice**, or **video**.

**You choose the format when you build the study, in [Step 4](/creating-a-study/setup-interview). Participants can't change it**, and it applies to every interview in the study.

***

## The three formats

|                              | Chat                 | Voice                         | Video                      |
| ---------------------------- | -------------------- | ----------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| **What participants do**     | Type their responses | Speak, and hear the moderator | Speak on camera            |
| **What's captured**          | Transcript           | Transcript + audio            | Transcript + audio + video |
| **Device permission needed** | None                 | Microphone                    | Camera and microphone      |
| **Screen sharing**           | —                    | Available                     | Available                  |
| **Credits per interview**    | 0.5                  | 1                             | 2                          |

***

## Chat

Participants type their answers in a text conversation.

The lowest-friction option — nothing to allow, nothing to set up, and it works anywhere a browser does. Participants can take their time composing an answer, which suits detailed or technical questions and anyone answering in a second language.

The trade-off is that typed answers tend to be shorter and flatter than spoken ones. You lose hesitation, emphasis, and the moment someone talks themselves into a different opinion.

***

## Voice

Participants speak and hear the moderator, like a phone call.

This is the workhorse format. Spoken answers run longer and reveal more than typed ones, and a twenty-minute conversation isn't tiring in the way twenty minutes of typing would be. You get tone, hesitation, and the moment someone changes their mind.

Participants can also **share their screen** in voice interviews, which is enough for most walkthroughs — you see what they're doing without needing them on camera.

***

## Video

Participants speak on camera, and can share their screen.

Use video when you need to see the person or what they're looking at: reactions to a concept, watching someone work through an interface, or research where facial expression is part of the finding.

<Note>
  **You can't require a participant to turn their camera on.** Camera control sits with the participant in their browser. If they decline, the interview still runs and is still recorded as a voice conversation — you just don't get the video track. Plan for a share of any video study to come back without video.
</Note>

***

## Permissions and privacy

Chat needs no device access at all.

Voice and video ask for the microphone — and, for video, the camera — **before the interview starts**. That means participants meet the privacy question up front, while they're still deciding whether to take part, rather than being surprised by it mid-conversation. Consent is handled before any recording begins.

If a participant's device or browser can't support the format, they'll see an error before the conversation starts rather than partway through.

***

## Cost

Interviews are billed in credits, and the format sets the multiplier:

| Format | Credits |
| ------ | ------- |
| Chat   | 0.5     |
| Voice  | 1       |
| Video  | 2       |

A video interview costs four times a chat interview. If you don't need the camera, voice gets you most of the depth at half the price.

<Card title="Billing and credits" icon="credit-card" href="/resources/billing-and-credits">
  What a credit costs on each plan.
</Card>

***

## Choosing

Start with **voice**. It's the best depth-per-credit trade in the platform and suits most research.

Move to **video** when seeing the participant or their screen is part of the finding — and accept that some participants will keep their camera off.

Use **chat** when speaking isn't practical: participants in open-plan offices, sensitive topics people would rather type, or audiences where typing lowers the barrier enough to matter for your response rate.

***

## Frequently Asked Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can a participant switch formats mid-interview?">
    No. The format is fixed for the whole study.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change the format after launch?">
    Yes, from **Actions → Edit Study**, but responses collected before and after won't be directly comparable. If you're partway through, duplicate the study instead.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does the moderator appear on camera in video interviews?">
    No. The moderator speaks and listens; there's no on-camera avatar. Participants see themselves and their own screen share.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does the voice selection matter in chat studies?">
    No. Participants never hear the moderator in chat, so the voice applies only to voice and video. The moderator's personality is the same across all three.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>