Dial testing with MX8 Labs

Dial testing is a powerful tool in market research, particularly when assessing emotional engagement and sentiment in response to video content. Here's a detailed guide on implementing dial testing with the MX8 Labs Research Platform.

Why Use Dial Testing?

Dial testing allows respondents to provide real-time feedback as they watch a video. This method is invaluable for capturing moment-by-moment reactions, helping researchers pinpoint specific parts of the video that resonate or fall flat.

What Dial Testing Can Reveal

Dial testing helps uncover:

• Emotional Peaks and Valleys: Identify moments of high engagement or emotional impact.
• Clarity Issues: Spot sections where confusion or disengagement occurs.
• Audience Preferences: Understand which elements (e.g., visuals, messaging, tone) resonate most.
• Comparative Feedback: Test multiple versions of a video to see which performs better.

How to Code Dial Testing in MX8 Labs

MX8 Labs makes it simple to integrate dial testing into your surveys. Here's how to set it up:

1. Play the Video: Use the play_video function to show your video to respondents.
2. Add a Dial: Set the dial parameter to position the dial on the screen. Options are:
   • "right": Places the dial to the right of the video.
   • "bottom": Positions the dial below the video.
   • "none": No dial is displayed.

Customize Labels and Captions:

1. Use dial_labels to define the scale (e.g., {0: "Dislike", 50: "Neutral", 100: "Like"}).
2. Add a custom dial_caption to instruct respondents (e.g., "Adjust the slider to indicate your feelings.").

Example Code

pythonCopy
from survey import Survey

s = Survey(**globals())

for media in s.media:
    s.play_video(
        video=media,
        start_message="Hit play when you're ready to watch the video.",
        end_message="Thank you for watching the video!",
        dial="bottom",
        dial_labels={0: "Dislike", 50: "Neutral", 100: "Like"},
        dial_caption="Adjust the slider to reflect your feelings as you watch the video."
    )

s.complete()

How Dial Testing Appears in the Survey

Respondents will see the video player with a slider (dial) to the right or below the video. They can adjust the slider in real time to reflect their feelings as the video plays.

How the Reporting Looks

Once data is collected, the reporting dashboard will display:

• A timeline graph showing the average dial position over time.

• Key moments (timestamps) of peak engagement or disengagement.

• Breakdown of sentiment trends by demographics or segments.

You can also play or download the video with the results shown side by side.

Creating a Video Overlay Report

On the Reports tab, select Create → Video Overlay, enter the report name and audience settings, then Save to open the editor. You can also set the combined-chart and overlay-generation choices during creation. To change a saved report, select it and choose Edit.

The editor has four steps: Scope → Questions & videos → Relabelling → Significance.

1. In Scope, set respondent statuses and the optional report window. Project reports also select surveys and whether respondent IDs are consistent across them. Enter dates in the local timezone shown beneath the fields.
2. In Questions & videos, choose the required Time-series question. It must provide video filename and time-offset tags (file_name and offset_seconds). The selector only offers eligible questions.
3. Optionally select one different question under Cut by, such as ethnicity, to group the series. This additional selection is a categorical grouping of the primary measure, not a second time-series measure.

Under Videos:

• Show all videos on one chart combines videos for comparison. When off, each video has a separate chart.
• Generate overlay video creates a review video with the chart rendered over the original. It requires separate charts. Enabling the combined-chart option turns overlay generation off and makes that control unavailable.
• With overlay generation enabled, Overlay description, Copyright notice and Logo file name appear. Enter the text and logo filename to use with the generated video.
• Excluded tags removes unwanted grouping tags. The filename and time-offset tags are required and cannot be excluded.

In Relabelling, edit the labels for tags and selected response values shown on the chart and generated video. For example, give a grouping variable a clearer name or relabel its categories.

In Significance, set the test, confidence level, minimum respondents, decimal places and maximum filter values. Unweighted uses raw respondent counts instead of survey weights. Save the finished configuration.

Overlay videos prepare in the background. When ready, they can be played from the report or downloaded for sharing. Allow generation to finish before checking the final video, its text and logo.