Checklists & interviews

This page is for the people who run checklists and interviews (stewards: facilitators and checklist managers). For how a checklist looks to everyone, see Checklists.

Setting up a checklist

These settings are on a checklist added to a conversation. A Topic's own checklist is set up on the Topic; see Running interviews.

• Scope: choose Shared (one list for the conversation) or Per participant (one per person, with a participant list you edit). You can change it later; the change is confirmed, announced in the chat, and keeps current ticks.
• Controls conversation completion: off by default. Tick it to make this checklist gate the conversation. A conversation has at most one such checklist; switching asks first and is announced.
• Show who's done to participants: on a per-participant checklist, participants otherwise see only their own row and whether the group is done.
• Details (what counts as done): write what counts as done for each item. Changing the Details of a ticked item marks it Needs review; the editor warns you before you save. Everyone in affected conversations gets a note, and stewards get a notification naming the item.

The matrix

On a Topic's checklist page, press All interviews (matrix). Stewards see every interview side by side: interviewees down the side, items across the top. Each cell states its state in words (Done, Partly, Not yet, Parked, Needs review), not just colour.

• Filters: Interviewee, Item, State, Status, Group, Required / optional, and From and To dates. The multi-value filters are searchable: type to find a value and remove it with its ×. Clear filters resets them all.
• Drill in: open any cell for the evidence and the interview.
• Compare answers: see every interviewee's Answer to one item together.
• Export CSV / Export XLSX: exports the filtered view, with states and links into LEMA Chat, never quotes.
• Show previous scope: a read-only view of the list before a scope change.

Interviewees see only their own row, under Your interview (matrix), and never counts.

What each person sees

Each item has a Who sees this setting: Everyone, Facilitators only or Participants. A person's checklist shows only the items meant for them.

• Facilitators and above can switch between All items and Participant view to check what a participant sees.
• A Facilitators-only item is never asked by the interviewer and never counts toward an interview's coverage.

Interviewer instructions

Facilitators and above can write instructions the interviewer follows and participants never see:

• for the whole checklist, in Interviewer instructions at the top of the checklist (press Save guidance),
• for a section, under Instructions for the interviewer in the section's Edit details,
• for one item, under Instructions for the interviewer on this item in the item's Edit details.

There is no separate prompt per interview: the whole-checklist instructions apply to every interview on that checklist. See Where to configure an interview.

Confirming Answers and sending them to a Brain

• Confirm agent-drafted Answers in the live checklist, in the interview's Answers to confirm (n) list (with Confirm all), or in the close dialog. Confirming never sends anything to a Brain.
• Confirmed Answers appear in the conversation's Findings panel under Checklist Answers. Submit them one at a time, a selection, or all at once. Each row shows its own result ("Submitted to brain" or "Failed" with Retry).
• The Brain picker starts on the conversation's usual Brain and warns you if the Brain can be read by people who can't see the checklist. It doesn't block you: anyone who can read that Brain can read the Answer.
• An Answer arrives in the Brain already verified by the steward who confirmed or submitted it.
• Retracting an Answer withdraws its Brain records too.

Completing with gaps

When a conversation's checklist still has open required items, a Facilitator or above can choose Complete anyway and must give a reason.

• The chat gets "Completed with gaps by name: reason".
• The audit log records which items were open.
• The conversation shows a Gaps badge in the left bar and "Closed with gaps" on the checklist. The ring keeps its real value.
• Reopening the conversation clears the badge.

Closing or cancelling a checklist

Close checklist makes it read-only while it still counts. Cancel checklist… needs a reason and stops it counting. Everyone sees a notice either way. Only a facilitator can reopen a cancelled checklist.

Interviews

An interview is a conversation guided by a checklist. For setting up Topics, starting interviews and steering them, see Running interviews; for the interviewee's side, see Taking an interview.

• Starting: an interview can start as soon as its checklist has any items, required or optional.
• Order: required items are covered first, optional ones after.
• Honest wrap-up: the interviewer closes based on what was actually covered. If something is missing, it says so ("We haven't fully covered Pricing model yet") rather than claiming everything is done.
• Ended with gaps: if the interview ends with required items uncovered, the chat says Ended with gaps and lists what is Still missing. It never shows "Interview complete" in that case.
• Adding more: a completed interview can be reopened with Add more detail. New material is added to the record, never replacing it.
• Per interviewee: each interview has its own checklist, showing that interview's own ticks. The Topic's checklist shows how all interviews are going ("covered by 3 of 5").