Sign Up for an Interview
Two steps — and you'll enter your name and email just once:
- Read and sign the interview consent form.
- Pick a time from the calendar, which appears here once the form is signed.
The Complexicon Project — Interview Consent Form
v1.0 — effective September 2026
What we're building: The Complexicon Project
Principal Complexinaut (Researcher): Emma D. Stellman, PhD
Contact: complexicon@stellman.net
About This Form
This document explains what to expect from participating in an interview for the Complexicon Project. Key topics include how your information will be handled, and what you're agreeing to if you decide to participate. In order to have your interview confirmed, you will need to read and sign this Interview Consent Form.
1. What This Project Is
The Complexicon Project builds on a wide range of complexity research with the goal of growing knowledge and language for complex explorations.
2. What Participation Involves
- You will take part in a 30-minute semi-structured conversation, which means I will ask you a mix of questions I have prepared in advance and will also ask you questions that come up naturally during the interview.
- You choose the date and time for the conversation using the calendar that appears on this page once the consent form is signed.
- Each conversation is audio recorded using Apple Voice Memos. The recording is transcribed using Apple's built-in transcription, and the audio itself is deleted within 3 months.
- It is your choice as to whether you would like a video call. However, even if you would like to have a video interview, only the audio voice will be recorded.
- There are no right or wrong answers in this conversation. The best interviews feel like a conversation, and my job is to ask you good questions and be an attentive listener.
3. Do You Need to Be an Expert in Complexity?
- No. You just need to have significant experiences with work and non-work that range from simple to complicated to complex.
4. Confidentiality: How Your Information Is Stored and Protected
- You will not be anonymous to me (Emma Stellman). I will know your name, the email address you share, and anything you choose to share with me during the interview. What I'm protecting is your identity from everyone else, which includes project collaborators, readers, and future partners on this project.
- Your first name, last name, and email address are known only to me and are stored separately from your interview data, on a secured, access-controlled server.
- As soon as you agree to participate, you're assigned a pseudonym. From that point on, your recordings, transcripts, and any notes I make are labeled with that pseudonym.
- The file connecting your real identity to your pseudonym is kept completely separate from the recordings and transcripts themselves, and is never stored on any shared or public system.
- I will never deliberately mislead you about any part of this process.
5. How Your Words Might Be Used and What You Can Choose
Everything you share can be used by me for research purposes only. Any quote from you will never be attributed to your actual identity. I will typically attribute a quote or idea to your pseudonym, and may add a general, non-identifying description of your field, e.g., a healthcare professional, a bee keeper, an underwater welder, etc. No identifying information will ever be used without express written consent.
6. Your Rights as a Participant
- Participation is completely voluntary. You can skip any question, pause, or stop an interview at any time, for any reason, with no consequence.
- You can withdraw from the interview process at any point, including after your interview. You can request that your data be deleted at any time.
- You will not be deceived about any aspect of your participation.
- You need to be 18 or older to take part in the interview process.
- All audio recordings will be deleted within 3 months after the recordings are made.
- Your participation is subject to approval by the researcher, Dr. Emma D. Stellman.
- No compensation will be provided for participating in the interview.
7. Risks and Benefits
- Risks are minimal to non-existent. This isn't a clinical or high-stakes study, there are no placebos. That said, talking honestly about the hard parts of your work can bring up strong emotions. If a question ever feels too challenging, we can skip the question or stop altogether.
- Benefits: you're contributing directly to research and development of public tools, such as the Complexicon, novel approaches to understanding complexity mindsets, and hopefully a book.
8. Questions
Questions about any part of this form or the interview process? Send a note here, or email complexicon@stellman.net.
The structure and content of this consent form was adapted in part from the Belmont Report (Institutional Review Board, University of Wisconsin–Madison) and the University of Edinburgh's Interview Consent Form.
— End of document —
Please scroll to the bottom to continue.
By entering my name, I am signing this form electronically.
Step 2 — Pick a Time
Your name and email are filled in from the consent form. Choose any open slot and you'll get a confirmation from Cal.com.