> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://evidano.gitbook.io/ailyze-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://evidano.gitbook.io/ailyze-docs/collect-research-data/create-an-ai-avatar-interviewer.md).

# Create an AI Avatar Interviewer

Set up an AI interviewer (a video avatar or a voice) to interview your participants, then collect survey answers, recordings, and transcripts.

This page shows you how to set up an AI interviewer that talks to your participants, either as a lifelike video avatar or as a voice only. You design the survey and interview once, test it for free, share a link, and Evidano collects everyone's survey answers, recordings, and [transcripts](/ailyze-docs/reference/glossary.md#transcript) in one dashboard.

Every field and option is listed in [AI Avatar Interviewer Settings](/ailyze-docs/reference/settings/ai-avatar-interviewer.md). For the shortest path, see [Create Your First AI Avatar Interviewer](/ailyze-docs/getting-started/create-your-first-ai-avatar-interviewer.md).

## Before you start

* Your interview questions, and any survey questions you want answered first (a template can get you started).
* Building and testing is free. Collecting real interviews needs a wallet balance above the minimum; see [Plans, Limits & Credits](/ailyze-docs/reference/plans-limits-and-credits.md).

## How it works

Each participant opens your public link, allows the microphone (and camera, for a video avatar), answers a short survey, and talks with the AI interviewer, which asks your questions, follows up, and wraps up. The survey can come before or after the interview, or you can skip it.

## Step 1: Start a project

1. From your account page, click **Create AI Avatar Interviewer + Survey**.
2. Click **Create New** for a blank form, or **Duplicate Existing** and pick a project to copy.

You should see the **Project Setup** step.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-bc73f9b179d78b503d2e8dd1ae7d55e53bc16b08%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-03-start.png?alt=media" alt="How would you like to start? with Create New and Duplicate Existing"><figcaption><p>A duplicate copies the setup, survey and script, never the responses.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Step 2: Name the project and pick its languages

1. Type a **Project Name**. The **Custom URL Slug** fills in from it; edit it if you want a shorter link.
2. Open **Supported Languages** and tick every language the interview runs in. The first one is the language you write in.

You should see a green tick next to the slug.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-1eaed839c38204fa5d8e877b43c25f77b01d38ee%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-04-setup-fields.png?alt=media" alt="Project Name, Custom URL Slug, Supported Languages and the two interviewer cards"><figcaption><p>Participants see the project name as the title of the interview page.</p></figcaption></figure>

Several languages create one project per language, sharing one link; participants choose their language first.

## Step 3: Choose the interviewer

Under **Choose Interviewer**, click **Video avatar** or **Voice only**.

* **Video avatar:** filter the avatars by **Gender**, **Age**, and **Style**, and click one. Cards badged **Custom** open a contact form instead. Then pick an **Accent**, press **Preview voice** to listen, and click a voice card.
* **Voice only:** pick a **Voice** under **Interviewer voice**. No camera, avatar, or accent is needed, and it works on weaker connections.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-bea105f9e3549d719ca4e4441207defa9d5a7388%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-06-avatar-filters.png?alt=media" alt="Avatar filters with Style set to Pro and the first avatar cards"><figcaption><p>Style: Pro shows the most realistic avatars; hover a card to play its preview.</p></figcaption></figure>

You should see the setup cards below the voices (for a video avatar), and the **Next** button turn blue. If it stays grey, the message under it names what is missing.

## Step 4: Choose how the session runs

Pick one option on each card:

* **Choose Interview Setup:** **Survey → Interview**, or **Interview** with no survey.
* **Interview flow:** **Simple flow** (everyone gets the same questions), or **Survey Driven Branching** (questions depend on one survey answer). This cannot change later.
* **Survey timing:** **Survey before interview** or **Survey after interview**. Screening and questions about survey answers need the survey first.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-2c7a33770d0868b7ede4aefc235d10df8a918fee%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-08-setup-cards.png?alt=media" alt="Choose Interview Setup, Interview flow and Survey timing cards"><figcaption><p>The defaults suit most projects.</p></figcaption></figure>

Click **Next: Design Survey**.

## Step 5: Design the survey

1. Click **Create own survey**, or a template such as **Demographic Survey**.
2. Edit the questions in the editor, or describe what you want in **AI Chat**. **Paste Survey & Let AI Format** turns a pasted list into questions.
3. Optional: open **Add a screen / eligibility filter (optional)** to screen out respondents, for example anyone who does not consent.

You should see your questions in the editor.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ac7b6c4d3a944e4a29ce7e76cffef4ddaa38d3cc%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-10-survey-editor.png?alt=media" alt="Survey editor with the Using banner, the editor tabs and AI Chat"><figcaption><p>Replace every [xx] placeholder a template contains.</p></figcaption></figure>

Include clear consent wording, and follow the privacy laws that apply to recording participants. Click **Next: Interview Script**.

## Step 6: Write the interview script

1. Paste a rough guide under **Paste & Format with AI** and click **Format with AI**, or click **Add Manually**.
2. Write the **Introduction**, ending with "Shall we start?"
3. Add each question with **Add Question**. Click a question's gear to mark it **Nice to learn**, make it conditional, or add follow-ups.
4. Write the **Conclusion**, ending with "You may close the page."

You should see the message under **Create Project** stop asking for a missing section. The grey text in an empty box is only an example; replace it with your own.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-97a8a89e97fa6ae3a86195c268f3ef08828fd10b%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-14-script-manual.png?alt=media" alt="Interview script with objective, introduction, two questions and conclusion filled in"><figcaption><p>An invented mobile clinic project; the Research Objective is optional but helps the interviewer follow up.</p></figcaption></figure>

If you chose **Survey Driven Branching**, this step is **Branched Interview**: pick the survey question to branch on, then write a script for each answer.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4f8f0f48be3e6e385dcffaaefb38b0748a1e7758%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-43-branching.png?alt=media" alt="Branched Interview step with the category question chosen and a branch per answer"><figcaption><p>Each branch shows Configuration required until its script is written.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Step 7: Adjust the optional settings

Expand **Optional Settings** to set a time or response limit, a deadline, the closing feedback question, email digests, the interviewer's moderation style, sensitive-topic handling, and extra instructions. Each group is described in [Optional Settings](/ailyze-docs/reference/settings/ai-avatar-interviewer.md#optional-settings).

## Step 8: Create the project and test it

1. Click **Preview Survey** to check the survey as a participant.
2. Click **Create Project**.

You should see the project dashboard with the status set to **Test (free)**.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c9e6611ff6075dea4d9c77aa3edb1b2de7dd9238%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-28-dash-overview.png?alt=media" alt="Project dashboard Overview with the interview link, Status, wallet and counters"><figcaption><p>Open the interview link yourself in test mode before inviting anyone.</p></figcaption></figure>

Open the **Avatar interview URL** and take the interview yourself. Test responses are recorded, marked Test Mode, and never charged.

## Step 9: Go live

On the **Status** card, click **Active**, then **Go live** in the dialog.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Costs money:** Each live interview is charged to your wallet by the minute; the **Go live?** dialog states the rate. If your wallet is below the minimum, an **Insufficient Balance** dialog offers a top-up instead and nothing changes. See [Plans, Limits & Credits](/ailyze-docs/reference/plans-limits-and-credits.md).
{% endhint %}

You should see **Active** highlighted. **Paused** stops new participants at any time.

## Step 10: Share the link

Open **Participants & sharing** and copy the **Interview URL**, download the QR code, or embed the interview on your website. To invite by email, click **Send by email**, add recipients, and review the message before sending.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-13bec9c798a9091de412e9f5b8ec4f91ce916022%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-37-sharing.png?alt=media" alt="Participants &#x26; sharing with the interview link, QR code and embed snippet"><figcaption><p>Invited recipients and their progress appear further down.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Step 11: Monitor and download responses

Open **Responses**. Recordings and transcripts take a few minutes to process; click **Refresh** if a new one is missing.

* The **Responses Table** shows one row per participant (**Combined**), or interviews or survey answers alone. Click **View** to open a transcript, or **View Recording**.
* **Download all** downloads transcripts (DOCX, XLSX, SRT, VTT, or TXT) or the survey answers as XLSX.
* A duplicates button flags responses that share an email or a device, so you can archive the extras.

<figure><img src="https://1178311500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fi4GBXPMUDxszIpUVOARU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-d503350c64995404ad22b01149d9c10091a97328%2Fsettings-ai-avatar-interviewer-34-responses-table.png?alt=media" alt="Responses Table with its views, filters, switches, Download all and Delete"><figcaption><p>Test responses are hidden automatically once live ones arrive.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Step 12: Analyze what you collected

* **Analyze Interviews** opens document analysis; upload the transcripts you downloaded. See [Analyze interview transcripts](/ailyze-docs/common-research-workflows/analyze-interview-transcripts.md).
* **Analyze Survey** asks you to download the survey answers and opens spreadsheet analysis. See [Analyze open-ended survey responses](/ailyze-docs/common-research-workflows/analyze-open-ended-survey-responses.md).

## Next steps

* [Create a Survey](/ailyze-docs/collect-research-data/create-a-survey.md) — a standalone survey with no interview attached.
* [Analyze interview transcripts](/ailyze-docs/common-research-workflows/analyze-interview-transcripts.md) — find the themes across the interviews you collected.
* [AI Avatar Interviewer issues](/ailyze-docs/troubleshooting/ai-interviewer-issues.md) — participants blocked, status, or balance problems.