Brett LindenbergAn interactive video is a video that viewers act on while it plays. They click part of the frame, answer a question, or choose what happens next, and the player records each action against that viewer. Common interactive video examples include clickable product videos, quizzes inside training videos, branching scenarios, shoppable videos, and personalized sales videos. This guide covers 12 formats, each with a live example you can play and notes on when it works. Start with the clickable lamp in the demo below.
What makes a video interactive
A standard video plays the same way for everyone and reports plays and watch time. An interactive video adds elements to the timeline that the viewer can use, such as buttons, clickable hotspots, and questions. You decide what each element does when the viewer uses it: jump to another moment, open a link, or score an answer. The player ties every response to a person and a timecode, so the report shows what each viewer chose and when.
People also call this an interactive video experience, an interaction video, or interactive video content. In each case, the viewer's input changes what happens next or creates a record you can use. For a longer definition, read what interactive video is and how it works.
Interactive video examples at a glance
| Format | What the viewer does | Best for | Live example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Knowledge check | Answers a question at the moment a concept is taught | Training, courses, compliance | Video quiz |
| 2. Scenario branching | Makes a work decision and sees its consequence | Safety, security, and service training | Suspicious invoice drill |
| 3. Point-to-answer question | Selects or marks a spot in the frame | Equipment, hazard spotting, art, anatomy | Find the pressure drop |
| 4. Adaptive practice | Gets a different next lesson based on an answer | Skills practice and remediation | Warehouse safety skill router |
| 5. Clickable product video | Clicks a product part to see its details | Product pages, demos, trade shows | Packable jacket hotspots |
| 6. Shoppable video | Adds a product to a cart without leaving the video | Ecommerce, recipes, how-to content | Shop the pan in the recipe |
| 7. Product quiz | Answers a few questions and gets one recommendation | Guided selling and product finders | Skin care product quiz |
| 8. Interactive tour | Picks the room, place, or attraction to see next | Real estate, tourism, events | Coworking space tour |
| 9. Lead qualification and booking | Answers qualifying questions, leaves details, books a meeting | B2B marketing and sales | Lead pre-qualification |
| 10. Personalized video | Sees their own details and choices shape one shared video | Sales outreach and onboarding | Personalization demo |
| 11. Support troubleshooter | Picks the symptom and gets the matching fix | Customer support and self-service | Router setup troubleshooter |
| 12. Choose-your-own-adventure story | Decides what a character does next | Brand campaigns and entertainment | Interactive horror film |
Interactive training video examples
In training, a play count does not show whether a learner understood anything. Interactive video for learning and development asks for that evidence inside the lesson, right after the concept is taught. The examples below show four ways to do it.
1. In-video knowledge checks
The video pauses at the end of a concept and asks one question about it. A correct answer continues the lesson. A wrong answer can show feedback, jump back to the explanation, or let the learner try again. The report stores every attempt for each learner, so you can see which question most people miss and which part of the video needs a clearer explanation.
Research supports spacing questions through a recorded lesson. In a 2013 study published in PNAS, Harvard students watched a 21-minute statistics lecture in four segments. In the second of its two experiments, students who took a short quiz after each of the first three segments reported mind wandering on 19% of attention checks, compared with 41% for students who were not quizzed. On the final cumulative test, the quizzed group averaged 90% and the unquizzed group averaged 68%.
Try the video quiz example or the fire door knowledge check, which asks learners to pick the door condition that needs action and then confirms the rule with a true-or-false question. To build your own, follow our guide to creating an interactive video quiz and add graded questions at the timecode where each concept is taught. For required training, use the settings that stop learners from skipping ahead, and deliver the video through your LMS as a SCORM 1.2 or 2004 package so the LMS receives completion and a score.
2. Scenario-based branching
Scenario-based interactive video training puts the learner in a realistic moment and asks them to act. In the suspicious invoice drill, an invoice email arrives and the learner can report it, reply for details, or open the attachment. Each choice plays its own consequence scene, and the report keeps the first choice the learner made before any feedback. The forklift obstruction and clinic escalation examples use the same pattern for warehouse safety and patient privacy at a front desk.
Write the decision points before you film. Offer the choices a real employee might make, including the tempting wrong one, and give each wrong choice a short scene that shows the result and the safer behavior. You can build branches as jumps inside one video or as separate videos joined with video branching. To draft the tree, describe the situation in one sentence to our free branching scenario generator. Our scenario-based training guide goes further into design.
3. Point-to-answer questions
Some questions are best answered by pointing. A hotspot question asks the learner to select the part of the frame that matters, such as the component that explains a pressure drop after a filter. A drawing response goes further: the learner circles or marks the frame with a finger, stylus, or mouse, and the marked frame is saved as their answer. The School of Visual Philosophy uses drawing responses and in-video questions to teach visual arts. Hazard spotting on a photo of a real site and anatomy lessons work the same way.
4. Adaptive practice
Here the learner's first answer decides what comes next. In the warehouse safety skill router, the learner picks a shelf for a heavy box, and the choice opens a refresher, a guided comparison, or a harder load example. Each route ends with a question that checks the same safety rule. The de-escalation practice example does the same for an upset customer on a call. You write these routes in advance, and each answer opens the one you built for it. To route on several earlier answers at once, add conditional logic, which is available on supported plans. Nothing here uses AI to diagnose the learner.
Interactive video examples for marketing and ecommerce
Interactive video for marketing works best when the click matches something the viewer already wants to do, such as looking closer at a product or buying it. The next four formats are built around those moments.
5. Clickable product videos
The lamp demo at the top of this page is a clickable product video. A hotspot sits over each part, and selecting it opens a close-up. The packable jacket and espresso station examples use the same pattern for jacket features and machine parts. The report records which part each viewer opened, which tells your sales and product teams what buyers care about. Show a hotspot only while its product is clearly on screen, and give it a visible outline so viewers know they can click it.
6. Shoppable video with an in-video cart
In a shoppable video, the viewer adds a product to a cart from inside the video. The recipe example makes the cookware clickable: select a pan, choose a size, and add it to a simulated cart. With our Shopify integration, the Add to Cart action pauses the video and opens a cart, where the viewer can keep watching or go to checkout. Carts made this way carry the video and interaction IDs, so Shopify shows which video and which moment started each order.
If you sell on YouTube, its Shopping feature adds product tags: a Shopping button on long videos and a product sticker on Shorts. YouTube shows tags only to viewers in select countries and does not allow them on videos made for kids (YouTube Help, checked October 2026). For more on formats and tools, see our interactive shoppable video guide and the shoppable video use case.
7. Product quiz
A product quiz asks a few questions and ends with one recommendation. In the skin care quiz example, each answer adjusts a score variable, and conditional logic uses the score to recommend one face moisturizer at the end. Ask about the shopper's situation, such as skin type or budget, and finish with a single product and a link to buy it. Our product quiz walkthrough shows how this skin care quiz was built with Canva and Mindstamp.
8. Interactive tours
A tour lets viewers decide where to go. Groundswell Startups made a coworking space tour in which viewers pick the parts of the space they want to see, with buttons to schedule a visit. An interactive village tour in Barbados uses hotspots and branching, and the Arizona State Fair promoted its event with a branching video and clickable hotspots (the example page is a sample, and only its first branch loads). Shoot one short clip for each room or stop, then add a menu that brings viewers back after each clip.
If you shot the tour in 360 degrees, note that Mindstamp plays standard flat video, so a 360 file shows as a stretched image. Our 360 and VR help article gives the workaround: export a flat, reframed clip for each view from your 360 editor, then let viewers choose the next view with branching.
Interactive video examples for sales and support
9. Lead qualification and booking
A qualification video asks the questions a sales rep would ask on a first call, then routes each viewer to the right next step. The lead pre-qualification example collects contact details and asks qualifying questions inside the video, and conditional rules send each answer to a matching path. Lead capture can ask for a name, email, or phone number before the video starts, at a chosen time, or after a specific click. When a viewer is ready to talk, a calendar booking step opens a Calendly or HubSpot calendar over the video, and the viewer books without opening a new tab. Our video lead generation guide covers where to place the form.
10. Personalized interactive videos
A personalized interactive video changes its text, images, and routes for each viewer without rendering a new file. In our personalization demo, you enter your first name and a few details, then watch one published video use them before playback and adapt again to your choices while it plays. Values can come from URL parameters, a personalized link, or your CRM, and a fallback keeps a sentence readable when a field is empty. The commuter bike example shows the choice-driven side: the rider's priority changes the product scene. Personalization is available on supported plans. Read our guide to what video personalization is and how to use it before you plan the data.
11. Support troubleshooters
A support video can ask the customer what they see before it shows a fix. The router setup troubleshooter asks which lights are on (none, power without internet, or internet without Wi-Fi) and opens the matching check. The dishwasher drain example does the same for standing water, a loose filter, or a blocked spray arm. One video can cover cases that a help article would have to list one after another, and the report shows which problems customers pick most often. See interactive video for customer support for more patterns.
Interactive storytelling examples
12. Choose-your-own-adventure stories
Branching stories are the best-known interactive videos. Three well-known campaigns used the format:
- Tipp-Ex, "A Hunter Shoots a Bear" (France, September 2010, agency Buzzman). Viewers changed the video's title on YouTube to choose from more than 50 endings (Ads of the World).
- Honda, "The Other Side" (October 30, 2014, Wieden+Kennedy London). Two stories play at once, a father's day in a Civic and his night as an undercover police officer in a Type R, and viewers press the R key to switch between them (Honda newsroom).
- Netflix, "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" (2018). Viewers made decisions for the main character. Netflix removed it on May 12, 2025, together with "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend," its last two interactive titles, and said the technology had become limiting (Variety, 2025).
Each of these depended on custom production or on a feature of one platform. Netflix has dropped its interactive format, and YouTube stories that used annotations as clickable choices lost those links when YouTube removed annotations in January 2019. If you plan a branching story, choose a player where branching is a core feature, and keep your source files so you can move the story later. The interactive horror film by The Count's Den and the choose-your-own-journey example show the format in the Mindstamp player, and how to create a choose-your-own-adventure video walks through planning the branches.
Interactive YouTube videos: what YouTube supports
YouTube's own player has a few interactive features. Cards link to a video, playlist, channel, or approved website, with up to 5 cards per video. End screens show up to 4 elements on a 16:9 video in its last 5 to 20 seconds, and the video must be at least 25 seconds long. Links to outside websites in either feature require membership in the YouTube Partner Program. YouTube Studio also lets you add quizzes: up to 10 multiple-choice questions per video, each with up to 4 answers, shown at timestamps you pick. A saved quiz cannot be edited, only deleted and made again.
Older guides still describe annotations, the clickable boxes that creators once used to link videos into branching stories. YouTube closed the annotations editor in May 2017, as the YouTube blog announced, and removed existing annotations in January 2019.
You can link separate videos with end screens to build a simple choose-your-path story. A quiz answer cannot send the viewer anywhere, though, and none of these features collects a viewer's details. For required questions, branching, or a record of each viewer's answers, you need a separate interactive player. In Mindstamp, a YouTube link works for testing an idea only. Before you publish, upload the original file or link a supported host, then use Replace source video, which keeps your interactions and timings (see using YouTube videos in Mindstamp). The YouTube interaction map compares a related-video link, a knowledge check, and a section choice on one source video, and our guide to interactive YouTube videos covers each option in detail.
Live streams, webinars, 360 video, and AR
These formats are interactive media too, but they need different tools. Mindstamp plays on-demand video and has no 360, VR, or AR support.
- Live streams and webinars: the audience chats, answers polls, and asks questions while the host is on air. The interaction ends with the event, and the replay is a linear recording. To keep a replay useful, add a chapter menu and questions to the recording, as in the on-demand webinar navigator. A recorded team update can ask for a priority vote in the same way.
- 360-degree video: the viewer chooses where to look. On YouTube, viewers on a computer drag the picture or use the W, A, S, and D keys to look around (YouTube Help). Our post on virtual reality and interactive video production covers the production side.
- Augmented reality (AR): an app or web page uses the phone camera to place digital objects, such as furniture or shoes, in the viewer's surroundings. It is software built with AR development tools rather than a video file.
Interactive video and other new media formats
When you compare new media formats such as short video, live streaming, podcasts, vlogs, and interactive programs, the clearest difference is what the audience does. Interactive video borrows from several of them.
| Format | What the audience does | Typical applications | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short video | Watches, likes, comments, shares | Social reach, product teasers, trends | A 30-second product clip in a social feed |
| Live streaming | Chats, reacts, and asks questions in real time | Events, launches, gaming, webinars | A product launch with a live Q&A |
| Podcast | Listens, often while doing something else | Interviews, news, education | A weekly interview show |
| Vlog | Watches and comments | Personal diaries, tutorials, travel | A creator's weekly video diary |
| Interactive program | Plays, navigates, and makes choices that change the content | Games, apps, VR experiences | A mobile learning game |
| Interactive video | Clicks, answers, and chooses inside the video, with each action recorded | Training, product demos, lead capture, support | Any of the 12 formats above |
For interactivity outside video, such as website features and app design, see these examples of interactivity.
Designing mobile interactive video
A phone shows your video much smaller than the editor does, and touch screens have no hover state. Mobile interactive video needs larger targets and simpler screens.
- Make every button and hotspot large enough to tap. WCAG 2.2 sets a minimum target size of 24 by 24 CSS pixels, and Apple's Human Interface Guidelines recommend a hit region of at least 44 by 44 points.
- Keep tap targets in the middle of the frame, away from the edges and the player controls at the bottom.
- Do not hide anything behind hover. A label that appears only on hover does not appear on a phone.
- For a vertical video, change the responsive embed code to a 9:16 frame and use larger text than you would on a landscape video.
- Check each interaction's device setting. An interaction set to Desktop Only does not show on phones.
- Inside an iPhone app, load the video in a WKWebView with inline playback allowed. Without that setting, the system player opens and hides every interaction (see Mindstamp videos in mobile apps).
- Test the published link on a real phone in portrait and landscape, and tap every interaction, as the mobile test plan describes.
The same habits help accessibility. Give each hotspot a caption so screen readers can announce it, add captions to the video, and test the video with only a keyboard. Our accessibility features article lists what the player supports. Mindstamp does not publish a WCAG conformance level or a VPAT, so test each video against your own requirements.
How to choose a format and build your first one
- Name the evidence or decision you want. "Did the learner understand step 3?" points to a knowledge check. "Which product does this buyer care about?" points to hotspots or a product quiz.
- Start with a video you already have. Interactions sit in the player on top of the video, so you do not need to edit or export the file again.
- Place each interaction where the moment calls for it: a question right after the concept, a hotspot while the product is on screen, a form after the video has made its case.
- Decide what happens after each response: continue, jump back, branch, or open a link.
- Preview, publish, test on a phone, and open the per-viewer report after the first views come in.
If you worry that pausing for questions drives viewers away, our platform data does not show that pattern. Across 8.07 million views of 18,315 Mindstamp videos recorded from 2018 to October 2026, videos where viewers took more than three actions per view averaged 51.8% of the video 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 that interactions raise watch time.
For a full walkthrough, read how to create an interactive video, step by step. If you have a transcript, the free interactive video blueprint generator drafts each interaction and where it sits.
Common questions about interactive video
What is an interactive video experience?
It is a video in which the viewer's input changes what happens or creates a record. Clicking a hotspot to see a product detail, answering a question that branches a lesson, and booking a meeting from inside the player are all interactive video experiences. The viewer watches and takes part at the same time.
What is the best interactive video software?
The best tool depends on the format you need. Training teams need scored questions, per-learner records, and LMS delivery. Ecommerce teams need product tags or a cart, and storytellers need dependable branching. Pick your format from the table above, then compare tools against it. Our interactive video software comparison covers the main platforms, and the Mindstamp comparison pages compare us with specific tools.
What does an interactive video production involve?
For a new video, plan the decisions first, then script and shoot each scene, including every branch. Build the interactions, then test every path on a computer and a phone. For an existing video, skip the shoot and add interactions to the footage you have. If you want help, our services team can produce the video, build the interactions, or both, and each project is scoped and quoted first.
Do viewers need an account or an app?
No. Viewers open a share link or an embedded video in the browser on a phone, tablet, or computer. You can still ask for their details with lead capture or limit access with a password or an access list. See viewer access options.
Where can I see more interactive video examples?
Our interactive video examples page has more than 130 live videos for training, marketing, sales, education, and support. Open the one closest to your goal, play it as a viewer, and copy its structure into your first video.
