Survey designer elements
Summarize
Summary of Survey designer elements
The Survey Designer in ServiceNow (accessible via Survey > Survey Designer) provides a comprehensive interface to create, configure, and manage surveys. It features a Controls tab for question types, a Questions tab for managing question metrics, a Categories tab for organizing questions, a header bar for navigation and functions, and a design canvas to build and preview surveys.
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Controls tab
This tab allows you to create questions by dragging and dropping data type controls onto the design canvas. The assessment engine supports scoring for specific question types, converting responses into scores from 0 to 10.
Key question data types include:
- Attachment: Allows file attachments, not scored.
- Boolean: Yes/No checkbox, scored.
- Choice: Predefined numeric options, scored.
- Date and Date/Time: Date fields, not scored.
- Number and Percentage: Numeric inputs with ranges, not scored.
- Scale and Numeric Scale: Likert and numeric radio button scales, scored.
- String: Text fields, not scored.
- Template: Predefined scale templates, scored.
- Reference: Choice lists from reference tables, not scored.
- Image Scale: Selectable images as choices, scored.
- Multiple Selection: Multiple checkboxes, scored.
- Ranking: Unique order number for options, mandatory and can depend on parent questions, scored.
Questions tab
Displays all metrics added to the question bank, searchable by name and type, enabling efficient question management for surveys.
Categories tab
Organizes all metrics into categories for easier grouping and filtering, helping maintain structured surveys aligned with metric categories.
Header bar
Provides navigation and survey management functions:
- Design view: Default view to add and configure categories and questions.
- Configuration view: Create introductions, end notes, and select signatures.
- Availability view: Manage survey recipients per category.
- Menu options: Save, Preview, Publish, Save and Publish, New Survey, Load Survey, Copy Survey, facilitating survey lifecycle management.
Design canvas
The workspace where surveys are built starting with a survey name and blank question fields within categories. It enables drag-and-drop question creation and real-time configuration.
Practical benefits for ServiceNow customers
- Enables creation of rich, scored surveys with a variety of question types tailored to different data collection needs.
- Provides built-in scoring for quantitative analysis and assessment.
- Organizes questions efficiently via metrics and categories for reusable and scalable survey design.
- Offers preview and publishing tools to streamline survey distribution and management.
- Supports configuring introductions, signatures, and recipient availability for professional and targeted surveys.
The survey designer is accessible from .
The survey designer contains the Controls tab, the Questions tab, the Categories tab,a header bar, and the design canvas.
Controls tab
To create a question, drag the appropriate data type control from the Controls palette and drop it onto the designer canvas.
| Data type | Scored | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Attachment | No | Question with a Manage Attachments icon that allows users to attach one or more files. |
| Boolean | Yes | Question with a check box or Yes and No choices for user responses. |
| Choice | Yes | List of predefined options. For more information, see the definition of the Choices field in Create a question in the survey designer. Note: The Choice values can only be numeric, string values will not be
saved. |
| Date | No | Date field. |
| Date/Time | No | Date and time field. |
| Number | No | Number field with predefined minimum and maximum values. The default is 1-10. |
| Percentage | No | Percentage field with a prescribed range. |
| Scale | Yes | Predefined Likert scale. Answer options appear as radio buttons. |
| Numeric Scale | Yes | Selectable number scale. The default is 1-5. Answer options appear as radio buttons. |
| String | No | Single or multi-line text field. |
| Template | Yes | Choice list of templates that provide a predefined scale of options. For details, see Quiz scorecards. |
| Reference | No | Choice list of fields from a specified reference table. This data type does not
support reference qualifiers. For example, a user could select a user name if you specify sys_user as the reference table. |
| Image Scale | Yes | Question with a choice of images that can be selected. A template can be used to apply the same images to multiple questions. |
| Multiple Selection | Yes | Question with multiple check boxes that can be selected. |
| Ranking | Question with an order number to be selected for each option. One order number cannot be selected twice. This question can be mandatory and it can also be dependent on a parent question, but not vice versa. |
Questions tab
This tab displays all metrics added to the question bank for surveys. Use the Filter field to search for questions. Each metric is displayed with its name and type.
Categories tab
This tab displays all metric categories added to the question bank for surveys. All metrics in the question bank are group under the corresponding metric category. Use the Filter field to search for categories or questions.
Header bar
- Design: Add and configure the properties of categories and questions. This is the default view.
- Configuration: Create introductions and end notes for surveys and select a signature.
- Availability: Select the recipients for each category in the survey.
) to select an option. The list of options depends on the currently open survey.- Save: Save the current survey without changing its state.
- Preview: Display a preview of the survey as it appears to recipients.
- Publish: Distribute the survey to the selected recipients.
- Save and Publish: Save the survey to the Draft state and distribute the survey in one step.
- New Survey: Open a fresh canvas for a new survey.
- Load Survey: View the list of existing surveys.
- Copy Survey: Copy the current survey.
Design canvas
New surveys open in the canvas of the Design view. The survey Name field appears above first category in the canvas. A blank question field appears in the category container.