Questionnaire activity

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Questionnaire activity

    The Questionnaire activity in ServiceNow Playbooks enables you to collect user inputs during a playbook run, without needing a predefined data table. It replaces the older Collect User Data activity and is ideal when you do not require reporting on the collected data or usage of the data outside the playbook. For cases where a data table already exists, the User Form activity is recommended instead.

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    Roles and Availability

    This activity is available as a common activity and can be added to playbooks by users with admin, playbook.admin, or pdauthor roles.

    Practical Use Cases

    • Collecting information such as a shipping address to use later in the playbook (e.g., generating a shipping label).
    • Asking conditional yes/no questions to determine subsequent playbook activities.

    Configuration and Properties

    Configure the activity through the properties panel with common inputs including:

    • Label: Title displayed on the activity and playbook card.
    • Description: Information about the activity’s purpose or outcome.
    • Run condition: Conditions that must be met for the activity or stage to run, using data from prior activities.
    • Start Rule: Defines when the stage or activity starts, either immediately, after specific stages or activities, or with a delay.

    The Questionnaire tab allows you to add or edit questions agents respond to during the playbook run.

    Access Control Inputs

    You can specify who can perform the activity and access the collected data using these inputs:

    • Assignment Group for this Process Step: Limits the group allowed to perform the activity; if left empty, any user can access the data.
    • Assigned to this Process Step: Limits individual users allowed to perform the activity; also restricts access to the collected data.

    By default, these fields map to the Assignment Group and Assigned To fields of the trigger record, granting access to users working on the parent record.

    Outputs

    The collected data is stored in a record referenced in the activity outputs. This data can be accessed and used in subsequent activities by dot-walking through the output’s record variables using the pill-picker.

    Next Steps

    • Create and insert questionnaires tailored to your playbook needs.
    • Configure stages and activities to leverage collected data effectively.
    • Use related features such as decision activities, parallel branches, and dynamic inputs for more complex workflows.

    Collects inputs from a user during a playbook run to use later in the playbook.

    The questionnaire activity replaces the Collect User Data activity, but does not require you to create a data definition. Use the questionnaire activity if:
    • You don't have a table already,
    • You don't need to run reports on the collected data,
    • And you don't need to use the data outside of the playbook.
    If you already have a table to store the collected data, use the User Form activity.

    Roles and availability

    This activity is available as a common activity. Users with the admin, playbook.admin, or pd_author can add this activity to a playbook.

    During a playbook run, you can use data definitions to potentially:
    • Collect a shipping address, then reference the address when generating a shipping label.
    • Ask the user "yes" or "no" questions, and determine subsequent activities based on the user's responses.

    Common properties

    These properties are common to all to activities in Playbooks.

    Open the activity properties panel and configure your activity to add values for the following inputs. If the input value varies, use the pill-picker to show where to get the value. To learn more about the pill-picker, see Dot-walking examples.
    Input Type Description
    Label String Title to display as activity and playbook card.
    Description String Information to display about activity usage or outcome.
    Run condition Condition Builder Conditions that must be met to run an activity or stage. You can use data from prior activities to build conditions.
    Note:
    Show additional options to see this field.
    Start Rule Choice Under Schedule > Start Rule, select a start rule for when your stage should start running:
    • When process starts: Your stage starts running as soon as the playbook starts.
    • After specific stages: Your stage starts running after specified stage(s) have finished running.
    Under Schedule > Start Rule, select a start rule for when your activity should start running:
    • When stage starts: Your activity starts running as soon as its stage starts running. Your stage starts running when your playbook is triggered.
    • After specific activities: Your activity starts running after specified activities have finished running.
    Start with delay True/False Option to wait for a duration of time before running an activity or stage. When enabled, this input displays the Start with delay input properties.
    Note:
    Show additional options to see this field.

    Questionnaire

    In the Questionnaire tab, you can:
    • Add questions for agents to respond to,
    • Edit existing questionnaires.
    To learn more about adding or configuring questions, see Create a new questionnaire.

    Inputs

    Many of these inputs are common to activities in Playbooks.

    After configuring the required inputs for your activity, you can also choose to configure additional inputs. In the side panel, select Show additional options to display these advanced inputs. For more information, see Activity experience.
    Input Type Description
    Assignment Group for this Process Step Reference.Group [sys_user_group] Assignment group allowed to perform this playbook activity. If you don't set any values for Assignment Group or Assigned To, any user can read and edit the collected data. The Assignment group and Assigned to fields limit who has access to do so. To specify only individual users, use the Assigned To field. The same users do not need to be specified in both fields.
    Note:
    By default, these fields are mapped to the Assignment Group and Assigned To fields of the trigger record. This means that users assigned to work on the parent record have access to submit, view and edit the collected data by default.
    Assigned to this Process Step Reference.User [sys_user] User allowed to perform this playbook activity. If you don't set any values for Assignment Group or Assigned To, any user can read and edit the collected data. The Assignment group and Assigned to fields limit who has access to do so. To specify only individual users, use the Assigned To field. The same users do not need to be specified in both fields.
    Note:
    By default, these fields are mapped to the Assignment Group and Assigned To fields of the trigger record. This means that users assigned to work on the parent record have access to submit, view and edit the collected data by default.

    Outputs

    These outputs can provide data to other activities in your playbook. You can access this data as activity inputs when you configure your activity:
    Output Type Description
    Record Reference.Flow Data Reference to record containing collected data. Use the pill-picker to dot-walk to Outputs > Record > Vars to see all collected data. To learn more about the pill-picker, see Dot-walking examples.