Customer Interview Study Budget Calculator

What is this customer interview study budget calculator?

This calculator estimates the resources for a defined number of completed customer interviews. It counts the time of every staff member in the session, adds preparation and analysis effort, and combines that labor value with incentives and shared expenses.

How to use the calculator

Enter completed interviews and session duration. Count everyone attending as staff and add combined preparation and analysis person-hours per interview. Apply a blended hourly cost, participant incentive, and shared project expenses that are outside the per-session inputs.

Check the input assumptions

Review the help text beneath each field before calculating. Enter amounts in US dollars where shown and use consistent units. Change one assumption at a time to understand which inputs affect your result.

Formula and worked example

Example calculation

Fifteen 45-minute interviews with two staff require 22.5 session person-hours. One extra hour per interview adds 15 hours. At $50, 37.5 hours cost $1,875. Incentives add $1,125 and shared costs add $400, for a $3,400 budget.

These numbers illustrate the calculation; they are not recommended rates or industry benchmarks.

How to interpret your result

Distinguish allocated staff time from cash payments when reviewing the result. Salaried time represents resource use but may not create an additional payroll bill. Incentives and external fees are often separate cash expenses.

What the estimate leaves out

The model does not select participants or assess research quality. It assumes the entered interviews are completed and omits unsuccessful recruitment effort unless included in shared costs. It does not determine an appropriate incentive policy.

Frequently asked questions