Product update : Faster, Safer, Smarter online qual

In this edition of our product update, we’re sharing four improvements that make flowres an even stronger qualitative research platform for your online qualitative research: sharper AI workflows, tighter backroom security, faster transcript handling, and better support for interviews run outside Flowres.

These updates are now live for projects using IDIs, communities and online focus groups on flowres.io.

NEW LAUNCH – Agentic 5: Five AI Agents, One Insight Workflow

We’ve upgraded use of AI from “single-model summarization” to Agentic 5 – a coordinated crew of five AI agents that work in sequence on your project.

flowres’ Agentic 5 crew doesn’t just process data, it takes over your grunt work. It plans, acts, analyzes, checks revises and improves. From generating codebooks to answering stakeholder questions with precise quotes and clips, the crew simplifies your workflow, reduces manual toil, gets you to insights more confidently and faster. 

What’s new

• Multi-step AI pipeline that plans, analyzes, checks and refines outputs.
• First-draft codebooks, themes and summaries generated directly from your sessions.
• AI outputs anchored in quotes and moments from the discussion… not yanked randomly from free-floating text.

How this helps your online qualitative research

• You could structure analysis for a 10–12 groups/ IDIs project in hours.
• You could spend less time building basic frameworks from scratch and spend more time interpreting.
• You could share AI-assisted outputs with stakeholders faster, backed by clearer evidence trails.

Where to find it on the platform

If you’re already using flowres, you’ll see it in your ‘Projects’ on the platform.

Password-Protected Backroom: Extra control for sensitive situations

Some projects can live with a simple observer link. Others can’t. Think healthcare, finance, kids’ research or other regulated categories.

For such higher-risk studies, you can now enable a password-protected backroom, to control backroom access. It’s an optional yet strong safeguard, for studies that demand more control over who is able to view your online qual data collection.

What’s new

• Optional password layer, on top of existing secure observer links.
• Available using a simple toggle under ‘Projects’. You decide which studies need this extra ‘gate’.
• Observers enter password once, then join the backroom as usual.

How this helps your team

• More confidence when running online focus groups on highly sensitive topics.
• More reassuring for Client IT / Legal teams. You can confidently claim - “Observers are behind a password-protected backroom”.
• Reduced risk in case links are wrongly forwarded, beyond the intended group.

Where to find it on the platform:

Project setup → Backroom / observer settings.

Transcripts download en masse: One click for the entire project

Downloading transcripts session-by-session may not be a pain point, for small studies. For multi-country, multi-wave work; it can be. Now, you can now download all transcripts for a project in one go.

What’s new

• Bulk transcript download directly from the project dashboard. No more toggle-click-download-repeat.
• All available transcripts packaged together, ready for your internal archive or stakeholders.

How this helps your workflow

• Saves Ops and PM teams from repetitive, manual downloading.
• Speeds up handoffs to external analysts, translators or client teams.
• Keeps your online qualitative research documentation tidy and centralised.

Where to find it on the platform:

Project dashboard → Exports / transcripts.

AI Q&A for interviews not conducted on flowres

We recognize that not every interview starts on flowres.io. You may have previously conducted depth interviews, usability tests or pilot groups; which were recorded on other tools.

Now, you can upload such (‘external’) video files on flowres and run AI Q&A on them, just like you would for flowres-native sessions.

What’s new

• Upload compatible video files recorded on other platforms.
• Ask questions of the Content and get AI-generated answers.
• Responses are supported with timestamped references, so you can jump straight to the relevant clip.

How this helps your qualitative research platform stack

• Bring older projects back into play, when new questions arise.
• Keep analysis consistent across interviews conducted on flowres and off it.
• Turn scattered video assets into a searchable, usable knowledge base for your team.

Where to find it on the platform:

Upload / media sections.

Why these updates matter

Across these 4 changes, the intent is simple:

• Less grunt work: AI and bulk tools do more of the heavy lifting.
• More control: Security options match the reality of sensitive, global research.
• More value from every conversation: Irrespective of where it was conducted.

Here's how to try them on your next study:

• Turn on Agentic 5 for your next multi-group concept test.
• Use the password-protected backroom on your next sensitive client or regulated category.
• Test bulk transcript download on a project with multiple sessions.
• Upload a few external interviews and run AI Q&A to see what you may have missed the first time.

If you’d like a walkthrough or want to see these updates on a live online qualitative research project, reach out to your flowres contact or drop us a line via the website.