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Diary Studies Participant Experience

Author: Mark Rickard Updated

A Diary Study invites you to share your experiences over a defined period by completing a series of missions and tasks. You submit entries — through text, photos, video, or audio — from your own device, in your own context, as things happen.

What to Expect

Your study is organized into missions. Each mission contains one or more tasks for you to complete and submit entries for. Missions may unlock all at once or on specific dates set by the researcher.

You will:

  • Create an account or sign in when you receive your study link
  • Review the study overview and mission instructions before starting
  • Complete tasks and submit entries regularly throughout the study
  • Return at any time to submit additional entries or continue new missions as they unlock

Join the Study

First-Time Participants

  1. Open the study link shared with you.
  2. Review the welcome screen, then accept the User Agreement.
  3. Enter your email address to sign in. A one-time passcode (OTP) will be sent to your email.
  4. Enter the one-time passcode to verify your account.
  5. Enter your name and phone number.
  6. Confirm your details on the confirmation screen. Next, you will see your active studies.

Returning Participants

  1. Open the study link or go to the sign-in page.
  2. Enter your email address. A one-time passcode will be sent to your email.
  3. Enter the one-time passcode to sign in. Your active studies and current progress will appear.

Navigate Your Study

After signing in, you will see your active studies. Each study shows the study name, description, and duration.

  1. Click See Details to view the full study, including its missions and tasks.
  2. On the study details page, review the study description and the list of missions available to you. Each mission card shows:
    • Mission name
    • Number of tasks
    • Due date for the current mission
    • Unlock date for upcoming missions
  3. Click Let's Start on a mission to open the Mission Details page. This page shows:
    • Mission name and instructions
    • Number of tasks in the mission
    • Minimum entries required per task
    • Maximum entries allowed per day per task
    • Mission due date
  4. Click Start Mission to begin completing the tasks.

Missions have one of four statuses:

  • Completed — you have met the minimum entry requirements for all tasks
  • In Progress — you are actively completing the mission
  • Not Started — the mission is unlocked, but you have not started yet
  • Locked — the mission is not yet available; check back on the unlock date

Complete Tasks

Each task card shows the question, the response type, and the entry requirements for that task. Expand a task card to see the full question, any answer choices, and the minimum and maximum entries that apply.

Image Tasks

  1. Tap Create Entry on the task card.
  2. Grant access to your camera and gallery when prompted.
  3. Choose to take a photo with your camera or upload from your gallery.
    • If you take a photo, you can use it or retake it before submitting.
    • If you upload from your gallery, you can select multiple images at once.
  4. Review your selection, then tap Submit Entry.

The task card tracks your progress — for example, a minimum of 3 of 10 entries — and updates each time you submit.

Video Tasks

  1. Tap Create Entry on the task card.
  2. Grant access to your camera when prompted.
  3. Record a video using your camera or upload one from your gallery.
    • If recording, a timer displays the maximum allowed duration.
    • If uploading, files that exceed the size limit will not upload. You will see an error message if this happens.
  4. Review your video, then tap Submit Entry.

Audio Tasks

  1. Tap Create Entry on the task card.
  2. Grant access to your microphone when prompted.
  3. Review the question and requirements, then tap Start Recording.
  4. When finished, tap Finish Recording.
  5. Listen back to your recording. Tap Submit Entry to submit, or Replace Audio to record again.

Open Text, Single Choice, Multiple Choice, and Rating Tasks

  1. Tap Create Entry on the task card.
  2. Read the question and enter or select your response.
  3. Tap Submit Entry to submit.

Important

  • Missions unlock on set dates. If a mission is locked, you cannot access it until its unlock date.
  • Daily entry limits apply. Once you reach the maximum entries allowed for a task in a day, the create entry option is turned off for that task until the next day. You will see the message "Daily entry limit reached."
  • The study due date is not a hard cutoff. You can continue submitting entries after the due date unless the researcher closes the study.
  • Each task tracks your minimum entries. Your progress count updates each time you submit, so you can see how many entries you have completed toward the required minimum.
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