Mobile surveys: Best practices

Use supported question types

If the survey contains unsupported questions, mobile participants do not see them and therefore cannot provide an answer. Only use question types that are supported in both environments if you intend to deploy the survey to mobile and desktop participants. All question types are supported except for the ones listed below.

• Highlighter
• Magnetic Boards
• Rank Order Grid
• Any question types that were custom-built to your specifications

  For more information, see Mobile and computer access to survey.

To see how supported question types look in mobile format, see Mobile versions of survey questions.

Avoid large Grid questions

Large Grid questions require participants to scroll a lot on their mobile phones. In addition, Grid questions that contain more than 120 row and column items do not appear on BlackBerry Torch phones.

If you include Grid questions in your survey, do not put multiple Grid questions on a single page; this can cause display and scrolling issues for participants.

Do not use scripting

CSS and JavaScript are not supported for mobile surveys.

Delete or revise the default instruction text for each question

The default instruction text for questions should make sense in the context of mobile surveys.

For Rank Order Sort questions, ensure that the instruction text clearly indicates the minimum and maximum values and what these values represent; for example, "Rank the following items from 1 (Least Important) to 5 (Most Important)".

Resize images to fit small screens

Ensure that the dimensions for any images are optimized for display on a 3"-4" screen. The image width and height cannot exceed 320 pixels. Even if the image dimensions are less than 320 by 320 pixels, you should still test the survey on a mobile phone to ensure that the image size is ideal.

Avoid visual formatting if possible

Special colors, fonts, bulleted lists, and formatting changes such as line breaks may not render in mobile format. Avoid using them if possible.

Write concise questions

Participants on mobile devices view the survey on a 3"-4" screen. To reduce scrolling and provide a more pleasant participant experience, limit the length of the question, instruction, and answer text.

Limit survey length

Mobile surveys can take as much as 50% longer to complete than desktop surveys because participants only see one question at a time on mobile devices. Consider limiting the survey length.

Consider using one Grid question instead of many Choice questions

Mobile surveys render the rows in a Single Choice or Multi Choice Grid question as a series of separate question screens. Instead of using many Single Choice or Multi Choice questions, use a Grid question to limit the survey length.

Limit the number of Open End questions

Open End questions require mobile participants to type responses on their phones, which can be a slow process and therefore increases survey length. Use a different question type when possible, and limit the number of Open End questions in a survey to one or two.

Limit the number of items in Rank Order Sort questions

A Rank Order Sort question with many rankable items is difficult to complete because mobile participants cannot see all the items on a single screen, and therefore cannot rank them without scrolling back and forth.

For mobile surveys, limit the number of rankable items to 5.

Use pages sparingly

Mobile surveys support the display of multiple questions on a single page. However, you should only use pages for question types that do not occupy a lot of screen space so participants don't have to scroll a lot. For example, you can put two or three Open End questions on a single page, but you should not put two Grid questions on a page.

Test your survey

To see what your survey will look like for mobile participants, use any or all of the following methods:

• Simulate what the survey may look like. For more information, see Preview a survey.
• Scan the QR code on the mobile simulation page to quickly load and test the survey on a mobile phone. For more information, see Preview a survey.
• Email a test link to yourself, and launch the survey on a mobile phone.