How To Build a Survey

Conduct Professional Research and Gather Deep Insights #

FORMEPIC’s survey builder provides comprehensive tools for collecting detailed feedback, conducting market research, and gathering qualitative and quantitative data. Design sophisticated surveys with advanced question types, logic branching, and robust analytics that deliver actionable insights. Create surveys in minutes with AI-powered generation, build custom surveys from the ground up with complete control, or import existing surveys from other platforms to maintain research continuity.

Survey Type Creation Options #

FORMEPIC delivers three flexible pathways for survey creation, each tailored to different research needs and preferences.

Create Using AI #

Transform research objectives into complete surveys by describing your goals to FORMEPIC’s AI. For instance, specify “Create an employee satisfaction survey measuring workplace culture, management effectiveness, and work-life balance,” and receive a professionally structured survey with appropriate question types, scales, and logic flow.

You can also generate surveys from existing materials:

• From URL: Share links to research articles, competitor surveys, or topic pages, and FORMEPIC analyzes the content to create relevant survey questions
• From Document: Upload research briefs, discussion guides, or topical materials, and the AI extracts themes to build comprehensive surveys

The AI automatically selects optimal question formats (rating scales, matrix questions, open-ended, etc.), suggests skip logic patterns, and organizes questions into logical sections based on research best practices.

Create from Scratch #

Build surveys with granular control over every aspect using the drag-and-drop survey builder. Add questions strategically, configure complex conditional logic, design multi-page flows, customize rating scales, and arrange elements to guide respondents through a smooth experience. The visual builder provides instant preview, allowing you to test survey flow and logic as you build.

Import Existing #

Migrating from another survey platform? Import existing surveys by pasting the survey URL. FORMEPIC converts question formats, preserves logic rules, maintains page structure, and transfers settings, enabling seamless platform transitions without rebuilding your research instruments.

Getting Started #

1. Navigate to Dashboard: Log in to your FORMEPIC account and access the main dashboard
2. Initiate Survey Creation: Click “New Survey” from the creation dropdown or dashboard
3. Select Creation Method: Choose “Create Using AI,” “Create from Scratch,” or “Import Existing”
4. Build Your Survey:

• AI Method: Describe your research objectives, target audience, and key topics, or provide source materials via URL or document
• Scratch Method: Add questions from the field palette, organize into pages, configure conditional logic, and customize scales
• Import Method: Paste your existing survey URL and review the imported structure and logic

1. Configure Survey Settings: Set completion options, progress indicators, randomization, anonymity controls, and data collection preferences
2. Design and Brand: Customize visual appearance with your logo, colors, fonts, and layout preferences
3. Preview and Test: Navigate through your survey as respondents will experience it, testing all logic paths and question flow
4. Publish and Distribute: Launch your survey and share via direct links, email campaigns, embeds, QR codes, or social media

Key Features #

AI Survey Generation: Describe your research goals and receive complete surveys with strategically selected question types, logical organization, and appropriate scales configured for your specific use case.

Advanced Question Types: Access 25+ question formats including matrix questions, ranking, slider scales, net promoter score (NPS), semantic differential, and more, such as heat maps and file uploads.

Conditional Logic and Branching: Create dynamic surveys that adapt based on responses, showing relevant questions while skipping irrelevant ones for personalized respondent experiences.

Multi-Page Surveys: Organize lengthy surveys into logical sections with progress indicators, improving completion rates and respondent experience.

Question Randomization: Randomize question or answer order to eliminate order bias and ensure more reliable data collection.

Answer Piping: Reference previous answers in subsequent questions to create personalized, contextual question flow.

Survey Quotas: Set demographic or response quotas to close the survey when target sample sizes are reached for specific segments.

Anonymous Responses: Collect feedback anonymously to encourage honest responses, or require authentication for tracked feedback.

Response Validation: Configure validation rules to ensure data quality, requiring specific formats, ranges, or patterns for responses.

Survey Scheduling: Set automatic start and end dates to control when your survey is available to respondents.

Real-Time Analytics: Monitor completion rates, average completion time, drop-off points, and preliminary results as responses come in.

Data Export and Integration: Export survey data in CSV, Excel, SPSS, or integrate directly with analysis tools and platforms.

Custom Thank You Pages: Design personalized completion screens with custom messages, redirects, or offers based on response patterns.

Tips and Tricks #

• Start with Clear Objectives: Define what you want to learn before building questions—this ensures every question serves a purpose and reduces survey length.
• Use Logic to Reduce Length: Implement conditional logic to show only relevant questions, creating shorter, more focused experiences for each respondent.
• Test All Logic Paths: Preview your survey and test every possible combination of responses to ensure logic works correctly in all scenarios.
• Limit Open-Ended Questions: While valuable, open-ended questions take longer to complete—use them strategically where qualitative insight is essential.
• Optimize for Mobile: Over 60% of surveys are completed on mobile devices—use mobile preview to ensure your survey is thumb-friendly.
• Set Realistic Time Expectations: Test your survey and inform participants of the expected completion time upfront to improve completion rates.
• Use Progress Indicators: Show respondents how far they’ve progressed to reduce abandonment, especially for multi-page surveys.
• Randomize to Reduce Bias: Enable question or answer randomization to minimize order effects and improve data quality.

Important Notes #

• Conditional logic can become complex quickly—document your logic rules or use the visual logic builder to maintain clarity
• Once responses are collected, structural changes (adding/removing questions, changing logic) may create data inconsistencies
• Anonymous surveys cannot be filtered by individual respondent—plan your anonymity settings based on analysis needs
• Survey quotas automatically close the survey when limits are reached—monitor quota progress if collecting time-sensitive data
• Changes to published surveys are reflected immediately—respondents will see updated versions, which may affect data consistency
• Response validation helps ensure data quality but may frustrate respondents if rules are too restrictive—balance quality with user experience

Common Issues & Troubleshooting #

Logic doesn’t work as expected: Use the logic visualizer to review all conditional rules. Ensure conditions are set correctly and test all response combinations in preview mode.

High drop-off rates: Survey may be too long or complex. Check analytics to identify specific pages or questions where respondents abandon. Consider splitting into shorter surveys or simplifying questions.

Quota fills too quickly for one segment: Adjust quota settings or pause the survey while recruiting from underrepresented segments. Consider targeted distribution strategies.

Responses look random or suspicious: Enable CAPTCHA protection, require email verification, or use attention check questions to identify low-quality responses.

Can’t import survey: Verify the source URL is publicly accessible. Some platforms restrict exports—in these cases, use the AI to recreate the survey by describing its structure.

Matrix questions confuse respondents: Keep matrix rows and columns concise. Avoid matrices with more than 5-7 rows on mobile devices. Consider breaking complex matrices into separate questions.

Data export missing fields: Ensure all questions have unique identifiers. Check export settings to include all desired data fields, including metadata like timestamps and respondent IDs.

AI generates wrong question types: Provide more context about your research goals and target audience. Specify if you need quantitative scales vs. qualitative open-ended questions.