Qualitative Research Transcription with Otter.ai

1. Go to otter.ai and click Sign Up
2. Use your work email, if your organization already has Otter.ai licenses, you may be automatically added to a team workspace
3. Choose your plan (free tier is fine to start)
4. Complete account setup

What you should see: The Otter.ai home dashboard with an "Import" button and any previous conversations listed.

1. From the Otter.ai home dashboard, click Import (upload icon) or drag-and-drop your audio/video file
2. Give the conversation a descriptive name: "Client A. Focus Group. March 2026"
3. Click Upload

What you should see: A processing screen. Otter shows a progress indicator while transcribing. A 60-minute recording typically completes in 8-12 minutes. Troubleshooting: If the file is too large (free tier has upload limits), compress it with Handbrake (free) or convert MP4 video to MP3 audio first.

Once processing completes, click into the transcript.

1. Otter shows the transcript with speaker labels (Speaker 1, Speaker 2) and timestamps
2. Click on any word to edit it. Otter's accuracy is typically 85-92% for clear recordings
3. Click on a speaker label to rename them (e.g., "Moderator," "Respondent 1")
4. Use Ctrl+F to find and correct commonly misheard words (brand names, technical terms)

What you should see: A scrollable transcript with color-coded speakers and clickable timestamps that jump to that audio position.

1. Click the Export button (usually in the top-right corner)
2. Choose Text (.txt) or PDF format
3. Download the file to your computer

What you should see: A clean text file with speaker labels and timestamps.

Now open Claude (claude.ai) or ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) in a new browser tab.

1. Copy all or part of the transcript text
2. Paste it with this prompt:

This is a focus group transcript about [research topic]. Please:
1. Identify 5–7 major themes discussed
2. For each theme, provide 2 illustrative quotes with speaker labels
3. Write a 200-word "What We Heard" summary that synthesizes the key findings
4. Note any areas of strong agreement or notable disagreement among participants

What you should see: A structured thematic analysis ready to use as your qual notes document.