# Survey Logic and Display Conditions - Quick Start ### Overview Display conditions make your surveys smarter by showing questions only when they're relevant. Instead of every participant seeing every question, your survey adapts based on their responses - creating a more personalized, efficient experience. **Key benefit:** Shorter, more relevant surveys lead to higher completion rates and better quality data.
### When to Use Display Conditions #### Use display conditions when you want to: ✅ **Ask follow-up questions only for negative ratings** * Example: "Rate your satisfaction" → If dissatisfied → "What would improve it?" ✅ **Show role-specific questions** * Example: Managers see leadership questions, individual contributors don't ✅ **Tailor questions by department or location** * Example: Engineering sees tech-specific questions, Sales sees sales-specific questions ✅ **Avoid overwhelming participants with irrelevant questions** * Example: Skip onboarding questions for tenured employees #### Don't use display conditions when: ❌ **Every participant needs to see the question** * Core engagement items, critical demographics, required data points ❌ **The question is at the start of your survey** * Nothing to condition on yet ❌ **Creating unnecessary complexity** * Simple surveys often don't need conditions at all ### Quick Setup Guide #### Step 1: Decide What to Show/Hide **Identify which questions should be conditional:** * Follow-up questions asking "Why?" or "What would improve...?" * Questions only relevant to managers, specific departments, or certain roles * Deep-dive questions for specific response patterns **Example decision:** ``` Q10: How satisfied are you with professional development? Q11: What improvements would you suggest? → Only show Q11 if Q10 is "Dissatisfied" or "Very Dissatisfied" ``` #### Step 2: Build Your Condition **In the Survey Designer:** 1. **Select the question** you want to show/hide (Q11 in example above) 2. **Find the Conditions panel** in the right sidebar (orange icon) 3. **Click "Make the question visible if"** (pencil icon) 4. **Configure the condition:** * **If:** Select the source question (Q10) * **Condition type:** Choose "Equals" or "Any of" * **Value:** Select the answer(s) that trigger showing the question 5. **Click "Apply"** #### Step 3: Test Your Condition **Critical step - always test in Preview mode:** 1. Click **Preview** tab 2. Complete the survey with the answer that SHOULD show the question 3. Verify the conditional question appears 4. Go back and complete with answer that should NOT show it 5. Verify the question is hidden > ⚠️ **Testing is not optional** - broken conditions mean participants miss important questions or see irrelevant ones. ### Common Scenarios #### Scenario 1: Follow-up on Negative Ratings **Most common use case for display conditions** ``` Q5: How satisfied are you with internal communication? Options: Very Satisfied / Satisfied / Neutral / Dissatisfied / Very Dissatisfied Q6: What would improve communication at our organization? Condition: Show if Q5 any of ["Dissatisfied", "Very Dissatisfied"] ``` **Why this works:** * Satisfied employees don't waste time on improvement questions * You capture specific feedback from those who need to provide it * Survey is shorter for satisfied respondents (better completion rate) #### Scenario 2: Manager vs. Individual Contributor Split **Show different questions based on role** ``` Q3: Do you manage other employees? Options: Yes / No Q10-Q15: [Manager questions about leadership, team development, etc.] Condition on each: Show if Q3 equals "Yes" Q16-Q20: [IC questions about career growth, skill development, etc.] Condition on each: Show if Q3 equals "No" ``` **Why this works:** * Each audience sees only relevant questions * More focused survey experience * Better quality responses **Pro Tip:** Use page-level conditions instead of conditioning each question individually - cleaner and easier to manage. #### Scenario 3: Department-Specific Questions **Tailor sections to different departments** ``` Q8: Which department do you work in? Options: Engineering / Sales / Marketing / Operations / HR Q25-Q30: Engineering collaboration questions Condition: Show if Q8 equals "Engineering" Q31-Q35: Sales quota and territory questions Condition: Show if Q8 equals "Sales" [Continue for each department...] ``` **Why this works:** * Highly relevant questions for each department * Prevents confusion from irrelevant departmental questions * Demonstrates survey is tailored to their experience #### Scenario 4: Experience-Based Questions **Questions relevant to tenure or lifecycle stage** ``` Q7: How long have you worked here? Options: Less than 1 year / 1-2 years / 3-5 years / 5+ years Q12: How was your onboarding experience? Condition: Show if Q7 equals "Less than 1 year" Q15: How satisfied are you with long-term career growth opportunities? Condition: Show if Q7 any of ["3-5 years", "5+ years"] ``` **Why this works:** * Questions match where employees are in their journey * Avoids asking about distant experiences * More actionable feedback ### Understanding Condition Types #### Equals (Most Common) **Use when:** Question should show for ONE specific answer ``` Show if Q5 equals "Dissatisfied" Show if Q3 equals "Manager" Show if Q10 equals "Yes" ``` #### Any Of (Also Very Common) **Use when:** Question should show for MULTIPLE specific answers ``` Show if Q5 any of ["Dissatisfied", "Very Dissatisfied"] (Shows for either negative rating) Show if Q8 any of ["Engineering", "Product", "IT"] (Shows for any tech department) ``` #### Does Not Equal **Use when:** Question should show for everything EXCEPT one answer ``` Show if Q5 does not equal "Very Satisfied" (Shows for all other ratings: Satisfied, Neutral, Dissatisfied, Very Dissatisfied) ``` #### Other Types **Empty / Not empty:** Rarely used - for optional questions **Greater than / Less than:** For numeric comparisons (e.g., years of service) > 💡 **Start with "Equals" and "Any of"** - these cover 90% of use cases ### Page-Level vs. Question-Level Conditions #### Question-Level Conditions **Best for:** Individual follow-up questions, scattered conditional items **Example:** ``` Q5: Rate satisfaction → Q6: What would improve? (conditioned) ``` #### Page-Level Conditions **Best for:** Multiple related questions for a specific group (5+ questions) **Example:** ``` Page 1 - Q3: Are you a manager? (Yes/No) Page 4 - "Leadership Questions" (10 manager-specific questions) Page Condition: Show if Q3 equals "Yes" ``` **Benefits of page-level:** * ✅ One condition instead of 10 separate conditions * ✅ Easier to manage and test * ✅ Cleaner for participants (entire section appears/disappears) * ✅ Page doesn't count toward page numbers if hidden **How to set page-level conditions:** 1. Click the page in the left sidebar (not individual questions) 2. Find Conditions panel in right sidebar 3. Add condition the same way as questions ### Quick Testing Checklist Before launching your survey, test these scenarios: **✓ Positive path:** Answer questions to trigger conditional items * Verify conditional questions appear **✓ Negative path:** Answer to avoid triggering conditions * Verify conditional questions stay hidden **✓ Role-based paths:** Test as manager AND as individual contributor * Verify each sees their appropriate sections **✓ Department paths:** Test each department's experience * Verify department-specific questions show correctly **✓ Mixed responses:** Randomly mix answers * Verify everything still works **✓ Complete to end:** Ensure all paths reach completion page * No dead ends or required questions that can't be accessed > 🎯 **Testing Tip:** Create a test plan document listing all scenarios before you start testing. Check off each one as you verify it works. ### Common Mistakes to Avoid #### ❌ Hiding required questions **Problem:** ``` Q20 is marked as Required Q20 only shows if Q5 = "Manager" Non-managers can't complete the survey ``` **Solution:** Don't make conditional questions required, OR show to everyone #### ❌ Too many layers of conditions **Problem:** ``` Q5 shows if Q3 = "Yes" Q10 shows if Q5 = "Satisfied" Q15 shows if Q10 = "High" Three levels deep - very hard to test and maintain ``` **Solution:** Keep conditions 1-2 levels maximum #### ❌ Conditioning on optional questions **Problem:** ``` Q5: [Optional question] What's your department? Q20: Shows if Q5 = "Engineering" If participants skip Q5, Q20 never appears ``` **Solution:** Make trigger questions required OR use different logic #### ❌ Not testing thoroughly **Problem:** ``` Assumes conditions work, launches survey Participants report missing questions or seeing wrong questions ``` **Solution:** Always test every path in Preview mode before launching ### When NOT to Use Conditions **Simple surveys don't need conditions:** * 10-15 questions that apply to everyone * No role-based differences * No follow-ups needed **Signs you're over-complicating:** * Every question has a condition * Conditions reference other conditional questions * You can't easily explain the logic * Testing takes hours **Alternative:** Sometimes multiple shorter surveys are better than one complex conditional survey. ### Quick Reference: Building a Condition ``` 1. Select question to show/hide ↓ 2. Right sidebar → Z button ↓ 2. Conditions panel → Pencil icon ↓ 3. If: [Select source question] ↓ 4. Condition: [Choose: Equals, Any of, Does not equal, etc.] ↓ 5. Value: [Select answer(s) that trigger showing the question] ↓ 6. Click "Apply" ↓ 7. Test in Preview mode ``` ### Need More Detail? **Ready to implement conditions?** * **Survey Logic and Display Conditions - Complete Guide →** - In-depth walkthrough of all condition types, troubleshooting, best practices, and advanced patterns **Need to build your survey first?** * [**Creating Surveys - Quick Start →**](https://docs.talentmap.com/knowledge-base/survey-design-and-deployment/creating-surveys-quick-start) - How to build questions and organize your survey * [**Survey Builder - Complete Guide →**](https://docs.talentmap.com/knowledge-base/survey-design-and-deployment/creating-surveys-quick-start/survey-builder-complete-guide) - Detailed guide to all question types and features **Ready to launch?** * [**Scheduling Survey Emails - Quick Start →**](https://docs.talentmap.com/knowledge-base/survey-design-and-deployment/scheduling-survey-emails-quick-start) - How to send invitations and reminders to participants --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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