Inviting Participants to Your Research

After creating and testing your research outline, you're ready to invite participants. Perspective AI gives you a public conversation link for broad distribution and a Send flow for targeted outreach by email, Slack, WhatsApp, or phone.

To find this page, open a Perspective and select Invite participants. In Design, use Next: Invite participants after an outline exists; on other Perspective pages, use the Invite participants button in the header.

Invitations created through the participant invite MCP tooling can also carry per-participant context — trusted attributes such as CRM data, entitlement flags, or prior-conversation references that travel with the invite and reach the agent without appearing in the URL. See Track Participant Context and Conversation Context for when to use invite context vs. URL parameters vs. outline knowledge.

Prerequisites#

Before inviting participants, ensure you have:

• A finalized research outline
• Tested the interview experience yourself
• Made any necessary refinements based on your test
• Confirmed whether participants need to sign in, whether anonymous access is allowed, and which auth providers are accepted. These options live in the conversation settings. See Conversation Settings.

Invitation Methods#

Method 1: Share the Conversation Link#

Use this method when you want to:

• Share participation opportunities publicly via your website or social media
• Include the link in large email campaigns through platforms like HubSpot or MailChimp
• Allow open enrollment without managing individual invitations
• Add your own source or campaign parameters to the URL

Steps:

1. Open the Perspective's Invite participants page
2. Copy the conversation link shown in the share preview
3. Share the link through your chosen channels

Link invitation URL

The public link respects your conversation access settings. If the conversation requires sign-in, participants will be asked to authenticate before joining. If anonymous access is allowed, participants can start without creating an account.

To personalize or attribute public links, append URL parameters:

https://getperspective.ai/interview/abc123?source=newsletter&campaign=q2-research&plan=pro

See Track Participant Context for how these parameters are stored and used.

Method 2: Email Invitations#

Use this method to invite specific individuals directly from Perspective AI.

Steps:

1. Open the Perspective's Invite participants page
2. Select Send
3. Choose Email
4. Add participants using one of three options:
   • Manually enter email addresses – Type or paste individual email addresses. The picker accepts plain emails and Name <email@example.com> entries separated by commas or new lines.
   • Import from past research – Select the generated group for a previous conversation's participants.
   • Select a custom group – Choose from saved participant groups. See Participant Groups.
5. Move to the Compose Message step
6. Review the auto-generated subject line and message
7. Edit the invitation text if needed to match your tone or add context
8. Click Send to my inbox to preview how the invitation will appear
9. When satisfied, click Send Invitation

Email invitation interface with participant selection

Email invitations create invite records with participant-specific links. When you send a group, Perspective expands the group into individual email recipients and deduplicates addresses for that send.

Method 3: Slack Invitations#

Use Slack when the people you want to reach are already in a workspace channel.

Steps:

1. Open the Perspective's Invite participants page
2. Select Send
3. Choose Slack
4. Connect Slack if prompted
5. Select a channel
6. Compose the message
7. Click Post to Channel

Perspective posts a channel message with options to start the conversation in Slack or open it in the browser. If no channels appear, add the Perspective bot to the Slack channel first and refresh the channel list.

Method 4: WhatsApp Invitations#

Use WhatsApp when you want to reach participants by phone number but still have them complete the conversation asynchronously.

Steps:

1. Open the Perspective's Invite participants page
2. Select Send
3. Choose WhatsApp
4. Add phone numbers
5. Compose the message
6. Send the invitations

After sending, Perspective shows which numbers were delivered and which failed. WhatsApp delivery depends on the workspace's WhatsApp configuration and the recipient phone numbers being valid.

Method 5: Phone Calls#

Use phone when you want the AI agent to call a participant immediately.

Steps:

1. Open the Perspective's Invite participants page
2. Select Send
3. Choose Phone
4. Enter a valid phone number
5. Click Call

Perspective creates a conversation record, places an outbound call, and monitors the call status. Once the call connects or finishes, you can open the conversation from the call result.

Understanding Auto-Generated Messages#

Perspective automatically creates invitation subject lines and messages based on your research context, including:

• The research topic and goals
• The target participant profile
• The estimated time commitment
• What participants can expect from the interview

While these messages are ready to send as-is, you can customize them to:

• Match your brand voice
• Add specific context about timing or incentives
• Include additional instructions or requirements

Email is the only channel with a subject line. Slack and WhatsApp use the message body, and phone calls use the conversation's greeting and voice settings.

Access, Identity, and Context#

Before launching, confirm how participants should be identified:

• Anonymous conversations let anyone with the link start.
• Sign-in required conversations ask participants to authenticate through the accepted providers you selected.
• Email invitations include recipient identity and a signed invite token.
• Slack conversations can include Slack profile metadata when a participant starts in Slack.
• Public links and embeds can carry URL parameters for source, campaign, plan, role, or other lightweight context.
• MCP-created invitations can attach trusted invite context that stays server-side and overrides URL parameters with the same key.

For setup details, see Conversation Settings, URL Parameters, and Track Participant Context.

Best Practices#

Test before sending. Always send yourself a test invitation to ensure the message is clear, the link works, and the timing expectations are accurate.

Choose the right method. Use links for broad reach and lower-touch recruiting. Use email invitations when you need participant-specific links. Use Slack for workspace channels, WhatsApp for phone-number outreach, and phone calls for immediate voice conversations.

Personalize when possible. If using email invitations, consider editing the message to acknowledge the specific group or their relationship to your product.

Set clear expectations. Make sure participants understand how long the interview will take and what they'll be discussing.

Track your invitations. Monitor response rates and follow up with non-responders if needed, especially for targeted email campaigns.

Use parameters for attribution. Add source, campaign, segment, or similar URL parameters when sharing public links or embeds so you can compare response quality by channel.

Check channel prerequisites. Slack requires a connected Slack workspace and bot access to the target channel. WhatsApp requires the workspace's WhatsApp delivery setup. Phone calls require valid E.164 phone numbers.

Common Pitfalls & Fixes#

Link shared too broadly: Public links can attract participants who don't match your target profile. Use email invitations or add screening questions to ensure fit.

Generic invitation message: Auto-generated messages are a starting point, but personalizing them can increase response rates. Add context about why you're reaching out to this specific group.

No test email sent: Always preview your invitation before sending to participants. Typos and formatting issues are easier to catch in a test.

Forgetting about past participants: Re-engaging participants from previous research saves time and keeps context across studies. Use the "Import from past research" option to reconnect.

Unclear time commitment: If participants don't know how long the interview takes, response rates drop. Ensure the auto-generated message includes this detail, or add it manually.

Slack channel not listed: The bot may not be in that channel or Slack pagination may not have loaded every channel yet. Invite the bot to the channel and use Refresh or Load more.

WhatsApp delivery failures: Check that each number is valid, includes the right country code, and can receive WhatsApp messages from your connected sender.

Phone call does not connect: Confirm the number is valid and reachable. Perspective shows terminal states such as no answer, busy, voicemail, failed, or connected.

What Happens Next#

Once invitations are sent, participants receive the invitation through the selected channel. As they complete conversations, you'll see results appear in your research dashboard.

Monitor incoming interviews and review form fields and summaries to track progress toward your research goals.