We've designed Ballpark to bring the best parts of quantitative and qualitative research together. Instead of restricting you to pick from rigid study types, we let you mix and match different elements to build studies that work for your goals.
How Ballpark studies work
Every study in Ballpark is built from steps that you can combine however you want. You might start with survey questions, add some usability tasks with prototypes or websites, and finish with design preference questions. It's entirely up to you.
The real power comes from how you collect responses. You have two main options:
Self-guided sessions - Participants complete your study in their own time
Live sessions - Moderate the session with your team as anonymous observers or additional moderators
Here's the thing that makes Ballpark different: these aren't separate project types.
You're building the same study either way, and you choose how people respond when you invite them. You can even mix both types of response in a single study if that's what works best.
When to use self-guided sessions
Self-guided sessions work well when you want to reach more people or when the task doesn't need real-time guidance.
Perfect for:
Surveys where you need lots of responses
Unmoderated usability testing where you want to see natural behaviour
Preference testing for designs or copy
Speak-aloud recordings where participants share their thoughts in their own time
People can participate whenever works for them, so you'll typically get responses faster and from a wider group. Including video recording with self-guided sessions can then give qualitative insights at quantitative scale.
When to use live sessions
Live sessions are in private beta: Press the chat icon at the bottom right to speak to our team about getting access to this feature
Live sessions are your go-to when you need that human connection or want to dig deeper into responses.
Perfect for:
Interviews where you want to ask follow-up questions
Moderated usability tests where you can guide participants through tricky tasks
Any situation where real-time conversation adds value
You get the benefit of being there to clarify questions, probe interesting responses, and pick up on things you might miss in a recording. Plus, you can invite your team to join the conversation on live calls, or give stakeholders private observer links so they can watch in real time without interrupting the session.
Mixing both approaches
Because you're building the same study regardless of how people respond, you can be strategic about when to use each approach. For example you might use live sessions for your main research, but add some self-guided participants to get a bigger sample size.
Building your study
The steps you can include in any Ballpark study include:
Survey questions to gather background info or opinions
Usability tasks with prototypes, websites, or apps
Design and copy preference questions
Open-ended questions for deeper insights
You combine these however makes sense for your research goals. There's no right or wrong way – just what works for the questions you're trying to answer. The key is thinking about what you need to learn, then choosing the right mix of study steps and response types to get those insights.
Get the same rich analysis either way
Whether you choose self-guided or live sessions, you get the same powerful analysis features. Every session comes with accurate, structured transcripts and AI summaries that pull out key themes and quotes. This means you can focus on what participants are telling you, rather than spending hours organising your findings.