The Four Interview Modes Explained
Explore, profile, reconstruct, triage — each mode is designed for a different kind of conversation
Every Signal Event uses one of four interview modes. The mode shapes how Savo conducts the conversation — the structure of exploration, the types of questions asked, and the form of insight produced. When you create a Signal Event in Event Studio, Savo's AI selects the mode that best fits your research goal based on how you describe it during intake. Understanding the modes helps you describe your goal clearly so the right one is selected — and helps you interpret the events in your library.
Explore & Discover
Explore & Discover is used when the goal is to understand a landscape — what's happening, what themes are emerging, what you don't yet know. This mode is open-ended. Savo doesn't follow a fixed script. Instead, it explores terrain based on what the participant says, following threads as they emerge and probing where the signal is richest. The conversation feels like an intelligent discovery interview.
This mode is selected when you're entering a new domain or market, when you're forming hypotheses rather than testing them, or when the participant's own frame of reference matters as much as any specific topic.
When describing your event in intake, signal this mode by framing your goal around understanding what's happening in a space, exploring how people experience something, or learning what factors are driving an outcome — language that conveys open discovery rather than structured measurement.
Example event: Territory Pulse — understanding how sales reps are experiencing their territory and what competitive dynamics are at play.
Profile & Characterize
Profile & Characterize is used when the goal is to build a picture of a person, role, or situation across a defined set of dimensions. This mode works through each dimension systematically, adapting depth based on what emerges. The output is a scored profile across all dimensions, comparable across participants.
This mode is selected when you need to evaluate or score individuals or groups, when comparability across participants matters, or when your research question is about how a person or team rates on specific dimensions.
When describing your event in intake, signal this mode by framing your goal around assessing or evaluating people across defined areas, profiling roles, or understanding how a group compares on specific dimensions — language that conveys measurement against a consistent framework.
Example event: Tell Us Your Story — building a multidimensional profile of an employee's experience across engagement, development, relationships, and role clarity.
Recall & Reconstruct
Recall & Reconstruct is used when the goal is to understand what happened in a specific past situation — what the participant experienced, how decisions were made, and what drove outcomes. This mode guides participants through a specific event or experience, drawing out detailed narrative reconstruction across a timeline.
This mode is selected when you're investigating a specific past situation, when the richness of lived experience is what matters, or when you need to understand causality — not just what happened, but why.
When describing your event in intake, signal this mode by framing your goal around understanding what happened in a specific situation, reconstructing the experience of an event, or learning why a particular outcome occurred — language that points to a defined episode in the past.
Example event: Win/loss analysis — reconstructing specific sales outcomes to understand what drove a deal to close or not.
Intake & Triage
Intake & Triage is used when the goal is to gather structured information efficiently and route it to the right place. This mode is purposeful and direct. Savo works through a defined intake framework, capturing essential information and clarifying ambiguities. The output is structured data ready for downstream processing.
This mode is selected when accuracy and completeness matter more than narrative depth, when the output feeds a downstream workflow, or when the research goal is information capture rather than exploration.
When describing your event in intake, signal this mode by framing your goal around gathering specific information from participants, capturing structured details, or screening participants for a defined purpose — language that conveys organized collection rather than open exploration.