Focus group transcription

Prepare the source

Use an authorized recording and a participant map if your protocol permits one. Preserve separate microphone tracks when the source workflow provides them.

Flag cross-talk and responses spoken from farther away from the microphone. Before processing a full recording, test a passage that includes the difficult conditions you expect in the rest of the material. A clean introduction may not reveal problems with quieter answers, room noise or changes of language later in the file.

Settings for this workflow

Set the audio language when you know it, and begin with Tiny to confirm the device can run the model. Compare another available model on the same passage if the first draft needs too much correction. Keep the task on original-language transcription unless an English translation is specifically the goal.

Review against the recording

Assign speaker labels only when the recording supports them. Keep unclear turns marked instead of forcing every sentence into a named participant.

Use the timestamp beside a segment to return to its audio. Correct the draft before copying a passage into another document. If a phrase remains unclear, leave an explicit marker in your working copy so the uncertainty survives later editing and sharing.

Illustrative handoff

Imagine a reviewer receiving the draft without having attended the session. They need the source recording identifier, the chosen transcription convention, a clear distinction between spoken words and notes, and a way to find unresolved passages. Make those choices visible in the exported document instead of assuming the next person will infer them.

DOCX for team review and JSON for segment-level work. Keep the source audio under the access rules for this project. The app stores a local copy when browser storage permits; that convenience is not a substitute for an approved archive or backup.

Know the limit

The app mixes decoded audio to mono and does not diarize speakers. A crowded discussion may require substantial manual transcription. If the work requires a managed transcription service, independent checking or a specialized record format, use a workflow that provides it. The useful result here is a transparent, reviewable draft.