Having conversations with Transcript

The conversation is the heart of Transcript. This article covers how it works and the small features that make it faster.

How the interview works

Transcript asks one question at a time, like a colleague would. It reads your answer and asks a follow-up based on what you said, so no two people have the same interview.

A few things that make your answers more useful:

• Be concrete. "The Friday report takes me two hours because I re-enter the same numbers in three systems" beats "reporting is slow."
• There are no right answers. Transcript is not testing you. It wants your honest view of how work actually happens.
• Longer is fine. Write as much or as little as you want. If something matters to you, say so.

Typing your answers

Type in the message box and press Send. If a message fails to send, your text stays in the box, so you never lose what you wrote. Just try again.

There is a generous length limit per message. If you hit it, a character counter appears. Split your answer into two messages and keep going.

Using your voice

Click the Dictate button (the microphone) and start talking. Your words appear in the message box as text, so you can review and edit before sending.

Microphone blocked? Your browser needs permission to use the mic:

1. Click the icon on the left side of your browser's address bar (a padlock or settings icon).
2. Find Microphone and set it to Allow.
3. Reload the page and try again.

Fix typos

Answered fast and it shows? Click Fix typos before sending. Transcript cleans up spelling and typos in your draft without changing what you meant. Review the result, then send.

Pausing and resuming

Close the tab whenever you need to. Your conversation is saved automatically, and the next time you open Transcript it continues right where you left off. Aim for 5 to 10 minutes a day rather than one long session.

Your progress

The sidebar shows your progress through the interview, from "Just started" to "Almost complete." It moves as Transcript covers more ground with you. There is no deadline pressure built into it; it simply shows how far the conversation has come.

The Questions panel

On larger screens, a panel on the right lists the topics your conversation has covered so far. It fills in as you go.