One of the great benefits with Outset is the flexibility of response time for the participant. If your participants step away for coffee and then come back to the interview, they will have no issues with continuing the conversation. But what if they want to pause the interview for a few hours?
Can participants pause and re-start an Interview Later?
Yes, participants can pause and re-start an interview later, but there are some key limitations and best practices to be aware of. Our platform allows for some flexibility in resuming interviews, but users should follow these guidelines to ensure a smooth experience.
What does an "Active" interview status mean?
If a participant has begun the interview but not finished it yet, their status will show as "Active" on your Results and Overview tabs. Participants have 24 hours to complete the interview, but once 24 hours have passed with no completion, that interview will be marked "Incomplete".
Best practices for pausing and re-starting an interview:
Interviews must be completed within 24 hours
Once an interview begins, it must be finished within a 24-hour window. After this time, the session will expire, and the participant will not be able to continue from where they left off.
Participants should keep the same browser window open for best results
Participants have two primary options if they need to step away from the interview and return later:✅ (PREFERRED OPTION) - Keep the browser window open: If they leave the interview running in an open browser tab, they can return at any time within the 24-hour period and refresh the page to continue where they left off. If the participant takes a quick break, they will not have to refresh the page, but after ~2 hours, it becomes necessary to refresh the page to continue.
❌ (NOT RECOMMENDED) Close the browser and return later: This option may work, but it depends on the type of survey link used, and is considered less reliable. If the participant started the interview using a public survey link (e.g.,
https://outset.ai/interviews/public-surveys/$ID/start), clicking the link again will start a new interview rather than resuming the previous session. To avoid this issue, participants should ensure they keep the original interview tab open.
External recruiting platforms (UI/Prolific, etc.) also allow this functionality
Participants recruited via external panels such as User Interviews or Prolific should also be able to refresh their interview page and continue from where they left off, as long as the interview is completed within 24 hours of the original start time.
💡 Tips:
Be mindful of participant time - make sure to review the study time estimate and test your study before launch to help avoid longer-than-expected interviews
If you expect a large portion of your participants to want to take the interview in multiple sittings, it could be worth adding additional instructions in either your Screener section or Interview intro text:
e.g., Screener question: "This interview will take approximately 30 minutes to complete - I confirm that I am available to complete this session now" -> Yes/No
e.g., Intro message: "Hello! This interview will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. If you plan to take a break in the middle, please keep the same browser window open and refresh the page when you return. All interviews must be completed within 24 hours of start time, or the link will expire."
Participants have some flexibility when it comes to pausing and resuming an interview, but the best approach is to keep the interview tab open and refresh when returning. As long as the interview is completed within 24 hours, participants should be able to continue seamlessly.
Feel free to reach out to our team at [email protected] with any additional questions!