> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trypillow.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Pillow works

> Understand the core loop: studies, interviews, and insights.

Pillow turns a research question into qualitative answers at scale. You describe what you want to learn, your **Researcher Agent** interviews your users one-on-one, and Pillow analyzes every interview into insights you can act on. This page explains the pieces and how they fit together.

## The core loop

<Steps>
  <Step title="Define a study">
    Use the Study Builder to turn your objective into goals, an agent, and an outreach message, together your study's **Brief**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Your agent runs interviews">
    Participants open a link (or see the study in your app) and chat with your Researcher Agent. It asks goal-driven questions and adapts its follow-ups to each person.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pillow turns interviews into insights">
    Every interview is summarized and graded, and the Overview tab surfaces patterns across them. Ask Pillow questions in plain language and get answers grounded in real responses.
  </Step>

  <Step title="You act on what you learn">
    Export findings, send issues to your tracker, and share answers with your team.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The building blocks

| Concept              | What it is                                                                                               |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Study**            | One research program: its goals, agent, audience, and results. See [Studies](/concepts/studies).         |
| **Researcher Agent** | The interviewer you configure: its name, voice, look, and how deep it probes.                            |
| **Interview**        | One participant's conversation with your agent. See [Interviews](/concepts/interviews).                  |
| **Insights**         | The analysis layer: interview summaries, the Overview tab, issues, and [Ask Pillow](/concepts/insights). |

## Where studies run

A study reaches participants in a few ways: a shareable [link](/guides/broadcast-study), an embed on your site, or (for mobile and web apps) automatic launches to specific [audiences](/guides/audience-targeting) through the SDK.

## Test before you go live

Every study starts in **test mode** so you can try the interview yourself and share it with teammates. Test interviews never appear in your data. When you're happy, switch to **live**. See [Test vs. live](/guides/test-vs-live).

## When to use Pillow

Use Pillow when you need qualitative depth at a scale you can't reach by hand: understanding churn, validating a feature, or exploring a funnel drop-off.

## Further reading

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Get your first study live in a few minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Studies" icon="folder" href="/concepts/studies">
    The anatomy and lifecycle of a study.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interviews" icon="messages-square" href="/concepts/interviews">
    How your agent runs each interview.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How insights work" icon="chart-pie" href="/concepts/insights">
    Summaries, Overview, and Ask Pillow.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>