Start & Run Your Delphi Study

From Preparation to Active Data Collection

With your survey fully designed, tested, and finalized, you are ready to take the most important step: launching your Delphi study. This marks the transition from preparation to live data collection — the point at which your panel of experts begins contributing their knowledge and opinions.

Your goals at this stage are straightforward: get all participants successfully into the system, ensure invitations reach them, and confirm that responses start flowing in. The steps below walk you through the process in sequence.

Step 1: Start the Survey

The first action is to officially activate your survey in the platform. Once you do this, the study is live — and certain settings will be locked.

This lock exists to protect the integrity of your data. Changing structural elements mid-study would compromise the consistency of responses across participants.

Step 2: Add Your Participants

With the survey active, the next step is to populate your expert panel. You can upload participant contacts in bulk or add them individually, depending on the size of your group.

Before sending anything, take a moment to:

• Verify all email addresses — invalid addresses will result in undelivered invitations
• Confirm your panel is complete — adding participants after invitations have been sent can complicate the process

You also have the option to tag participants at this stage. While optional, tagging is highly recommended if you plan to conduct subgroup analysis later — for example, filtering results by industry, professional role, or geographic region. Setting this up now saves significant effort down the line.

Step 3: Send Invitations

Once your participants are in place, you are ready to send out invitations using the platform's Invitation Manager. Select the email template you prepared during the setup phase and send it to your full participant list.

A well-crafted invitation increases response rates and sets clear expectations. It should include:

• A brief explanation of the purpose of the study
• An honest estimate of the time required to complete the survey
• A deadline, if one applies
• A clear and direct call to action — typically a prominently placed survey link

If you have not yet prepared your invitation template, take the time to do so before this step. First impressions matter, and a clear, professional invitation signals to participants that the study is well-organized and worth their time.

Step 4: What Happens Next

Once invitations are sent, the system takes over. Participants receive their personalized survey links, begin submitting responses, and data starts accumulating in real time.

From this moment on, your survey is live. What that looks like in practice depends on your study format:

• In a Real-Time Delphi, participant feedback updates continuously and is visible to other respondents as it comes in.
• In a Multiple-Round Delphi, this moment marks the official start of Round 1. Subsequent rounds will be opened manually after you have reviewed and prepared feedback from the previous one.

Step 5: Your Role After Launch

Launching the survey is not the end of your active involvement — it is the beginning of a new kind of engagement. Once the study is live, your focus shifts to facilitation and oversight.

This means:

• Monitoring incoming responses to track participation levels and spot any early issues
• Observing response patterns to get a preliminary sense of where agreement or divergence is emerging
• Sending reminders to participants who have not yet responded — timely nudges have a significant impact on final participation rates
• Maintaining communication if participants have questions or encounter technical difficulties

You are no longer building the study. You are now responsible for keeping it running smoothly and ensuring it reaches a successful conclusion.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Starting the survey before completing final checks — once live, structural changes are not possible
• Inviting participants before testing the full participant experience — always test the invitation flow and survey from the participant's perspective
• Using an unverified or incomplete email template — errors in invitations can undermine trust and reduce engagement
• Failing to monitor responses after launch — early drop-off or technical issues may go unnoticed without active oversight
• Waiting too long to send reminders — a prompt, well-timed reminder can significantly boost completion rates