--- title: How long does a video ethnography project take? description: A video ethnography project takes around 5-6 weeks from sign off to debrief. See the week-by-week timings, plus what makes a project longer or shorter. image: https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/1-Nov-12-2026-05-25-05-9714-PM.png --- [![Bombayworks logotype](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/wmt-logo_inverse.svg "Bombayworks logotype")](https://watchmethink.com/) - [What we do](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Watch Me Explore](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-explore) - [Watch Me Develop](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-develop) - [Watch Me Use](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-use) - [Watch Me Shop](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-shop) - [Who it's for](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Consumer Insights](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/consumer-insights) - [Shopper Insights](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/shopper-insights) - [Category Management](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/category-mangement) - [Innovation & Product Development](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/innovation) - [Sensory & Consumer Science](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/consumer-science) - [Packaging](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/packaging) - [Marketing](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/marketing) - [About](https://watchmethink.com/about) - [The 100 Blog](https://blog.watchmethink.com/) - [Contact](https://watchmethink.com/contact) - [Login](https://watchmethink.com/dashboard) - [Sign up](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Corporate users](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Request registration here](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Consumer](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) - [Get paid to review products](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) Menu ![RGB\_WMT\_Bubble\_Background\_Medblue\_large](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/RGB_WMT_Bubble_Background_Medblue_large.jpg) # How long does a video ethnography project take? - Home - [Guides & FAQs](https://hello.watchmethink.com/guides) - How long does a video ethnography project take? - [Guides & FAQs home /](https://hello.watchmethink.com/guides) [Bo Beep](https://hello.watchmethink.com/guides/author/bo-beep) 13/11/2026 [Guides](https://hello.watchmethink.com/guides/tag/guides) [0 Comments](https://hello.watchmethink.com/guides/how-long-does-a-video-ethnography-project-take#postComment) 3 Minutes Around 5-6 weeks from sign off to debrief for a typical project with human analysis. Without the full analysis, it takes around 2-3 weeks. However, project timings depend on how hard the respondents are to find, what you're asking them to film, how many countries you're in, and whether you want our full analysis, highlight reels only or raw footage only.  ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) #### A breakdown of the timings A standard project tends to be along the lines of 12-16 Thinkers, making 3 videos around an everyday task, in the US, UK or Australia, with our researchers doing the analysis and writing the report. Here's an example of how those timings break down: | **Project stage** | **What happens** | **Completed by** | | --- | --- | --- | | Project kickoff | You sign off the project and approve the recruitment criteria and send the PO. | Monday week 1 | | Screener & Activity Guide sign off | We write the screener and the activity guide, and you give the nod that you're happy. | Tuesday week 1 | | Recruitment | Thinkers screened, verified and briefed. | Friday week 1 | | Fieldwork | Thinkers film their tasks and upload their videos. | Sunday week 2 | | Quality checking | We quality check the videos, translate them where needed, and transcribe them. We then make them visible to you on the platform. | Tuesday week 3 | | Analysis, reporting and highlight reels | Our researchers watch every video, tease out the threads and do the strategic thinking. They write a report with If-It-Were-Our-Money recommendations and work with our video editors on the highlight reels that land these findings with a bang. | Friday week 5 | | Debrief | We debrief the report and blow your socks off :-) | From Monday week 6 | ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) #### What about timings for highlight reels only or raw footage only? If you want highlight reels only, without the report, a standard project takes around 2-3 weeks from sign off to delivery. If you want the raw footage only so you can do the watching, editing and analysing yourselves, we hand the raw footage over to you after fieldwork and quality checking. This shaves off another 1-2 days. ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) #### How do timings change by market? Timings depend on whether we have an office in the market and whether the footage needs translating. We have offices and our own panels in the US, UK and Australia, so projects there follow the standard timings. In markets outside of these, we work with our trusted network of local partners to recruit and run the fieldwork for us. That adds around 3 days for briefing them and checking that what comes back meets our standards. In non-English speaking markets, footage also needs translating and those translations need checking, which adds around 3 more days.  ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) #### **What makes timelines longer?** A complex or low-incidence recruit: For example, people who live near a specific test store or have a specific condition take longer to find. Behaviour over time: If you want to see week 1 and week 6 of product usage then the fieldwork is, naturally, at least 6 weeks long. Markets outside the US, UK and Australia: Projects need extra time for briefing our local partners and checking what comes back. Videos from non-English speaking markets also need translating, transcribing and checking. More respondents: This stretches timelines across the board, simply because there are more people to find, quality check and analyse.  How quickly you're able to review things: We can only get going once you've signed off on the recruitment criteria and activity guide. So any delay here has a knock-on effect down the line.  ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) #### What makes timelines shorter? Fast Feedback is our heavy on the accelerator option. It's a fast, lightweight solution for simpler questions that don't need in-depth research. It takes 10 days from sign off to report. 30-40 Thinkers make an unmoderated Q&A style video. These aren't behaviour or occasion based. Every respondent is still recruited and QC'd by our trusty team of humans. Unlike our usual approach, the videos are then analysed with our own AI tool, developed by our research team, to mimic their process. The analysis is then checked by a human researcher. It suits a narrow question with a short answer, and we'll tell you if your question isn't one of those. ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) #### What do I have to do while the research is running? Well! You can get on with the million and one other parts of your job, maybe even have a cup of tea. Safe in the knowledge that we have everything in hand and will deliver on time. We'll keep you updated throughout, of course. And if we're doing the analysis, we'll always have a mid-analysis call with you to go through the story so far.  ![Experiment\_1\_medblue](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Experiment_1_medblue.gif?width=700&height=58&name=Experiment_1_medblue.gif) Watch Me Think is the qual market research agency for when you can't afford to get it wrong. Real consumers film themselves as they use your products, shop, or go about daily life. Human researchers pore over every minute, tease out the threads and do the strategic thinking. 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