AI Free Form block
An AI Free Form block tells hollie what to explore without turning the conversation into a rigid questionnaire. hollie can adapt the wording and follow up on useful parts of the participant’s answer.
Write a focused topic
Write one clear question or topic in the block. Strong blocks identify the evidence you want without suggesting the answer.
For example:
- “What was happening when you first realised you needed a different approach?”
- “Talk me through how you evaluated the available options.”
- “What changed after your team started using the product?”
Avoid combining several stages of a story in one block. Separate “What problem were you facing, what did you try, why did it fail, and why did you choose us?” into a short sequence so hollie can give each answer proper attention.
Place the topic in context
Order AI Free Form blocks so each answer gives the next topic useful context. A dependable progression is:
- Establish the participant’s situation.
- Explore the problem or decision.
- Examine the experience and outcome.
- Ask for reflection or advice.
This is a starting pattern, not a required template. Remove any stage that does not serve the conversation’s goal.
Control the depth
The conversation’s Probing depth determines how readily hollie follows an answer with another question. Use the block wording to define the subject and Conversation settings to control the overall depth.
Open the block’s settings and turn on Required only when the conversation would not be useful without a meaningful response to that topic. Requiring every topic can make a conversation feel forced when a participant has little relevant experience.
During the conversation
hollie asks about the topic in natural language, listens to the answer, and adapts the next turn to the selected probing depth. The spoken wording may vary from the text in the builder while keeping the same purpose.
The participant’s answer becomes part of the response and transcript used for review, reports, and content creation.
Improve weak responses
If answers are consistently vague, make the topic more concrete before increasing the probing depth. Ask for a moment, decision, example, or outcome rather than a broad opinion.
If hollie repeatedly covers the same ground, combine overlapping blocks or make the difference between them explicit.
See Conversation builder to change the block order or add another block.