In this article
Welcome to our Researchers FAQ page! See below for answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.
1: General
How do projects work in terms of having participants participate via web and mobile?
Forsta Plus Digital Diaries allows you to run web-only or hybrid mobile and web projects. There are several different activities; not all can be used on mobile.
Activities and Mobile Use
- Regular Activity: The standard activities that display for participants when they are signed in to the website. There are mutiple collectors and stimuli such as: files to share, collecting files, showing photos and videos, collecting photos and video, standard multiple choice, and text-based collectors.
- Mobile Activity: This activity is similar to the Regular Activity, but it can also be accessed from the mobile app as well as on the website. It is limited to adding 20 collectors within an activity.
- Concept Canvas: This activity allows participants to interact with an image by posting how they feel about certain parts of the image and explain why. This activity is only available on the website and does not have mobile app support.
- Discussion: This activity allows participants to interact in a Discussion-like setup with a user interface similar to social media sites.
How does Forsta Plus Digital Diaries protect the information I’ve posted as stimulus, such as test commercials?
Forsta Plus Digital Diaries employs the following precautions to keep your data safe:
Encryption & Authentication
All traffic to the site is encrypted using SSL. Insecure traffic to the site is automatically redirected to a secure connection. We use key-based encryption for access to our machines, ensuring that passwords or passwords alone are not sufficient for accessing our infrastructure. We run our SSH daemon on a non-standard port to reduce our security scanning profile.
Foiling Automated Attacks
From the front-end, we have a CAPTCHA test that is designed to foil brute-force password attacks from automated sources.
Network Segregation
The core network infrastructure at our data center segregates traffic to prevent eavesdropping. Our network gateways are hardened against spoofing attacks, and employ packet filtering and policy routing. Unused switching device ports are disabled. Our hosting provider maintains their own source-controlled package repositories and employ upstream package staging to secure binary packages and fast track security and bug fixes.
Physical Security
Professional security personnel monitor and physically control access to our data center 24/7. In addition, our data centers feature multi-layered access control points, biometric identification, badge scanners and Secure cages and locked racks. Our data center is SAS-70 compliant, meaning it has received one of the highest security ratings in the industry with regard to the physical security of the infrastructure.
Additional Security for Video
Videos that are uploaded to our site by researchers or participants can only be viewed using a secure link to the original video source that expires in twenty four hours. This means that links to videos from the site time-out quickly so that they can’t be shared with others.
Automated Internal Testing
We use an extensive automated test suite that is run daily to ensure that our security policies are strictly enforced in our codebase.
Performance on Security Tests
Our site has passed rigorous security requirements and external penetration tests from Fortune 100 companies.
Confidential Content
Even with these security practices in place, we cannot ensure the physical security of a participants computer, or prevent a user from simply taking a screenshot of their web browser. We advise our clients not to post sensitive product information in their studies.
Who can access study data?
There are only two groups of people that have access to study data. Those who are part of the project's Research Team, which includes all Researchers and Observers. And those who are part of the Forsta Plus Digital Diaries staff, which includes our Technical Support team, our Development team, Client Services, and the Sales Services member working on the project.
Observers only have access to submitted data from participants; they do not have access to participant's personal information, and they do not have access to remove data from the platform via publishing/downloading.
In the event the entirety of the Research Team, specifically Researcher Role, requires restricted access to participant emails, Forsta Plus Digital Diaries can enable a feature called Obscure Profile PII to mask participant emails, profile photos (avatars), first and last name. For additional information, see Obscure Profile PII and Enabling Obscure Profile PII.
Tip: Members of the Research Team can be added on the Project Setup > Settings page .
Can I delete old projects?
To delete project data, on the Participant page, you can select all participants and delete. You will be prompted to confirm. Once confirmed, all participants and their associated data will be removed from the study. You can also request that your project be deleted by sending an email to support@forsta.com. Please remember to include the project name, URL and the Forsta project number (if known). Please keep in mind that deleting a project is an irreversible action: Forsta cannot recover any project data once the deletion has occurred.
How long is a typical project?
A typical project runs 5-7 days. However, Forsta Plus Digital Diaries has had projects run as long as 18 months or as short as 3 days.
What are “Participant Days”?
Participant days are located on the Project Settings page. This number is calculated based on the number of days each participant was actively commenting on and making activity submissions. If one person is active on each of 5 days of a study, that is 5 participant days. Each participant’s accumulated days are added together to create the total you see under “Participant Days”.
Does Forsta Plus Digital Diaries have Geo Fencing capabilities?
Forsta Plus Digital Diaries does not offer Geo Fencing at this time.
What information does the mobile app use regarding a participant and their device?
Forsta Plus Digital Diaries gathers minimal data including:
- Device type/version: This information helps with error tracking and troubleshooting.
- Default language: Ultimately, the language of the participant’s segment will determine the language used in the activities (instructions and questions). However, the interface (menu, sections, buttons and tooltips) of our mobile application displays according to the language set on their mobile device.
- Default time: Timezone information is automatically captured when new participants register for a project via the mobile application.
- Geolocation: Forsta does not track the specific location of devices. Forsta only tracks the IP address for basic analytics. IP information is not shared nor used for any purposes outside of basic analytics.
On which devices does the Forsta Plus Digital Diaries mobile app work?
The mobile app is currently offered on iOS (version 13+) and Android (version 6+). See Forsta Plus Digital Diaries System Requirements for more information.
Can I use the Forsta Plus Digital Diaries mobile app on a tablet?
Yes, the mobile application is fully supported on iPad and Android tablets. Same OS limitations are applicable for tablets: iOS (version 13+) and Android (version 6+). See Forsta Plus Digital Diaries System Requirements for more information.
Can I interact with the researcher website on my phone or tablet?
The researcher interface is optimized for computers. However, it is a responsive web application, so it can be accessed on a variety of device types using a supported browser. The Forsta Plus Digital Diaries mobile app is for participants only. See Forsta Plus Digital Diaries System Requirements for more information.
Which web browsers does Forsta Plus Digital Diaries support?
Chrome, Edge, Brave and Safari. Forsta Plus Digital Diaries strongly recommends using Chrome for the best experience. While Mozilla Firefox will work for most of our site, some functions require the use of Adobe Flash which is no longer supported by Firefox. Internet Explorer and Opera are not supported. See Forsta Plus Digital Diaries System Requirements for more information.
2: Activity Creation and Scheduling
Is it possible to schedule activities for multiple time zones?
The Forsta Plus Digital Diaries system uses the participant time zone to determine when an activity is launched. If the activity is scheduled for 8am, it will launch at 8am for all participants based on their personal time zones. The system requires participants to enter their time zone upon registration (the mobile app automatically choose the time the device is set to). Participants will not be allowed to access the study until they select their time zone. If the timezone needs to be changed, participants can edit it in their personal settings or researchers can edit it for them by accessing their information in the Participants page and updating the participant’s profile.
What are the differences between "Influenced", "Uninfluenced", and "Private" activities?
When building an activity, you have the following three options to choose from:
- Influenced: The participant will be able to view other participants' responses before submitting their own response. They will be able to view these responses from their Feed.
- Uninfluenced: The participant will be able to view other participants' responses only after they have submitted a response. Once their activity is submitted, they will be able to view other submissions.
- Private: The participants' activity submissions are kept completely private from all other participants. Only the researchers and observers can view the responses.
What are the restraints around the images participants can upload?
Image files can have a maximum 10 MB file size. Accepted image formats are .png, .jpg, and .jpeg.
Is there a size limit to the videos a participant can upload?
There is no size limit, but there is a duration limit of 5 minutes. If uploading on the mobile app, the app must be left open in the foreground and connected to WiFi or data until the video fully uploads. Please keep in mind that longer videos take longer to upload.
How many participants can I have in a single project?
While the size of the study is based on number of participants and the number and size of the activities, Forsta Plus Digital Diaries tends to notice slowdown when viewing data and exporting reports around 250 active participants in a given project.
3: Project Creation
Is there a limit to the number of people I can invite to be part of my research team?
Nope! Feel free to give as many people access to your project as you need.
How many moderators can work on a single project?
Each segment can have only one primary contact, but there can be unlimited moderators on a project. Entire teams can probe participants and see the ongoing data collection.
Can I moderate multiple studies at once?
Yes! With Forsta Plus Digital Diaries, you can be a researcher, observer, and participant all at once, in as many projects as you like. However, each email address can only have one role in a single project.
What’s the difference between the Researcher, Observer, and Recruiter roles in the system?
Researchers have access to everything within the study including participant interaction, activity generation and editing, adding and removing participants, viewing data in the "Explore" area, generating data exports, and exporting data. They are effectively the moderators for the project.
Observers have the ability to preview activities and view data in the "Explore" area. Observers cannot interact with participants, edit activities, or export data. Sensitive PII information such as first name, last name, and email are also hidden from this role.
Recruiters only have the ability to verify emails, and add/delete participants.
4: Moderation
How do I know if a moderator has left a comment?
When a moderator leaves a comment, two things happen. First, the entry they left a comment on is treated as "new" in the Explore area for all researchers on the research team. Second, the segment contact for the participant who made the post will be notified via email that a new comment has been made.
5: Data Review and Analysis
How can I get data out of the system?
Under the "Explore" menu you can publish reports based on the filters you set for the results. You can narrow results by up to 3 filters to access very specific data. The data is available for typed responses, videos, audio files, and pictures. To download the reports, open the Findings page.
Is there any way to eliminate stop words like "a," "the," "and," etc., from the Word Tree?
Yes. Forsta Plus Digital Diaries currently has all major stop words in place for English.
Can I see participant data based on certain demographic criteria?
Yes, you can add custom profile fields. Each participant can have characteristics assigned to them, such as income, ethnicity, etc.
When uploading participants via a .csv file, you can add custom profile columns. To learn more, see Creating Custom Profile Fields.
When exploring your data, these different custom profile fields will be available by selecting With profile field... and can be used to drill down to certain populations. To learn more, see Using Custom Profile Fields.
Can I tag a photo or video?
You can attribute tags to an activity a video or photo is in, but you cannot directly attribute tags to a specific video or photo. See Tagging Responses (Researchers) to learn more.
6: White-Labeling
Can the website URL be white-labeled?
Yes! A custom sub domain is included as part of every white label (ex: name.studyspace.net).
What does a company get as part of a white label?
Clients who purchase a white label get branded log in pages and interfaces for both the app and website, as well as the app icon design for the iOS app and Google Play stores.
What is the lead time needed to white-label?
Four weeks from the time that final assets (logo, colors, etc.) are given to Forsta Plus Digital Diaries.
7: Concept Canvas
Can Concept Canvas images be randomized?
Yes, you can add multiple Concept Canvas activities, each with a different image, to a random activity chain when scheduling activities. This will assign the images in a random order to participants.
Can a participant zoom into an image?
Yes. By default, the image for the activity is sized to fit the participant's screen. If a participant wants to see the image at full size, select Full. To refit the image to the screen, select Fit. See Participating in a Concept Canvas Activity to learn more about the participant experience.