Creating Scripts#

Scripts define the structure and behavior of your AI interviews. This guide covers everything from basic question types to advanced features like branching logic and localization.

What is a Script?#

A script is the blueprint for an AI interview. It contains:

• System prompt — Instructions for the AI interviewer's tone, persona, and behavior
• Questions — The topics and questions the AI will cover during the interview
• Configuration — Settings like language, voice, interview duration, and more

Scripts go through a lifecycle: Draft → Published → optionally Archived.

Creating a New Script#

From the Dashboard#

1. Navigate to Scripts in the sidebar
2. Click New Script
3. Choose one of the following:
   • Start from scratch — A blank script
   • Use a template — Pre-built scripts for common use cases
   • Duplicate existing — Copy an existing script as a starting point

From a Template#

Templates are pre-configured scripts for popular use cases:

| Template | Use Case | Estimated Duration | |---|---|---| | Customer Discovery | Understand customer needs and pain points | 8–12 min | | Product Feedback | Gather feedback on a specific product or feature | 5–8 min | | Candidate Screening | Initial HR screening questions | 10–15 min | | Academic Research | Structured research interviews | 15–20 min | | NPS Follow-Up | Deep dive after an NPS survey | 5–7 min |

Script Structure#

System Prompt#

The system prompt tells the AI how to behave during the interview. This is the most important part of your script.

A good system prompt includes:

• Role definition — Who the AI is (e.g., "You are a friendly customer researcher")
• Tone and style — How the AI should speak (formal, casual, empathetic)
• Interview goal — What information you want to gather
• Boundaries — Topics to avoid or redirect away from
• Follow-up behavior — When and how to probe deeper

Example system prompt:

You are a friendly and professional customer researcher conducting an interview
about the user's experience with our project management tool.

Your goal is to understand:
1. How they currently use the tool
2. What features they find most valuable
3. Pain points and frustrations
4. Feature requests and suggestions

Guidelines:
- Keep a conversational, warm tone
- Ask one question at a time
- Use follow-up questions to dig deeper into interesting responses
- Don't ask leading questions
- If the user goes off-topic, gently guide them back
- Keep the total interview under 10 minutes

Questions#

Questions are the core topics your AI interviewer will cover. You don't need to write them as rigid question-answer pairs — the AI will naturally weave them into the conversation.

Best practices for writing questions:

• Write them as topics or open-ended questions
• Order them from broad to specific
• Include optional follow-up prompts
• Keep the total number manageable (5–10 questions for a 10-minute interview)

Example questions:

1. Tell me about your role and how you use [product] day-to-day.
2. What features do you use most frequently? Why?
3. What's the most frustrating part of using [product]?
4. If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?
5. How does [product] compare to other tools you've used?
6. Is there anything else you'd like to share about your experience?

Configuration Options#

Scripts have several configuration options that control the interview experience:

Advanced Features#

Branching Logic#

You can instruct the AI to adapt the interview flow based on participant responses. This is done through the system prompt rather than a rigid decision tree.

Example:

If the participant mentions they are a manager, ask about team workflows
and delegation features. If they are an individual contributor, focus on
personal productivity and task management features.

The AI will naturally detect context clues and adjust its questions accordingly.

Multi-Language Scripts#

InterviewRelay supports interviews in multiple languages. To create a multi-language script:

1. Set the primary language in the script configuration
2. Write your system prompt and questions in the primary language
3. The AI will conduct the interview in the configured language

Custom Intro and Outro#

Customize the start and end of every interview:

Intro message example:

Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today. I'm going to ask
you a few questions about your experience with our product. There are no right
or wrong answers — I'm just interested in your honest feedback. Ready to get
started?

Outro message example:

That's all the questions I have. Thank you so much for your time and thoughtful
responses! Your feedback is really valuable to us. Have a great day!

Publishing a Script#

When your script is ready:

1. Open the script editor
2. Review all questions and settings
3. Click Publish
4. Confirm the publication

Pre-Publish Checklist#

Before publishing, verify:

• [ ] System prompt clearly defines the AI's role and behavior
• [ ] Questions cover all topics you want to explore
• [ ] Language and voice settings are correct
• [ ] Intro and outro messages are appropriate
• [ ] You've tested the script with a practice interview

Testing Your Script#

Always test your script before using it in a campaign:

1. Open your draft script
2. Click Test Interview
3. Complete the interview as if you were a participant
4. Review the transcript for quality
5. Adjust questions and prompts as needed

Managing Scripts#

Script Lifecycle#

| Status | Description | Can Edit? | Can Use in Campaign? | |---|---|---|---| | Draft | Work in progress | Yes | No | | Published | Ready for use | Limited | Yes | | Archived | No longer active | No | No |

Duplicating Scripts#

To create a variation of an existing script:

1. Open the script you want to duplicate
2. Click Duplicate
3. The copy will be created as a new draft
4. Make your changes and publish when ready

Archiving Scripts#

To archive a script that's no longer needed:

1. Open the script
2. Click Archive
3. Archived scripts remain accessible but cannot be used in new campaigns

Best Practices#

Writing Effective Questions#

• Be open-ended: Ask "How do you feel about X?" instead of "Do you like X?"
• One topic per question: Don't combine multiple questions into one
• Avoid leading language: Don't suggest the answer in the question
• Use natural language: Write the way you'd speak in a real conversation
• Progress logically: Start broad, then narrow down to specifics

Optimizing Interview Length#

| Interview Length | Ideal Number of Questions | Best For | |---|---|---| | 5 minutes | 3–5 | Quick feedback, NPS follow-ups | | 10 minutes | 5–8 | Standard research interviews | | 15 minutes | 8–12 | In-depth research, candidate screening | | 20+ minutes | 10–15 | Academic research, comprehensive studies |

System Prompt Tips#

• Keep it concise but thorough
• Define clear boundaries for the AI
• Include examples of good follow-up behavior
• Specify how to handle sensitive topics
• Test different prompt variations to find what works best

What's Next?#

• Create a Campaign to send your script to participants
• Review Transcripts from completed interviews
• Use the API to manage scripts programmatically