> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hallwayai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating Projects

> Learn how to set up research projects that generate meaningful insights

A research project in Hallway contains everything related to a specific research initiative: your research context, learning objectives, interview guide, respondent sessions, and synthesized insights.

## Before You Start

Think about what you want to learn. Good research projects start with clear questions:

* What decisions will this research inform?
* What do you need to understand about your users or stakeholders?
* What assumptions do you want to validate?

## Creating a New Project

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Dashboard">
    Sign in to [app.hallway.com](https://app.hallway.com) and click **New Project** in the top right corner.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter Project Details">
    Fill in the project form with your research details.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add Learning Objectives">
    Define what you want to learn—manually or with AI assistance.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the Project">
    Click **Create Project** to save your project in Draft status.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Project Fields Explained

### Project Name

Give your project a clear, descriptive name that identifies the research topic. Good names help you find projects later and give respondents context.

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Good Examples theme={null}
  New Hire Onboarding Experience Research
  Q4 Product Feature Validation
  Enterprise User Pain Points Discovery
  ```

  ```text Avoid theme={null}
  Research Project 1
  Interviews
  Test
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### Research Context

Explain what you're researching and why. This helps the AI generate better interview questions and gives respondents context about the study.

Include:

* **Background**: What led to this research?
* **Goals**: What decisions will this inform?
* **Scope**: What aspects are you focusing on?

<Note>
  Minimum 20 characters required. More context leads to better interview guides.
</Note>

**Example:**

> We're redesigning our onboarding flow for new team members. Currently, 40% of new hires don't complete setup and exit interviews mention confusion during setup. We want to understand specifically where users get stuck and what information they need at each step to feel confident moving forward.

### Target Respondents (Optional)

Describe who should participate in interviews. This helps:

* The AI tailor interview questions appropriately
* You remember who to recruit
* Ensure consistent participant criteria

**Examples:**

* "SaaS product managers with 3+ years experience"
* "First-time users who signed up in the last 30 days"
* "Team leads in our sales organization"

## Respondent Attributes (Optional)

If your workspace has attribute categories configured, you can enable them for your project to collect demographic information from respondents.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Expand Respondent Attributes">
    Click on the **Respondent Attributes** section to expand it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Categories">
    Check the categories you want to collect (e.g., Department, Role Level).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set Requirements">
    Optionally mark categories as **Required** if respondents must provide them.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Attributes enable you to:

* Filter sessions by demographic segments
* See patterns across different respondent groups
* Export reports with demographic breakdowns

<Note>
  Attributes are configured at the workspace level in **Settings > Workspace**. See [Workspace Settings](/docs/help/account/workspace-settings) to set up categories.
</Note>

## Adding Learning Objectives

Learning objectives are the specific things you want to learn from interviews. They guide the AI interviewer's questions and focus.

### Manual Entry

Click **Add Objective** to add each learning objective. Write clear, specific statements:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Good Objectives">
    * "Understand what triggers users to seek a solution like ours"
    * "Identify the top 3 frustrations with the current checkout process"
    * "Learn how users currently solve this problem without our product"
    * "Discover what would make users recommend us to colleagues"
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Weak Objectives">
    * "Learn about users" (too vague)
    * "Understand everything" (too broad)
    * "Get feedback" (not specific)
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Using AI Assistant

If you're not sure how to phrase objectives, use the AI Assistant:

1. Click **AI Assistant - Generate Objectives** to expand the panel
2. Describe what you want to learn in plain English
3. Click **Generate Objectives**
4. Review the AI-generated objectives
5. Accept, edit, or regenerate as needed

<Tip>
  Write at least 20 characters describing your research goals. The more detail you provide, the better the generated objectives.
</Tip>

**Example input:**

> "I want to understand why new team members take so long to complete onboarding. Are they confused? Too busy? Waiting for approvals? I also want to know what would make the process feel easier and what they wish they knew before starting."

**Example output:**

1. Identify the primary blockers that delay new team member onboarding completion
2. Understand how internal approval processes impact onboarding timelines
3. Discover what information or resources team members wish they had at the start of onboarding
4. Learn what a smooth, efficient onboarding experience looks like from the team member perspective

## Project Status

Projects move through three statuses:

| Status     | Description                   | What You Can Do                            |
| ---------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Draft**  | Initial state after creation  | Edit all settings, generate/edit guide     |
| **Active** | Ready to collect responses    | Share link, collect interviews, edit guide |
| **Closed** | No longer accepting responses | View data, export insights                 |

<Warning>
  Closing a project stops new interviews. Make sure you've collected all needed responses before closing.
</Warning>

## After Creating Your Project

Once your project is created, you'll need to:

1. **Generate an Interview Guide** - Go to the Guide tab and click "Generate Interview Guide"
2. **Review and Edit** - Check the generated guide and make any adjustments
3. **Activate** - Click "Activate Project" to get your shareable interview link

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Start with one clear research question">
    Focused projects generate better insights than broad, unfocused ones. You can always create additional projects for different topics.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Be specific in your context">
    The more context you provide, the better the AI can generate relevant interview questions. Include background, goals, and constraints.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Limit objectives to 3-7">
    Too many objectives dilute focus. If you have more than 7, consider splitting into multiple projects.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Review the generated guide">
    AI-generated guides are a starting point. Review them to ensure they match your tone, ask the right questions, and cover your objectives.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

* [Your First Interview](/docs/help/getting-started/your-first-interview) - Complete walkthrough from project to insights
* [How Interviews Work](/docs/help/interviews/how-interviews-work) - Understand the respondent experience
* [Interview Settings](/docs/help/interviews/interview-settings) - Configure time limits and other options
* [Workspace Settings](/docs/help/account/workspace-settings) - Set up respondent attributes for demographic segmentation