Best practices for mobile surveys
Surveys are optimized for desktop or mobile responding, depending on the version of the browser on the participant's device.
All question types have optimized versions for participants using mobile devices. However, display options such as sliders and cards for Choice, Grid, and Numeric questions are only available for desktop viewing.
If you add a question that uses a desktop-only display option, mobile participants will see the base question type when they access your survey. In each case, your question records the same data, but the question's display option differs between desktop and mobile.
The following question types have desktop-only display options:
Modern view:
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Classic view:
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For more information about mobile question display, see Questions.
| Desktop-only display example |
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Your survey contains a Single Choice Slider question. Although the question appears as a slider in desktop mode, participants on mobile devices see a Single Choice Buttons question. |
To offer participants on mobile devices an optimal responding experience, consider the following recommended practices:
Write concisely
Mobile devices limit screen space, so use concise text to reduce scrolling and improve the responding experience.
Create branches in your survey for mobile participants
Create two versions of the same question targeted to desktop and mobile participants, and then create a Survey Logic condition to hide or display the question based on the participant's display type.
For more information, see Skip or display questions.
Avoid long lists of answers in Choice questions
Long lists of answers require significant scrolling to adequately view, absorb, and evaluate the options as participants consider their response. Presenting 10 answers or more may cause bias towards the visible answers and affect data in your reports. In Single Choice questions, use the Drop Down option, and limit the number of answers to a maximum of 10. In Multiple Choice questions, limit the number of answers to a maximum of 8.
Limit the number of columns in Grid questions
Mobile participants tend to choose more options in Multiple Choice Grid questions, which may affect data in your reports. Although Grid questions are enabled with expand and collapse capability in mobile display, they require significant scrolling for participants to compare the answer options and adjust their response as necessary. In Grid questions, limit the number of options to a maximum of 5.
Limit the number of items in Rank Order questions
Numerous items require participants to scroll to see all answer options, therefore lengthening the time it takes to enter an answer and move on to subsequent questions. In Rank Order questions, limit the number of items to a maximum of 5.
Ensure logos and images serve a specific purpose
Logos and images can affect the load times for new pages in the survey. Page load times vary from participant to participant and are influenced by network speeds, volume, and traffic. Most participants will wait for one or two pages to load, but not each and every page.
In mobile surveys, images that are smaller than the maximum dimensions are not resized to fit the screen. Images that are larger than the screen will be scaled down to fit the participant's device. However, you should test your survey on a variety of mobile devices to verify that your logos and images display correctly.
Group related questions on a page
Structure your survey so that participants scroll and answer in a fluid process. When creating a page, limit the number of related questions to a maximum of 5.
| Question group example |
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Your survey contains a page with a series of demographics questions (for example, age, gender, and marital status). When participants access your survey, they can answer the questions on the page, and press Next when completed. |
Avoid placing large Grid questions on a page
Sliders and Cards will appear as grids in mobile surveys. Large Grid question types require significant scrolling; placing them on a page can drastically increase the length of your page, and become distracting to the participant.
| Using pages example |
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Your survey contains one page with 3 Grid questions and another page with 3 Open End questions. When participants access your Grid page, they must scroll through 3 expandable question displays before moving on to the next page. Contrastingly, when they access your Open End page, they can enter their answers without scrolling at all. |
Test your survey
Before distributing your survey, test it on both a desktop computer and any mobile devices that you know your participants use. Testing is the only way to review exactly how your survey will appear to participants on their specific devices.