Probing Intensity

Probing intensity determines how many follow-up questions the AI asks per base question. It's the primary control for balancing interview depth against respondent time investment.

What Probing Intensity Does#

When a respondent answers one of your base questions, the AI analyzes the response and decides whether to ask follow-up questions to explore further. Probing intensity sets the maximum number of follow-ups the AI can ask before moving to the next base question.

Higher probing intensity = more follow-ups = deeper insights, but also longer interviews.

Three Levels#

Diaform offers three probing intensity levels, each optimized for different use cases:

Low Intensity#

Up to 2 follow-up questions per base question

Best for:

• Quick pulse checks where you need directional feedback, not deep exploration
• Simple satisfaction surveys (e.g., post-transaction NPS)
• High-volume use cases where respondent time is limited
• Situations where you want to keep interviews under 5 minutes

Example flow:

1. Base question: "What has your experience been like using our product?"
2. Follow-up 1: "Can you tell me more about the ease of use you mentioned?"
3. ✅ Moves to next base question

Medium Intensity (Default)#

Up to 5 follow-up questions per base question

Best for:

• Most use cases—strikes a balance between depth and respondent time
• Customer satisfaction surveys where you need meaningful detail
• Onboarding feedback to identify specific friction points
• Post-purchase feedback to understand decision-making

Example flow:

1. Base question: "What has your experience been like using our product?"
2. Follow-up 1: "You mentioned ease of use—what specifically makes it easy?"
3. Follow-up 2: "Are there any parts that feel less intuitive?"
4. Follow-up 3: "Can you describe what happened the first time you encountered that?"
5. Follow-up 4: "How did you eventually figure it out?"
6. ✅ Moves to next base question

High Intensity#

Up to 10 follow-up questions per base question

Best for:

• Churn exit interviews where every detail matters for retention strategy
• Product discovery and user research to validate ideas and explore needs
• Deep exploratory research (e.g., understanding workflow pain points)
• Situations where quality of insight is more important than interview length

Example flow:

1. Base question: "What has your experience been like using our product?"
2. The AI asks up to 10 contextual follow-ups, diving deep into specific moments, emotions, workflows, and decision points
3. ✅ Moves to next base question after thorough exploration

Per-Question Configuration#

You can mix probing intensities within a single interview to optimize for both depth and efficiency:

Example: Churn Exit Interview

• Question 1: "Why are you leaving?" → High intensity (this is critical)
• Question 2: "What could have changed your decision?" → High intensity (also critical)
• Question 3: "What will you use instead?" → Medium intensity (useful context)
• Question 4: "What will you miss about us?" → Low intensity (nice-to-have data)

This approach keeps the most important questions thorough while preventing interview fatigue.

How It Affects Interview Length#

Approximate interview length per question (assumes respondents give detailed answers):

• Low intensity: 1-2 minutes per question
• Medium intensity: 2-4 minutes per question
• High intensity: 4-8 minutes per question

For a 4-question interview:

• All low: ~4-8 minutes total
• All medium: ~8-16 minutes total
• All high: ~16-32 minutes total
• Mixed (recommended): ~10-20 minutes total

The AI Avoids Redundancy#

The AI is context-aware and won't ask redundant follow-ups. If you have multiple base questions that cover related topics, the AI will avoid duplicating questions it already asked.

For example, if Question 1 is "What has your experience been like using our product?" and Question 3 is "What would you improve?", the AI won't re-ask about improvements during Question 1's follow-ups—it knows Question 3 is coming.

Adjusting Probing Intensity#

You can change probing intensity at any time:

1. Go to your project's Questions tab
2. Click on the question you want to adjust
3. Select Low, Medium, or High from the probing intensity dropdown
4. Click Save

Changes apply immediately to new interviews (existing in-progress interviews will continue with the previous settings).

Next Steps#