Quallie is designed to support secure and smooth collaboration in qualitative research. To keep work organized and protect sensitive data, the platform uses several user roles. Each role has a clear purpose and defined permissions.
| Role | Main Purpose | Discussion Access | Project Backend | Team Management |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account Owner | Full account control | Full moderation | Full | Full |
| Team Member | Internal project work | Full moderation | All projects | No |
| Moderator | Run discussions and adjust the project | Full moderation (assigned projects) | Limited (assigned projects) | No |
| Observer | View only | Read-only | None | No |
| Respondent | Study participant | Participate only | None | No |
When to Use Each Role:
- Use Account Owner for the single primary administrator.
- Use Team Members for your internal research team running projects.
- Use Moderators for external facilitators, interns, or restricted collaborators.
- Use Observers for clients and stakeholders who only need viewing access
1. Account Owner (Admin)
The Account Owner (Admin) is the main administrator of the Quallie account. This is the highest-permission operational role in Quallie and usually belongs to the primary account manager. Each company account can have only one Account Owner.
Typical responsibilities
- Invite and manage team members
- Oversee all projects
- Configure account-level settings
- Manage projects
- Moderate discussions
Access level
- Project backend: Full access to all projects
- Discussions: Full access and moderation rights
- User management: Full control over the team
2. Team Members
Team Members are internal collaborators who help run research projects. These are typically colleagues such as researchers, project managers, internal moderators, or analysts. Team Members can fully run and moderate projects but cannot manage the internal team structure.
Typical responsibilities
- Create projects
- Manage projects
- Create moderators and assign them to projects
- Manage participants
- Review responses
- Analyze results
- Moderate discussions
Important limitation
- Team Members cannot view or manage other team members.
Access level
- Project backend: Access to all projects on the account
- Discussions: Full participation and moderation rights
- Moderator management: Can create moderators and assign them to projects
- Team management: No access
3. Moderator
Moderators focus on running discussions and supporting the research process. This role is typically used for:
- External moderators
- Interns
- Colleagues who should not have access to all projects
Typical responsibilities
- Guide discussions
- Ask follow-up questions and probes
- Engage participants
- Review participant responses
- Moderate discussions in assigned projects
Access level
- Project backend: Limited to assigned projects
- Discussions: Full moderation capabilities (assigned projects)
- User management: No access to team members, they can only add or manage respondents in the assigned project
Flexible permissions
Moderator permissions can be adjusted individually for each project and each moderator. The Account Owner and Team Members can allow or restrict access to areas such as:
- Discussions and moderator panel
- Project settings
- Activities and pages
- Respondents
- Other users (clients, visitors)
- Emails
- Exports
- Respondent activity table
Key point: Moderator permissions are flexible, giving you precise control over what each moderator can see and do.
Team Members vs Moderators
Team Members and Moderators can both moderate discussions, but their roles serve different purposes.
Team Members are internal users with broad access across the entire account. They can work with all projects, create new projects, and create and assign moderators. They are part of the core research team and help manage the project setup.
Moderators are typically used for external moderators, interns, or colleagues who should not have access to all projects. Their access is limited to the projects they are assigned to, and their permissions within those projects can be adjusted individually. Their main focus is guiding discussions and engaging with participants. This project-only access helps protect sensitive data and maintain client privacy, especially when working with external partners.
In short:
- Team Members = account-wide project managers
- Moderators = restricted, project-level access
4. Observers
Observers are stakeholders who need to follow the research without influencing it. This role is commonly used for clients, translators, or other stakeholders.
Typical responsibilities
- Watch discussions
- Review responses
- Monitor project progress
Access level
- Project backend: Very limited or read-only
- Discussions: View-only (cannot post or moderate)
- User management: No access
Key point: Observers can view the research but cannot interact.
5. Respondents
What they are used for
Respondents are the study participants. Respondents participate in the research but never access the project backend or management areas.
Permissions Matrix
| Permission / Role | Account Owner | Team Member | Moderator | Observer | Respondent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access all projects | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Access assigned projects only | — | — | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Create projects | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Manage project setup | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Moderate discussions | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Create & assign moderators | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| View discussions | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Participate in activities | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| View other respondents’ answers | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Yes, if allowed |
| Manage team members | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Access project backend | ✅ Full | ✅ Full | ⚠️ Limited* | ⚠️ Read-only | ❌ None |