How to create an interactive video, step by step

How to make an interactive video in 8 steps

The first two steps are planning. They decide how much footage you need and how many paths you will test later.

1. Pick one goal and the viewer action that proves it.
2. Choose a structure: one video with interactions on top, or branches.
3. Choose an interactive video tool.
4. Prepare the video and add it to the tool.
5. Add interactions at the right moments.
6. Set what each click does and connect the branches.
7. Preview and test every path.
8. Publish, share, and read the results.

Step 1: Pick one goal and the viewer action that proves it

Write the goal as one sentence that names the viewer and the action, for example: "After this video, a new hire answers three forklift safety questions correctly." A video that tries to train staff and collect leads at the same time usually does neither well. The action you choose decides the first interaction you add.

Match the goal to the first interaction

Goal	Viewer action that proves it	First interaction to add
Check understanding	Answers a question correctly	A multiple-choice question right after the concept is taught
Help viewers find their topic	Picks a topic, role, or product	Buttons that jump to the matching section
Show product details	Clicks the item on screen	A hotspot over the item that opens a card or a product page
Collect leads	Enters an email address or books a meeting	A lead capture form or a booking button after the main benefit
Qualify or route viewers	Answers a qualifying question	A question whose answers send each viewer down a different branch

If you have a transcript, our free interactive video blueprint tool turns it into a build plan with the question wording, the placement, and what happens after each answer. To see finished videos for each goal, browse our interactive video examples.

Step 2: Choose a structure

Most interactive videos use one of three structures. Pick the simplest one that reaches your goal, because every branch adds footage to shoot and paths to test.

Three ways to structure an interactive video

Structure	How it works	Best for	Footage you need
Layered	One video plays from start to end, with questions, buttons, and hotspots on top	Existing videos, knowledge checks, calls to action	The video you already have
Branching inside one video	Choices jump to different sections of the same file	Topic menus, short scenarios, product tours	One file that contains every section
Branching across videos	Choices switch to separate videos	Long scenarios, role-based paths, choose-your-own-adventure stories	One clip for each path

In Mindstamp, branching inside one video uses the Change Time click action, and branching across videos uses Switch Video. With Switch Video, each branch has its own report and counts as a video in your library. Change Time keeps everything in one file (how branching works).

For any branching video, draw the map before you shoot or edit. Write down each decision, the options at that decision, and where each option ends. Let paths meet again at a shared ending where you can, so that three choices do not turn into nine endings. Our free branching scenario generator drafts a decision tree with consequences from a short description of the situation.

Step 3: Choose an interactive video tool

A video host stores and plays your video. An interactive video tool adds the clickable layer and records what each viewer does. In a trial, check four things: the interaction types you need, whether the tool plays video from your current host, whether reports show answers by viewer, and whether it connects to your LMS or CRM.

Interactive video tools compared (checked October 2026)

Tool	What you can add	Cost and access	Watch for
YouTube	Cards and end screens that link to videos, playlists, channels, and, for YouTube Partner Program members, websites	Free	Cards and end screens link to other content; they do not pause the video or collect answers
Vimeo	Chapters, forms, cards, and end screens; hotspots, time triggers, and overlays in its Interactive studio	Features depend on the plan; the Interactive studio needs an Enterprise plan (Vimeo help)	Check which features your plan includes before you build
H5P Interactive Video	Quiz questions, text, images, and links on a video; a question can jump to another part of the video	Free and open source (H5P)	Runs inside an LMS or website such as Moodle or WordPress, or on the hosted H5P.com service
Mindstamp	13 question types, buttons, hotspots, branching, lead capture, and reports by viewer	14-day free trial with no payment card; plans on our pricing page	Adds interactions on top of your video; trim and join footage in a video editor first

We compare Mindstamp with each of these on our pages for YouTube, Vimeo, and H5P. For more tools, see our overview of interactive video platforms.

Step 4: Prepare the video and add it to the tool

Finish the edit before you add interactions. Mindstamp does not trim footage, join clips into one file, or change color and audio, so do that in a video editor such as Clipchamp, which has a free plan, or Adobe Premiere Pro. Export an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, the format our help center recommends. Length and file size limits depend on your plan (video length and file size).

Decide which on-screen items belong in the footage and which belong in the player. A logo or a still picture that never changes can go into the edit, and Movavi's guide to adding a picture to a video shows the usual overlay-track method. Anything a viewer should click, or anything you may change later, such as a price or a date, works better as an interaction in the player. You can edit it there without exporting the video again.

If you record new footage for an interactive video, plan for the interactions on set:

• Leave clear space in the frame where buttons and questions will appear, so they do not cover a face or the product.
• At each choice point, have the presenter say the prompt out loud, for example "Pick the option that matches your role," and hold still for a few seconds while the options appear.
• Keep framing, lighting, and audio level the same across branches, because a viewer may watch two branches back to back.
• Give each branch a clean end, so you can cut to the shared ending.

If a production company such as Vidico shoots the video, send them the branch map and the list of interaction moments before the shoot.

To add the video to Mindstamp, select New video in the side menu. Upload an MP4, MOV, or WebM file, or connect a host:

• For a Vimeo video, paste a direct HLS or 1080p MP4 file link, not the address of the Vimeo page.
• For Wistia, JW Player, or Kaltura, paste the link to the video.
• Mindstamp no longer offers Panopto import, so upload a Panopto recording as a video file.
• A YouTube link works for testing only. Upload the file for a video you plan to publish.

Our help article on supported video sources lists every option, and the new video tutorial walks through uploading a file and connecting a host.

Step 5: Add interactions at the right moments

Watch the video once and note the moments where a viewer would want to answer, choose, or act. In the Mindstamp editor, move the playhead to the first moment and add an interaction from the add bar. Timing is precise to a tenth of a second. Each interaction type has its own job:

• Questions pause the video until the viewer answers. There are 13 types, including multiple choice, dropdown, and voice responses.
• Buttons are labeled choices or calls to action, such as "Show me pricing" or "I work in support."
• Hotspots are clickable areas over an object in the frame. Attention effects such as Pulse or Glow show viewers where to click.
• Text and images add notes, labels, or clickable logos.
• Lead capture asks for a name, an email address, or other fields at the start, at a set time, or when the viewer clicks.

Placement decides whether viewers notice an interaction and use it. Follow these rules:

• Ask a question right after you explain the concept, while it is fresh. A quiz saved for the end tests memory of the whole video, and fewer viewers reach it.
• Show a call to action right after the moment that earns it, such as the feature demo, and keep it on screen long enough to read and click.
• Place a hotspot when the object is large, clear, and still on screen.
• When the viewer must choose before the video continues, set the button's Pause option to At hide time (Require Click). Our help article on requiring a click shows the settings.
• Label each clickable item with the action it starts. "Watch the setup steps" tells the viewer more than "Click here."

Do not save your most important interaction for the final seconds. Across 8.07 million views of 18,315 Mindstamp videos (2018 to October 2026), the average view played 46.5% of the video. These are mostly training, marketing, and sales videos made by our customers, so use the figure for your own planning, not as a benchmark for all video.

When AI features are turned on for your account, Mindstamp can draft multiple-choice questions from the video's transcript for you to edit (turn a video into a quiz with AI). Our guide on how to create an interactive video quiz covers question writing, scoring, and feedback.

Step 6: Set what each click does and connect the branches

Every button, hotspot, image, and text interaction has a click action. These are the ones you will use most:

Common click actions in Mindstamp

Click action	What it does	Use it for
Continue	Records the click and keeps the video playing	Polls and choices that do not change the path
Change Time	Jumps to another point in the same video	Topic menus and branches inside one file
Switch Video	Branches to another video, from the start or a set time	Branches that need their own clip and report
Open Link	Opens a web page in a new tab	Product, pricing, and sign-up pages
Open Link Modal	Opens a web page in a window on top of the video	Pages you want viewers to see without leaving the video
Show Message, Show Card	Shows more information over the video	Definitions and product details
Add to Cart	Adds a product to an in-video Shopify cart	Shoppable video

Our click actions guide lists the rest, such as Start Email and Download File.

A branch is a set of click actions that work together. The demo below uses the pattern we recommend for a first branching video, all inside one file:

1. Three buttons appear at 5.1 seconds and pause the video until the viewer picks one.
2. Each button saves the choice to a variable and uses Change Time to jump to its own section, at 6.2, 11.4, or 16.6 seconds.
3. At the end of the first two sections, a timed jump sends the viewer to the shared ending at 21.8 seconds, so one section never plays into the next.
4. The ending reads the saved choice back with the variable {{selected_route}}.

The mistake to check for is a missing exit, where the viewer finishes one section and keeps watching straight into the next. Give every section an exit: a jump to the shared ending, or a Switch Video to the next clip.

Buttons, hotspots, and answers can also save a variable, and variables carry across Switch Video branches. On supported plans, conditional logic shows or hides an interaction based on a variable, such as an earlier answer or the viewer's score. To check the whole structure, open More and select See branching for a map of the paths between videos.

Step 7: Preview and test every path

Select Preview and watch the video the way a viewer will. Your own previews do not create normal viewer records, so testing does not change the report. Work through this checklist:

• Click every option at every decision, and confirm that each path reaches an ending.
• Publish every destination video. A Switch Video branch does not run if its destination is not published.
• Open every link and check that it goes to the right page.
• Answer each question once correctly and once incorrectly, and check the feedback and the path for each answer.
• On a phone, open the share link in the default browser while signed out of Mindstamp. Tap every interaction with the phone upright and turned sideways. Our mobile publishing checklist lists the other phone checks.
• Turn on captions and check that no button or question covers them.
• Watch once without skipping to check the pace, and adjust any interaction that appears too early or leaves too soon.

Step 8: Publish, share, and read the results

Publish the video, then open Share and copy the link or the embed code. Viewers do not need a Mindstamp account. Anyone with the link can watch unless you add a password or an access list. You can also share the video as:

• a QR code for print,
• personalized links that carry each recipient's details, on supported plans,
• a SCORM package for your LMS, on supported plans,
• an offline package for places without internet access.

Share the link or the embed code, not the video file. If you upload the file itself to a social network, the interactions do not come with it (sharing options). To put the player on your own site, see how to include interactive videos in blog posts and web pages.

Then open Reporting. Each view shows the share of the video watched, the score, and the device. Each answer or click appears as its own row with the viewer who made it, and the Questions report shows the answer breakdown for each question. On supported plans, you can send this data to a customer relationship management (CRM) system such as HubSpot.

Use the first results to improve the video:

• If most viewers miss the same question, rewrite it or explain the concept again before it.
• If few viewers click a button, move it closer to the moment that earns it or change the label.
• If almost every viewer picks the same branch, check that the other options are clear, and use that interest when you plan the next video.
• If viewers leave before a key interaction, move the interaction earlier.

Our guide to video engagement metrics explains which numbers to track.

How to make an existing video interactive

You do not need new footage, and any finished video works. Two approaches fit almost any video and leave its story as it is.

Add a call to action that stays on screen

Put a button such as "Book a demo" or "Buy now" in a corner and set it to show from the start to the end of the video, so it is there whenever a viewer is ready (keep a button visible for the whole video). You can also turn things already in the footage into links. Put a hotspot over a logo, a web address, or a product, or add a clickable image of a calendar at the moment you mention a call.

Ask questions at the end

The closing seconds of most videos, often a logo or an end card, are a good place to ask, because the viewers who get there watched the whole video. Add two buttons that pause the video, with a prompt such as "Can we ask you three quick questions?" Then place the questions in the closing seconds:

• Set "Yes" to Continue, so the questions appear one after another. Ask which feature interested the viewer most, or how large their team is.
• Set "No" to Change Time, with a point after the last question, so the viewer skips them.

On supported plans, conditional logic lets you go further. Ask at the start whether the viewer will answer a few questions at the end, then show a different prompt at the end to viewers who said no.

How to make a choose-your-own-adventure video like Bandersnatch

Netflix's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) is a well-known interactive film: at each decision point, the viewer picks one of two options and the story changes. You can build the same structure at a much smaller scale for a training scenario or a sales demo:

1. Write the decision tree first. Two options per decision, as in Bandersnatch, keep the tree small enough to shoot and test.
2. Decide how each path ends. A poor choice can lead to a consequence scene and then back to the decision, so the viewer learns and tries again.
3. Shoot each segment as its own clip, with the same framing and lighting across segments.
4. In Mindstamp, create one video for each segment and connect them with Switch Video, or edit all segments into one file and connect them with Change Time.
5. Add the choices as buttons or multiple-choice questions that pause the video at each decision point.

The US Office of Research Integrity (ORI) trains researchers this way. In The Lab, viewers take the role of a graduate student, a postdoctoral fellow, a principal investigator, or a research integrity officer, and make decisions for that character. ORI reported in 2024 that The Lab is used about 30,000 times a year and its companion video, The Research Clinic, about 20,000 times (ORI, 2024).

For story planning, read our guides on how to create a choose-your-own-adventure story with video and on interactive video branching, or try the choose-your-own-adventure horror film example.

How to create a gamified video

A gamified video adds game mechanics such as points and time limits to the viewing. Each mechanic maps to a setting:

Game mechanics and the Mindstamp settings behind them

Mechanic	How to build it
Points	Mark the correct answers on your questions. Mindstamp keeps the percentage of correct answers in the {{cScore}} variable, which you can show in a text interaction on supported plans.
Time pressure	Set a Time Limit on a question, from 2 to 90 seconds.
Retries	Turn on Repeat Until Correct. After a wrong answer, the viewer sees Try Again and answers the same question, with no limit on attempts. Allow skipping and Time Limit must be off.
Levels	On supported plans, use conditional logic to show a "Next level" button to viewers whose score is above your pass mark and a "Review" button to everyone else.
Consequences	Branch each choice in a scenario to a scene that shows what happens next.

Keep each game mechanic tied to the goal from Step 1. A timer suits a quick-reaction safety drill, and it gets in the way of a question that needs careful reading. Our help article on scores and retries explains how scores are counted, and our post on gamification in corporate training has more ideas.

How to make an interactive training video

A training video needs proof that each learner watched and understood. Build that proof into the video:

• Add a question after each key concept, and turn off Allow skipping on the questions that count.
• Turn off Allow Seeking so learners cannot drag past content. On supported plans, Prevent passing required interactions stops learners from moving past an unanswered question (prevent skipping ahead).
• Send a wrong answer back to the explanation with Change Time, or use Repeat Until Correct.
• On supported plans, deliver the video in your LMS with a SCORM 1.2 or 2004 package. The LMS records completion and a score, which is the percentage of questions answered correctly.

Each learner's answers also appear in the Mindstamp report, by name when you collect it. Read more on our interactive training video page and in our guide to interactive online training.

Common questions about making interactive videos

Can I make an interactive video for free?

Yes, with limits. YouTube cards and end screens are free, but they only link to other content. H5P is free and open source, and it runs inside an LMS or website you already have. Mindstamp has a 14-day free trial with no payment card, and our free tools, such as the blueprint generator, need no account.

Can you make an interactive video on YouTube?

Partly. YouTube Studio lets you add up to 5 cards to a video and an end screen with up to 4 elements in the last 5 to 20 seconds. A video needs to be at least 25 seconds long for an end screen, and neither feature works on videos set as made for kids (YouTube help, checked October 2026). You can build a simple choose-your-path series by pointing end screen elements at different videos. For questions, scores, or choices in the middle of a video, you need an interactive player. For a video walkthrough, see Spiel Creative's How To Create an Interactive Video On YouTube (2024). Our post on interactive YouTube videos covers the options in more depth.

How long should an interactive video be?

As long as the content needs. Length alone does not tell you how much of a video people will watch. In the Mindstamp data above, videos of one minute or less averaged 59.4% watched, videos of 2 to 5 minutes averaged 39.2%, and videos of 10 to 20 minutes averaged 53.8%, with 6.70 viewer actions per view. Audience and purpose also differ between these groups, so read this as a pattern, not a rule. A long video with an interaction in each section can be a sound choice.

How many interactions should an interactive video have?

Add one for each point where the viewer should respond or decide, and no more. For training, that usually means a question after each key concept. For a marketing video, it may mean one button at the right moment. In the same data, videos where viewers took more than three actions per view averaged 51.8% watched, compared with 43.9% for videos where viewers took no action. Many factors differ between these videos, so treat this as a pattern, not proof.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. You add interactions in a visual editor: pause the timeline, choose an interaction type, and fill in its settings. Code is optional, for example to add HTML inside the video or to read player events on your own site.

Do interactive videos work on phones?

Yes. Viewers tap instead of click. Test every interaction on a phone before you share, because small buttons and long labels are harder to use on a small screen. An interaction set to Desktop Only does not show on phones, so for a separate phone layout, make a smaller copy of a button and set the copy to Mobile Only. iPhone browsers also limit fullscreen for embedded players.

Sources and further reading

• IAB, 2025 video ad spend report: US digital video ad spend grew 18% in 2024, to $64 billion.