FC Qual is Fuel Cycle’s qualitative research platform. It enables research teams to design, conduct, and analyze moderated and unmoderated video research studies — including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and self-guided participant sessions — within a single workspace. The platform includes automated transcription, AI-assisted analysis, session recording, and stakeholder observation capabilities. Studies may be conducted using the customer’s own participants or through Fuel Cycle’s integrated respondent panel

Key Definitions

• Seats: “Seats” refer to the licensed user access allocated for project moderators. Each license includes unlimited observer seats at no additional cost.
• Study: A “Study” is defined as one (1) dedicated research project utilizing either unmoderated or moderated methodologies conducted via the FC Qual platform.
• Unmoderated Session: An “Unmoderated Session” is defined as a single respondent feedback recording, regardless of duration, up to a maximum of three (3) hours.
  • Moderated Session: A “Moderated Session” is defined as a live respondent feedback session, with a maximum duration of three (3) hours.
  • Focus Group Session: A “Focus group Session” is defined as a focus group session, with a maximum duration of three (3) hours.
• Respondents – Bring Your Own: Customers may use their own respondent pool at no additional cost when conducting studies on the platform.
• Respondents – Panels: Customers may source panel respondents through Fuel Cycle by purchasing prepaid Qual panel budget. These can be consumed through self-serve mode on the platform (B2C unmoderated only) or through a custom request (for moderated sessions, B2B, or hard-to-reach audiences).
• Fair usage policy: Unlimited session usage is subject to Fuel Cycle’s fair usage policy to ensure equitable access to platform resources. Repeated or excessive usage may result in service throttling or adjusted pricing. The current fair usage threshold is set at 2,500 research sessions per calendar year.