Size the study to the behaviour frequency
Study length and check-in cadence are set from how often the behaviour occurs — daily events need a shorter, denser study, while weekly events need a longer window to capture enough occurrences.
Free MVP research tool
Diary Study Planner
Design a lightweight diary study that captures a problem as it happens in daily life, with a study length, check-in cadence, and prompt set sized to your goal and participant capacity.
- Calculated instantly from your inputs
- No signup or data submission
- A focused next step for MVP planning
Your entries remain in this browser session and are not sent to MVPHub.
Your inputs
Describe the behaviour you want to capture
Enter the problem or behaviour, how often it happens, and how many participants you can realistically manage. The tool sizes the study and generates entry prompts.
Your calculated result
Your result
0/100
Planning score
Recommended next actions
How it works
Cap the analysis workload
Total expected entries are calculated from participants × cadence × duration, capped against a realistic review workload, so the plan does not generate more data than you can actually analyse.
Generate in-the-moment prompts
Entry prompts are built to be answerable in under two minutes and anchored to the specific moment of occurrence, since diary studies fail when the prompts are too effortful to complete in context.
Frequently asked questions
How is a diary study different from an interview?
An interview relies on recall after the fact, which is unreliable for frequent or routine behaviour. A diary study captures the moment close to when it happens, reducing memory bias.
What if participants stop responding partway through?
Expect 20-30% drop-off in longer studies. Recruit slightly more participants than your target and check in midway to re-engage anyone who has gone quiet.
Should entries be text, voice, or photo?
Match the format to what is fastest to capture in the moment — a delivery driver mid-route may prefer voice notes, while a desk worker may prefer a quick text form.
How long should a diary study run?
Long enough to capture a meaningful number of occurrences per participant — this planner estimates that from your reported frequency, typically 3-14 days.
What do I do with the entries afterward?
Follow up with a short debrief interview per participant referencing their specific entries — this recovers rich context that the in-the-moment prompt was too brief to capture.
How we compare
| Capability | MVPHub | dscout | Google Forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study length and cadence sized to your inputs | ✓ | × | × |
| Auto-generated in-the-moment prompts | ✓ | — | × |
| Mobile app for participant entries | × | ✓ | — |
| Built-in participant panel and payments | × | ✓ | × |
MVPHub plans the study structure and prompts from your behaviour and participant inputs. dscout is a mobile diary-study platform you could use to field it, and Google Forms is a lightweight way to collect entries without a dedicated app.