Find out why participants can't book the times you opened, check what they can actually book, and fix the most common causes.
This article is for all researchers (admins and users) on any User Interviews plan who schedule 1-on-1 interviews or focus groups.
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Times you add vs. times participants can book
Your project calendar shows the availability you set up. Participants don't always get every one of those times. Before a time is offered, it also has to pass your Limits, such as Minimum notice and Maximum sessions. With smart availability, it also has to fit the working hours and calendars of the moderator and any required attendees.
So a time can appear on your calendar and still be hidden from participants. Start by checking what participants can actually book.
Check which times participants can book
- Go to Research design > Research activity.
- In the Availability, attendees and location section, click Edit. The scheduling drawer opens.
- Open the Save menu and select Save and preview. Your changes are saved, and the preview opens in a new tab.
- Compare the times in the preview with the times you expect.
The preview shows the sessions a participant can book right now, with Minimum notice and Maximum sessions applied. It shows times in your project time zone. Participants view the same times converted to their own time zone.
After launch, you can also open the scheduling drawer from Participant management > Scheduled > Manage schedule.
Common booking problems and how to fix them
Find the problem that matches what you see, then work through the checks in order.
Participants can't book any times
- Check that you saved. If you close the scheduling drawer before you click Save, your changes are lost.
- Check that the times are in the future and meet your Minimum notice. Times that start sooner than your Minimum notice are hidden. For example, with 24 hours' notice, nothing in the next 24 hours can be booked.
- Check Maximum sessions (1-on-1 interviews). When the daily or weekly limit is reached, the rest of that day's or week's times are hidden.
- Smart availability: check the moderator's calendar connection. If the moderator disconnects their calendar, the project has no availability until they reconnect.
Some times are missing
- Minimum notice or Maximum sessions hides times as described in the previous section. These Limits apply to both smart availability and manual time blocks.
- Smart availability offers only times that fit the working hours and calendars of the moderator and every required attendee. A required attendee's working hours or a busy event on their calendar can stop a time from being offered, even when you're free. Learn how to set up smart availability.
- Manual time blocks don't check any calendars. Participants can book any block you add, as long as it passes your Limits.
The times don't match my work calendar
- Check the User Interviews project calendar, not your work calendar. Booking follows the project calendar and your Limits.
- Sessions sync one way. We add confirmed sessions to your connected calendar. If you move or delete a session in your work calendar, the session in User Interviews doesn't change. Make session changes in User Interviews.
- Smart availability won't match your calendar exactly, because it also applies working hours, required attendees, and Limits.
- Manual time blocks are offered even when they overlap a busy event on your calendar or a required attendee's calendar. Check your calendar before you add a block.
Times are off by a few hours
Compare your account time zone with your project time zone. Keep them the same, and match them to where the moderator will be during sessions. A new project doesn't use your account time zone, and a duplicated project keeps the original project's time zone. Learn more in How time zones work in User Interviews.
Sessions are back-to-back with no break
Buffer time only applies to availability blocks. Session blocks don't get a buffer, so leave a gap between them yourself, or use one availability block instead.
A long block offers only one time
A block that's exactly as long as your session length is a Session block, which holds one session. To offer several start times in one stretch, make the block longer than your session length. It becomes an Availability block, and Start time increment sets how often start times appear.
I can't change my session length
You can't change the session length after launch. To change it, contact our team. The new length also applies to sessions that participants already booked.
How scheduling types, blocks, and Limits work
Scheduling type
For 1-on-1 interviews, choose Smart availability or Manual time blocks in Availability setup > Scheduling type. Focus groups always use manual time blocks.
- Smart availability creates times for you from your working hours and connected calendars. You and your collaborators need a connected Google or Outlook calendar.
- Manual time blocks offer only the blocks you add, and don't check your calendar for conflicts. A connected calendar is optional. If you connect one, confirmed sessions are still added to it.
Block types
| Block | What it is |
|---|---|
| Session block | One session, exactly as long as your session length |
| Availability block | A longer stretch of time. Participants pick a start time inside it, and Buffer time and Start time increment apply. |
Here's how each block appears in a 1-on-1 interview.
In focus groups, each block shows Slots: how many participants can sign up for a session in that block. To change it, click the pencil icon on the block. Blocks in 1-on-1 interviews don't show Slots.
If you add more than one block at the same time, each session uses the default moderator and session link until you change them, so the moderator can be double-booked. Learn more in Run multiple 1:1 interviews at the same time.
Limits
Find Limits in the Limits section of the scheduling drawer. Limits don't stop you from adding blocks. They only hide times from participants.
| Limit | 1-on-1 interviews | Focus groups | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum notice | Yes | Yes | Hides times that start sooner than the notice you set |
| Maximum sessions | Yes | Not available | Hides the rest of a day's or week's times once that many sessions are booked |
| Buffer time | Availability blocks only | Availability blocks only | Adds time before, after, and between sessions |
| Start time increment | Availability blocks only | Availability blocks only | Sets how often start times are offered |
Focus groups don't have Maximum sessions, so to limit a focus group, add fewer blocks or set fewer slots on each block.