Rating matrix questions

How it is built

You define the rows, which are the statements, and the columns, which are the scale. Then you choose whether each row takes one answer or several. Single answer per row is the normal rating grid. Several per row turns it into a checklist crossed with categories, which is useful for questions like which of these applied to each stage.

Write the scale before the statements

The scale decides what the statements have to look like. A five point agreement scale needs statements phrased as claims, all pointing the same way, so a high score always means the same thing. Mixing "my workload is manageable" with "I often feel overloaded" in one grid produces data you cannot average without unpicking it first.

On a phone

A grid is the hardest thing to fit on a 390 pixel screen, and it is where matrix questions lose people. Keep the scale to five points at most and the statements short enough to read in one line. If you need seven points and long statements, use separate questions in a conversational form instead; you will get better data even though it looks like more work.

How it comes back

One matrix is one field, so it is one column in the export, written as each statement followed by its answer and separated by pipes. The responses table shows the same thing laid out as a list inside the cell, so you can read a whole grid without opening the response. If you want a column per statement to average in a spreadsheet, split that column after export, or ask the statements as separate questions instead.

How it works, in three steps

1. Step 1

   Set the scale first

   Choose the columns before the rows, and keep it to five points if the form will be filled in on a phone.

2. Step 2

   Write statements that all point one way

   Every row should be a claim where agreeing is good, or where agreeing is bad, but not a mixture.

3. Step 3

   Check it at phone width

   Preview it narrow. If a statement wraps to three lines, shorten it rather than shrinking the text.

The full walkthrough with screenshots is in the guide Every form field and when to use it.

Limits worth knowing

• A matrix is one field, so it is required or optional as a whole, not row by row.
• Rows and columns are fixed lists. There is no per-row scale.
• The export gives one column for the whole matrix, not one per statement.
• Wide grids are hard on phones. Five columns is a practical ceiling.

See it on a finished piece

Customer feedback survey

6 fields

Course enrolment form

24 fields

Gym membership form

15 fields

Questions people ask

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