Create a Card Sort question in a modern survey

Ask participants to organize a set of cards into categories.

Note: This article applies to modern surveys. For more information about creating a Card Sort question in a classic survey, see Create a Single Choice Grid Cards question.

Sample modern view:

  1. From the Survey Builder Toolbox, under Questions do one of the following:
    • Drag the Card Sort question to the Table of Contents.
    • Click the Card Sort question.
  2. In the Table of Contents, click the Card Sort question.
    Result: The Edit Pane appears.
  3. Optional: Edit the Question name.

    Question names:

    • Should be unique
    • Can contain all alphanumeric characters and all symbols
    • Are not displayed to participants
    Note: The recommended character limit is 100.
  4. In the Question text field, enter the question text.
    Note: The recommended character limit is 2500.
  5. In the Cards section, add your cards.
    Cards can display text, images, or both. However, image-only cards must still have an answer label for reporting display purposes. You can have a maximum of 100 cards. The suggested maximum character count for each category label is 50.
    • Click Add card to add more cards.
    • Type the card text and press Enter to move on to the next card.
    • To enter multiple cards at once, click the options menu and select Add Cards in Batch.

      For more information, see Add answers in a batch.

    • Add images to the cards by clicking the Add Image buttons on the right-hand side.

      For more information, see Add an image to an answer.

      Tip: To create an image-only card, click the options menu beside the card and select Image Only.
    • To add a hover-over tooltip to a card, click the options menu beside a card and select Add Tooltip description.

      A box appears below the card and allows you to type, edit, or delete a tooltip.

    • Change the card order by clicking on the dotted area on the left-hand side of a card, and dragging the card up or down.
    • Alternately, change the card order by clicking the options menu beside a card and selecting Move up or Move down.
    • Click Delete beside a card to delete it.
  6. Edit card behavior.
  7. Select the card sort type.
    For this release, Closed card sort is the only available option.
  8. In the Categories section, add your categories.
    You can have a maximum of 20 predefined categories. The suggested maximum character count for each category label is 255.
    • Click Add category to add more categories.
    • Type the category text and press Enter to move on to the next category.
    • To enter multiple categories at once, click the options menu and select Add Categories in Batch.

      For more information, see Add answers in a batch.

    • Change the category order by clicking on the dotted area on the left-hand side of a category, and dragging the card up or down.
    • Alternately, change the category order by clicking the options menu beside a category and selecting Move up or Move down.
    • Click Delete beside a card to delete it.
  9. Edit category behavior.
  10. Optional: Once you have authored your question, you can also:
  11. Optional: To preview the question in desktop or mobile view, in the Edit Pane, click Preview.
    Result: A preview of your survey appears, starting with the selected question.
    Note: Preview in mobile view simulates the mobile experience. For best results, preview your question on a mobile device.
Note: Large Card Sort questions with many cards and categories can be difficult to complete on mobile devices. If you expect the majority of responses to come from mobile participants, keep the Card Sort questions on the smaller side. Show participants a subset of cards in random or rotated order. Alternately, consider ways you can chunk a large Card Sort question into a series of smaller ones.