Experience tracking, sometimes called 'live diary research' or 'UX diary studies,' is a method used to capture people’s experiences as they happen. Participants are asked to log their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors over time – often daily or multiple times per day – using prompts provided by the researcher. This immersive method paints a more complete picture of the user journey and provides rich, unfiltered context that static surveys or one-time interviews often miss.

For example, a diary study might ask customers to log each time they interact with a new app, including what they liked, what confused them, and when the interaction happened. Over days or weeks, this live feedback reveals patterns that can influence product design, marketing, or brand strategy.

Why Typeform Is a Popular Choice for Diary Studies

Typeform has become one of the go-to consumer insights tools in this space. It’s attractive, mobile-friendly, and easy to set up – three qualities that make diary entries more comfortable for participants to complete over time. And for teams exploring self-serve tools, it offers a budget-friendly entry point.

Here’s what makes Typeform useful for experience tracking:

• Conversational Flow: Its one-question-at-a-time format mimics a more human interaction, helping participants stay focused and engaged.
• Mobile Compatibility: Participants can submit entries on-the-go from their smartphones – a necessity for in-the-moment data collection.
• Custom Logic: Typeform lets you tailor the experience based on previous answers using conditional logic, which can help keep questions relevant and avoid survey fatigue.

Despite these strengths, using Typeform for live diary studies isn't without its challenges. As insights teams begin to track user experiences in Typeform or design a diary study from scratch, setup issues can emerge that affect everything from participation rates to data quality.

That’s where having the support of experienced researchers – like our On Demand Talent professionals – can make all the difference. These experts know how to structure effective Typeform research design, prevent avoidable errors, and ensure that your diary study stays aligned with your project goals.

While Typeform is flexible and intuitive, it’s not a purpose-built diary platform – which means setting up a live diary study can take some trial and error. If you’re using Typeform to collect diary data over time, a few small missteps in your initial form design can create big headaches later on, from missing timestamps to jumbled data exports.

Issue 1: Repeat Entries Aren’t Properly Tracked

One of the most common mistakes in Typeform diary research is not planning for multiple entries from the same participant. Unlike diary-specific systems, Typeform doesn't automatically group or thread responses by individual. This can make it difficult to track how a single participant's responses evolve over time.

How to solve it: Create a field where participants enter a unique ID (such as an email or assigned code) each time they submit a diary entry. You can also use hidden fields if distributing personalized links. Later, group these in your analysis tool to reconstruct the participant’s journey.

Issue 2: No Timestamp on Submissions

Experience tracking relies on understanding not just what happened, but when. But here’s the catch – Typeform does not include a visible timestamp in the response data exports by default. This makes sequencing entries a manual and error-prone process.

How to solve it: Integrate Typeform with Google Sheets using Zapier or Typeform’s native integrations and include the submission time. This workaround adds a column in your data sheet capturing the exact date and time each response was submitted.

Issue 3: Overly Broad or Repetitive Prompts

Diary studies thrive on thoughtful, open-ended questions. But when prompts are unclear, repetitive, or too generic (e.g. “Describe today”), participants may disengage – or worse, skip entries entirely. Engagement can drop fast if people feel unsure of what to write or why it matters.

How to solve it: Design your prompts to be specific and motivating. Instead of “How was your day?”, consider “Share one moment today when you felt frustrated using our product – what happened?” This frames the entry and invites more meaningful detail. Rotating prompts or themes across days can also prevent fatigue.

Issue 4: Failing to Test Before Launch

Because Typeform doesn't simulate the full longitudinal user experience during testing, researchers sometimes launch a diary study without walking through the actual journey participants will face. Small bugs or confusing buttons don’t show up until the study is underway.

How to solve it: Use internal pilots to simulate real participant behavior. Ask colleagues to complete the study over a few days and provide feedback. Ironing out rough spots upfront goes a long way in improving response rates and data quality.

While these setup issues can slow down early diary studies, they’re entirely solvable with the right knowledge and preparation. Teams that lack research design experience may unintentionally limit the richness of the data they collect – which is why expert guidance can be so valuable.

This is where SIVO’s On Demand Talent can step in. These seasoned consumer insights professionals help teams get the most out of their tools, ensuring your diary study is well-planned, user-friendly, and aligned with your goals. Whether you need short-term support or a fresh set of expert eyes on your Typeform design, On Demand Talent fills critical skill gaps and builds long-term capabilities right inside your team.

One of the most important aspects of running a live diary or user experience tracking study is ensuring that participants can record entries over time. This repeat entry functionality, combined with accurate timestamps, is what turns static feedback into a meaningful time-based narrative. However, when using Typeform for these studies, researchers often hit logistical snags – especially with DIY setup.

Why Repeat Entry Support in Typeform Can Be Tricky

Typeform is built for engagement with individual users, which makes it great for one-off surveys. But collecting multiple entries over a period of time – like in a UX diary study or longitudinal insight gathering – isn’t its default function. Researchers often struggle with how to:

• Allow participants to submit diary-style feedback daily, weekly, or at key milestones
• Automatically track when each entry was made (timestamps)
• Connect repeated entries back to the same participant for analysis

Solutions for Repeat Entries and Timestamps

Although Typeform doesn't have built-in repeat entry tracking, there are several practical workarounds you can implement:

1. Use Unique Participant IDs

Assign each user a unique ID that they enter at the beginning of each form submission. This ties each diary entry to a single participant when reviewing your data in the backend.

2. Integrate Typeform with Google Sheets or Airtable

With simple integrations, you can automatically timestamp every submission and store repeated entries in one centralized location. Services like Zapier can help connect Typeform responses to Google Sheets in real time, appending each new entry with the date and time.

3. Automate Diary Reminders

To guide participants in submitting repeat entries, schedule reminder emails using tools like Mailchimp or even calendar invites that link back to the same Typeform. Include instructions to reuse their unique ID so you can track their journey consistently.

When to Ask for Help

If your tracking setup is becoming chaotic or time-consuming, it may be time to bring in experienced insights support. SIVO’s On Demand Talent professionals can help you build workflows that solve for repeat entries, automate timestamping, and ensure your study design aligns with your research goals – without sacrificing data quality.

Getting the technical pieces right is step one. But the value comes from being able to analyze participant behavior over time, and that starts with clean, reliable structure.

One of the biggest advantages of using Typeform for diary studies is its conversational format – open-ended, user-friendly, and visually engaging. But while Typeform’s layout encourages better participant engagement, that doesn’t automatically mean better data. Poorly written prompts or unclear instructions can derail the insight value of a UX diary study.

Creating Diaries That Invite Clear, Honest Responses

Live diary research aims to capture authentic, in-the-moment feedback. Whether you're collecting product usage experiences or consumer emotions throughout a journey, the way questions are asked matters greatly. Here’s how to make your Typeform diary truly conversational and effective:

Ask Open-Ended, Relatable Questions

Avoid vague prompts like “Tell us about your day.” Instead, guide users with context: “What did you first notice when using the product this morning? Describe anything that surprised or frustrated you.” Specific prompts tap into memory and reduce surface-level answers.

Break Big Questions Into Smaller Parts

Instead of asking one broad question, break it into a few follow-ups. For example:

• “What happened?”
• “How did you feel during that experience?”
• “What might you do differently next time?”

This scaffolded design helps participants open up while keeping the diary responses structured enough for analysis.

Balance Between Structure and Freedom

While structured inputs (like multiple-choice scale questions) can help with data organization, make room for open text fields where people can reflect. Mixing question formats keeps participants engaged and offers both quantifiable and qualitative insights.

A Fictional Example for Context

Let’s say a smart home brand wants to understand daily interactions with its app-controlled thermostat. Instead of asking, “How was your experience today?”, you might ask:

“What time did you adjust your thermostat today?” followed by “Why did you adjust it at that time?” and “How satisfied were you with the comfort afterward?”

This flow provides time context, motive, and feedback – all in one short daily entry.

How Professionals Make the Difference

Designing a diary that feels like a conversation – not a questionnaire – is a skill. SIVO's On Demand Talent professionals are trained to create engaging research experiences that make participants want to respond. They understand how to script questions that align with behavioral science, using empathy to prompt meaningful reflection.

Better research diaries lead to better insights. And better insights lead to more confident business decisions.

Typeform and other self-serve tools have opened the door for faster, more cost-effective market research. That’s especially true for experience tracking studies and live diaries where real-time, mobile-friendly input is key. But without the right expertise guiding the setup, even the best DIY tools can fall short.

DIY Tools Are Powerful – When Used Correctly

Using Typeform for market research studies offers a lot of freedom. But freedom requires decisions – about question flow, response formatting, audience segmentation, data exports, and UX design. Small missteps, like inconsistent formatting or unclear prompts, may lead to incomplete data or missed trends.

Experienced researchers know how to plan and design around these constraints. They think beyond functionality and build studies for long-term usability, ensuring the tool serves the strategic goals.

What Professionals Bring to the Table

SIVO’s On Demand Talent solution connects consumer insights teams with seasoned experts who know how to get the most from tools like Typeform. Here’s what that often looks like in action:

• Creating clean workflows for repeat usage and longitudinal analysis
• Writing questions that reduce bias and increase response clarity
• Setting up smart logic for segmentation or skip patterns
• Connecting Typeform to dashboards or CRM systems for better visibility
• Helping internal teams learn and build sustainable internal capabilities

Beyond Technical Setup: Strategic Support

It’s not just about setting up a diary – it’s about aligning it to business goals. For example, if a global team is tracking brand perceptions in real time, they don't just need a form. They need a flow that works across languages, collects globally comparable data, and provides alerts when sentiment dips.

That’s where SIVO’s network of insights professionals – across categories like customer experience, behavioral research, and innovation – proves invaluable. These aren’t freelancers doing one-off tasks. They’re deeply experienced experts supporting teams flexibly, based on specific needs.

A Flexible Model for Evolving Needs

Whether you’re launching your first Typeform-based experience tracking study or scaling up a national UX diary initiative, having flexible access to pros who’ve “been there before” makes a big difference. With On Demand Talent, you can bring in a professional when needed, without long lead times or full-time hiring commitments.

The result? Smarter tools, stronger insights, and research that stays centered on real human experiences.