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

# Participant Journey

> Follow the participant flow from published quest link to onboarding, activities, and collected data.

A **Quest** is the product object researchers configure in Fusion, but it functions as the container for a **study**. This page explains the participant-facing flow once your quest is published.

## End-to-End Flow

```
Researcher publishes quest
  → Participant opens quest link
    → Quest checks whether the participant already joined
      → If joined and kiosk mode is off, continue into the quest
      → If joined and kiosk mode is on, onboarding can be shown again
      → If not joined, continue to study onboarding
    → Study Overview / Consent Document (optional)
    → Onboarding questions with guard validation (optional)
    → Join quest
    → Complete prompts, experiments, recordings, and assignments
    → Researcher reviews participants and collected data
```

## What Participants See

Depending on how your quest is configured, participants may see some or all of the following:

* **Study Overview / Consent Document** before any questions
* **Onboarding questions** for screening or baseline intake
* **Prompts** on a defined schedule
* **Experiments** such as jsPsych-based tasks
* **Brain recordings** and health-data collection steps
* **Assignments** that control when to complete the next activity

## Joining a Published Quest

Participants can only join a quest after it has been **published**. Sharing the quest URL or QR code sends them into the same join flow used on web and mobile.

<Info>
  Joining is the moment that creates a participant record for the quest. Onboarding responses are saved first, then the participant is enrolled into the quest itself.
</Info>

## Study Overview / Consent Document

If you add onboarding overview content, participants see it before any onboarding questions. The page is best used for:

* informed consent language
* study summary
* expectations and time commitment
* privacy and data handling notes
* contact details for the study team

See [Full-Text Overview](/onboarding/full-text-overview) for configuration guidance.

## Onboarding Questions and Eligibility

If onboarding questions are configured, participants answer them before joining the quest. Guard rules are checked server-side, so ineligible participants are stopped before they enter the study workflow.

Use onboarding for:

* eligibility screening
* baseline intake
* demographic collection
* consent confirmation steps

See [Onboarding & Consent Overview](/onboarding/overview) for the full flow.

## Activities After Joining

Once participants are inside the quest, they can complete the modules you configured:

* recurring prompts
* experiments
* brain recordings
* health data collection
* assignments tied to experiments or follow-up activities

Use [Running a Study](/quests/running-a-study) to understand how these pieces fit together operationally.

## Researcher Operations Surfaces

The current researcher workflow uses these pages:

* **Quest detail page** for collected data, publishing, sharing, downloads, and schedule/compliance updates
* **Participants page** for participant roster, cohort assignment, and lifecycle status updates
* **Organization quest list** for study-level navigation
* **Audit Log** for data-access history

See:

* [Managing Participants](/quests/managing-participants)
* [Viewing Quest Data](/quests/viewing-quest-data)
* [Data Audit Trail](/data/audit-trail)

## Notes on Terminology

In Fusion:

* **Quest** is the product term used in the UI
* **study** is the research concept the quest represents

In docs, we keep **Quest** as the actionable UI term while using **study** in explanatory text where it helps orient research teams.