# AI Simulation Mode for Questionnaires | Harmate

Pre-test a questionnaire with AI personae, control the simulation run, analyze responses and improve before moving to Real Mode.

- Canonical URL: https://www.harmate.com/en/product/simulation-mode
- Language: en
- Updated: Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

## Content

#### Stress-Test a Questionnaire Before Real Respondents See It

Simulation Mode turns an intent, a questionnaire or a business brief into a controlled test field: select personae, generate responses, read analytics signals and improve before sending anything to real participants.
- Harmate Simulation Mode
- Start a Simulation
- See the Workflow

Recommended, searchable and evaluated personae before launch.

Runs can be paused, resumed and kept with checkpoints.

Harmate analytics are available on simulated material before Real Mode.

#### From Intent to Field-Ready Questionnaire

Simulation is not just response generation. It is a framing, execution and reading cycle that shows what will break before a questionnaire reaches a real audience.
- Product Workflow

#### Start from Brief, Voice or Draft

Quick start captures the objective, profile to simulate, signals to watch and expected output before producing a usable base.
- Framing
- The test starts from a clear hypothesis.

Visible intent instead of an empty form.

Lightweight framing before the full editor.

#### Build the Simulatable Questionnaire

The AI assistant, templates, job descriptions and open questions help create a testable version, then rewrite what simulation reveals as ambiguous.
- Editing
- The questionnaire evolves before the field.

Mirror, open or business questions depending on the scenario.

Targeted rewriting after each run.

#### Compose a Panel That Tests Blind Spots

Indexed search, recommendations and coverage diagnostics help select relevant, diverse and contrasted personae that expose questionnaire weaknesses.
- Personae
- Personae become a stress-test tool.

Instant search by profile, context and signals.

Fit, diversity and coverage score before launch.

#### Run, Pause and Resume

Each run keeps its identifier, checkpoints and already produced answers. You can interrupt, resume, add compatible personae and keep traceability.
- Run
- A run is not a black box.

Explicit statuses: running, paused, ready or error.

Exports and strategic analysis only when material is ready.

#### Analyze Like Real Mode

Simulated answers feed Harmate views: persona answers, quality audit, fidelity evidence, deduplicated volume, language, topics, statistics, matching, grouping and exports.
- Reading
- You know what to improve before sending.

Analytics remain marked as simulation.

The final decision remains the move to a real field.

#### Simulation Does Not Replace the Field

It hardens the questionnaire, clarifies criteria and prepares a cleaner real collection. Real Mode remains the validation step with participants.
- Cycle Output
- See Real Mode

#### Visualize the Panel That Stress-Tests the Questionnaire

In a simulation, the panel is not decoration. Each persona carries a precise reading angle: business context, expertise level, vocabulary, resistance or expected weak signal.
- Simulated Personae

#### A Panel Aligned with the Objective

Selected profiles cover the roles, contexts and maturity levels needed before launching a run.
- Coverage

#### Blind Spots Put Under Tension

Panel diversity exposes questions that are too vague, missing criteria and wording that is too technical.
- Contrast

#### Actionable Reading Before the Field

Simulated answers become audit material: they show what to reword, remove or verify in Real Mode.
- Signal

#### What Simulation Mode really orchestrates

The page should mention other features because Simulation Mode puts them into practice. Each capability below is explained through its exact role in the pre-field test.
- Activated Capabilities

#### Create a Testable Base

The mode does not need a finished questionnaire. It helps turn a business intent into something that can be simulated.

#### AI Assistant

The assistant generates an initial structure, rewrites weak questions and acts as a copilot after simulated answers are reviewed.

#### Templates and Job Descriptions

A template or job description gives a business starting point; simulation checks whether that frame produces discriminating answers.

#### Open and Mirror Questions

Question formats are tested on personae before real exposure: too vague, too closed, redundant or too technical becomes visible.

#### Select the Personae

The power of the mode comes from the simulated panel: you need to understand which profiles test what.

#### Indexed Search

Local search quickly filters profiles by context, role, signals and traits useful to the questionnaire.

#### Panel Diagnostic

Fit, diversity and coverage scoring avoids running a simulation with profiles that are too similar or poorly aligned.

#### Control the Run

A simulation can be long, partial or iterative. The product exposes state instead of hiding generation.

#### Pause, Resume and Checkpoints

Produced answers are kept after each persona; you resume without losing what is already usable.

#### Incremental Persona Additions

When the questionnaire remains compatible, you can enrich the panel and compare new signals with already simulated answers.

#### Read, Improve, Handoff

The mode gives access to Harmate analytics without confusing simulation with real collection.

#### Dashboards and Statistics

You read volumes, dispersions, topics, distributions and consistency signals on simulated answers.

#### Language, Cleaning and Audit

Language score, deduplicated volume, verbatims and quality audit show whether simulated material is usable.

#### Matching, Grouping and Exports

Matching views, automatic grouping and exports help compare decisions before launching the validated questionnaire.

#### What you are trying to see

The value is not to believe simulation as statistical truth. The value is to reveal design signals before collection.
- Ambiguous Question
- Rewrite
- Panel Too Similar
- Diversify
- Thin Answers
- Enrich
- Unclear Matching Criterion
- Clarify

#### Where Simulation Mode becomes decisive

The mode is central when a bad questionnaire is costly: wasted time, poor matching, unreadable results or participants exposed too early.
- Use Cases

#### Pre-Test an HR Questionnaire

#### Validate a Training Path

#### Compare Matching Scenarios

#### Prepare an Open Study

#### The Right Promise

Simulation Mode does not promise to predict a real population. It promises to make a questionnaire setup stronger before exposing it.

Use simulation to spot design weaknesses.

Use Real Mode to validate with real participants.

Keep simulated runs separate from real responses.

#### Frequently Asked Questions About Simulation Mode

#### What is Simulation Mode concretely for?

It tests a questionnaire, matching scenario or open study before involving real participants. You check questions, personae, expected answers and available analytics.

#### Where do AI personae come from?

They can be configured, searched or recommended based on the questionnaire. Their role is to test blind spots, not statistically represent a real population.

#### How are Simulation credits estimated before launch?

Harmate estimates the need from the questionnaire workload and the personae to be processed. Already produced and reusable answers do not cost new credits. The panel is blocked when the available balance — remaining period analysis credits and eligible one-shot credits — does not cover it.

#### Can I pause a simulation?

Yes. The run exposes its state, keeps checkpoints and can resume without erasing already produced answers when the questionnaire remains compatible.

#### Do simulated results use the same analytics as Real Mode?

Yes, with simulation labeling: persona answers, audit, volume, language score, topics, statistics, matching, grouping and exports can be reviewed depending on run state.

#### When should I move to Real Mode?

When questions are understandable, criteria are useful, the simulated panel is contrasted enough and analytics are readable. Real Mode then validates with real respondents.

#### Simulate, Improve, Then Launch in Real Mode

Start from an intent, compose a persona panel, control the run, analyze signals and send a stronger version to real participants.
- Start a Simulation
- See Real Mode