What is Dscout?
Dscout is a research platform designed to capture rich, qualitative insights. Known in the research space for its mobile research tools and unmoderated, diary study capabilities, Dscout helps their customers capture in-context insights using a variety of research methods.
Below, we compare User Interviews and Dscout to find commonalities and gaps across platform features.
Vetted panel of 6 million individuals
User Interviews connects you to the users you need, no matter how niche.
Limited panel offerings
Dscout offers access to a limited pool of “scouts”, who they supplement with external partner panels.
Purpose-built scheduling tools for easy live research
User Interviews makes it easy to schedule moderated research.
No built-in scheduling for live sessions
Scheduling must be handled outside the platform for moderated research.
Fully automated incentive management, from start to finish
UI handles participant incentive payments so researchers don’t have to lift a finger.
Partially managed incentives for mission-based studies
Dscout facilitates some payments, but researchers often handle logistics.
Available through integration
While we don’t host diary studies directly, we do excel at sourcing the right participants for them when used alongside Dscout or other tools.
Built for diary and longitudinal research
Dscout specializes in complex studies involving multiple research activities and touchpoints.
No built-in tools for mobile video capture
User Interviews is focused on recruitment and participant management, not video capture.
Native mobile video capture tools
Dscout is designed for in-the-moment, on-the-go qualitative feedback.
If your team runs high-context, longitudinal, or mobile ethnography studies, Dscout can be a great tool for collecting in-the-moment feedback. But without the right participants, even the best diary study falls flat.
That’s where User Interviews comes in. With unmatched reach, precision, and flexibility, we make it easy to source the right participants for your next UX research study – whether you’re running it on Zoom, Lookback, or Dscout.
Dscout’s qualitative tools pair with User Interviews’s flexible participant recruitment and panel management.
Dscout is a research platform designed to collect qualitative data over time, particularly through longitudinal and diary studies. It allows participants to complete structured tasks – called “missions” – by submitting videos, photos, and written responses using a mobile app. This format is often used for unmoderated research and mobile ethnography, helping researchers observe behaviors and experiences in real-world contexts.
User Interviews is purpose-built for participant recruitment and panel management – helping teams find, screen, schedule, and pay high-quality research participants. While Dscout offers some recruiting functionality, they specialize in mobile-based qualitative research tools like diary studies, photo uploads, and video feedback. Together, they support both the who and the how of UX research: sourcing the right people and capturing rich, in-context insights.
Whether you’re running a longitudinal study, sourcing B2B personas, testing a mobile prototype through video feedback, or launching a mission-based research sprint, pairing these two platforms means more flexibility, less friction, and higher-quality insights.
When it comes to diary studies, targeting the right participants is half the battle. With User Interviews, you can recruit hard-to-reach audiences (like B2B professionals, AI tool users, or accessibility testers) using rich respondent targeting and detailed screener surveys. Once you’ve found your match, seamlessly launch your longitudinal research via Dscout, where participants can upload photos, submit entries, and complete mobile tasks over time. The result? A smoother handoff and richer, more relevant qualitative insight.
User Interviews’s recruiting precision means less junk data and better fits. Its automated scheduling and incentives cut time spent on logistics. Dscout captures rich context in real time. Together, Dscout and User Interviews create a seamless UX research workflow.
Many mature research teams use both User Interviews and Dscout because they solve different problems. UI handles who you talk to. Dscout handles how you gather their insights. Together, they support robust, human-centered design research.
Plus, most research teams don’t do just one thing. They do it all:
Here’s the blueprint: Save time by sourcing the right people using Recruit and/or manage your own panel with Hub. Next, screen, schedule, and pay participants through User Interviews’ automated workflows. Then send selected participants to Dscout to complete mission-based research, mobile ethnography, or unmoderated studies.
This hybrid approach saves time, cuts down on ops, and keeps your research stack flexible.
If you’re looking for a way to connect recruiting and fieldwork, using User Interviews and Dscout in tandem is a great solution. Start with User Interviews to source, screen, and schedule the right participants. Then, send them into your Dscout mission using custom invite links, all while staying on top of incentives and communications through User Interviews.
Projects that require both targeted participant recruitment and deep, contextual insight are ideal for using User Interviews and Dscout together. This stack shines for longitudinal studies, mobile research, qualitative insight gathering, and diary studies with hard-to-reach or B2B populations.
Schedule your demo and see us in action today.
