--- title: "Panels and Methodology FAQ | Minds" canonical_url: "https://getminds.ai/faq/panels" last_updated: "2026-06-11T01:57:00.717Z" meta: description: "Customer, client, user, and expert panels. How to build them, how big they should be, how to ask questions, how to read aggregated results." "og:description": "Customer, client, user, and expert panels. How to build them, how big they should be, how to ask questions, how to read aggregated results." "og:title": "Panels and Methodology FAQ | Minds" "twitter:description": "Customer, client, user, and expert panels. How to build them, how big they should be, how to ask questions, how to read aggregated results." "twitter:title": "Panels and Methodology FAQ | Minds" --- May 9, 2026·Faq·Minds Team # **Panels and Methodology FAQ** Customer, client, user, and expert panels. How to build them, how big they should be, how to ask questions, how to read aggregated results. # Panels and Methodology FAQ Everything about how panels work in Minds. For a deeper walk-through, see the [Guide on Panels](https://getminds.ai/guide/panels) and the blog post on [AI focus groups](https://getminds.ai/blog/ai-focus-group). ## What a panel is ### What is an AI panel? An AI panel is a group of AI personas queried together. You ask one question, all personas respond in parallel, and the platform aggregates the answers into: - _Scale ratings_ (1 to 10): distribution charts and group averages - _Categorical_ (yes/no, multiple choice): percentage breakdowns - _Qualitative_ (open-ended): clustered themes Panel sizes typically run 8 to 100 personas depending on the question and the confidence you need. ### What are the four panel types? | Panel type | Who's in it | Used by | | --- | --- | --- | | Customer Panel | Your target customers | Marketing, product, founders | | Client Insight Panel | Your client's customers | Agencies, consultants | | User Panel | Your product users | Product teams, UX | | Expert Panel | Domain experts (CMO, VC, engineer, lawyer) | Founders, strategists, anyone needing senior advice | Mechanically all four work the same way; the difference is who you put in the panel. ### What is a customer panel? A panel of personas representing your target customer segments. Used to test campaigns, messaging, pricing, positioning, product concepts, ad creative, landing pages. See [AI customer panels](https://getminds.ai/blog/ai-customer-panels). ### What is a client insight panel? A panel of personas representing your client's customers, used by agencies and consultants. Build once per client, reuse across briefs. See the blog [adding market research to agency retainer using AI](https://getminds.ai/blog/adding-market-research-to-agency-retainer-using-ai). ### What is a user panel? A panel of personas representing your product's actual users. Used for UX research, feature pre-testing, onboarding flow validation, churn diagnosis. See [AI user research](https://getminds.ai/blog/ai-user-research). ### What is an expert panel? A panel of domain experts (CMOs, VCs, engineers, lawyers, designers). Used when you need senior advice, perspective, or a sanity check from someone who's seen the pattern before. See [AI expert panel](https://getminds.ai/blog/ai-expert-panel) and [the AI advisor](https://getminds.ai/blog/the-ai-advisor). ## Sizing ### How big should a panel be? Use case driven: - _8 to 15_ personas: fast directional read, "does this hook land?" - _30 to 50_ personas: confident segmentation work, "do urban vs suburban diverge here?" - _50 to 100_ personas: quantitative-style distributions, "what's the price elasticity?" For most decisions, 15 is plenty. Larger panels cost more and take longer; the marginal value of the 50th persona is small. ### Why not just one persona? One persona is fine for a quick sanity check or a one-on-one expert deep-dive. For research, you want a distribution. The interesting answer is rarely "everyone agreed"; it's "here's where they split, and here's why." ### How long does a panel run take? A 15-Mind panel responds in roughly 1 to 3 minutes. A 100-Mind panel takes longer (5 to 10 minutes typical). The platform shows responses as they arrive; you don't wait for the slowest persona to start reading. ## Building ### How do I build a panel? Two paths: 1. _Pick existing Minds_ from your library 2. _Describe the audience_ in plain text ("enterprise CTOs in San Francisco, SaaS, 500+ employees, currently evaluating Snowflake alternatives") and let Minds generate a representative panel for you You can edit, swap, or remove individual Minds before running queries. Panels are reusable; you build a panel once and query it for years. ### Can I import my existing personas? Yes. Paste in a persona document, upload a PDF, drop in interview transcripts, or feed in a CRM export. Minds builds a usable Mind from any reasonable source. See [import customer panels into Minds](https://getminds.ai/blog/import-customer-panels-into-minds). ### Can I import LinkedIn profiles? Yes. Paste a LinkedIn URL when creating a Mind. The Mind absorbs the public profile data and structures it through the personality model. See [LinkedIn customer profile to AI persona](https://getminds.ai/blog/linkedin-customer-profile-to-ai-persona). ### Do I need to update panels over time? For long-running research programs, yes. Refresh personas when your target market shifts (new competitor enters, regulatory change, generational handoff). For one-shot pre-testing, the panel you build today is fine to use today. ## Asking questions ### How do I ask a good panel question? Show specific stimulus, not abstract framing. _Bad:_ "What do you think about CTAs in B2B SaaS?" _Good:_ "Here's our pricing page. What stops you from clicking 'Talk to sales'?" _Bad:_ "Is our messaging clear?" _Good:_ "Read this homepage hero. In your own words, what does this product do?" Specific stimulus produces specific, useful responses. Abstract framing produces abstract, useless responses. ### Can I direct individual personas? Yes. Use `@name` in the chat to address a specific Mind. `@Sarah what do you think about this positioning?` returns Sarah only. Without a mention, everyone in the chat responds. ### What kind of stimulus can I show a panel? Anything visual or textual: - Landing page screenshots - Pitch decks and PDFs - Product images, packshots, mocks - Competitor ads, campaign creative - Interview notes, raw transcripts - Pricing pages, ad copy, email drafts - Short videos (typically up to a few minutes) ### Can I run two panels side-by-side? Yes. Add two Groups to the same chat to compare segments (Gen Z vs Millennials, US vs Germany, free users vs paying users). The chat shows responses from both panels, side-by-side, with percentage and distribution breakdowns per segment. ## Reading results ### How are panel responses aggregated? Three ways depending on the question type: 1. _Scale (1 to 10):_ distribution histogram + group average 2. _Categorical (yes/no, multi-choice):_ percentage breakdowns 3. _Qualitative (open):_ clustered themes with representative quotes You can drill into any individual Mind's response from the aggregate view. ### What is the Alignment score on a panel answer? Every panel answer has an _Alignment_ dropdown in the header, with a 0–100% score per group: - _High_ (67%+) — segment answered consistently with its persona definitions - _Medium_ (34–66%) — mixed; worth reading the individual responses - _Low_ (under 34%) — read every response before acting on the aggregate The score is the average response reliability of the Minds in that group for that specific question. Each Mind's answer is re-scored against its own persona definition (how on-character it was); we average per group. It is a temporary metric. The proper group-alignment model — closeness to empirical research findings for that segment — is in development. ### Why does the Alignment score load after the chart? Alignment is computed after each Mind's answer is generated. The chart renders first so you see the panel result immediately; the Alignment dropdown shows a loading state on each row for a few seconds while the per-Mind scores arrive, then fills in the per-group average. For messages older than this feature (or for the v1 API responses where Alignment is computed inline before return), the dropdown shows the score immediately on open. ### Can I export panel results? Yes. Export to CSV, PDF, or share via a public link. Useful for client decks, internal summaries, and sharing with stakeholders. ### Can I share a panel result publicly? Yes. Toggle link sharing on a panel and share the URL with prospects, clients, or partners. Use the share for sales calls, agency pitches, or as a teaser for a deeper engagement. ## Related - [Synthetic research basics FAQ](https://getminds.ai/faq/synthetic-research) - [Research methods FAQ](https://getminds.ai/faq/research-methods) - [Comparisons FAQ](https://getminds.ai/faq/comparisons) - Guide: [Panels](https://getminds.ai/guide/panels) - Blog: [AI focus group](https://getminds.ai/blog/ai-focus-group) - Blog: [AI expert panel](https://getminds.ai/blog/ai-expert-panel)