Using Multiple Choice Questions

In the UserTesting Platform, you can present one or more multiple choice questions anywhere in your test plan. When you create a multiple choice question, you can limit contributors to select only one answer or allow them to select multiple answers.

Example multiple choice questions include:

• Which of the following did you first notice when you saw this page?
• Based on the information you see, which of the following actions would you take next?
• Which of the designs was more visually appealing?
• Which of the following features is most important to you?
• Based on what you saw on this page, which of the following statements is true?

5 Steps to Writing an Excellent Multiple Choice Question

1. Do provide clear and distinct answers

Make sure your answers are mutually exclusive, and each answer can stand alone. Otherwise, it will confuse contributors and compromise the value of the feedback.

Note: Do not use special characters like asterisks, dashes, or periods in your multiple choice answer options. Doing so can cause issues, including the answer options not displaying correctly or the contributor being unable to move on to the next task.

2. Do provide a “None of the above”, “I don’t know” or “Other” option

This will prevent your data from being skewed by providing an “out”  in case none of the other answers apply to the contributor, or if the contributor is confused.

3. Don't ask leading questions or yes/no questions

When contributors can easily predict which answer you want from them, they’ll be more likely to choose that answer, even if it isn’t accurate.

4. Do ask the contributor to “Please explain your answer”

Although most contributors realize that this is implied, it never hurts to include this small prompt for contributors to articulate the thinking behind their choice. This is especially important when you are inviting your own contributors via a direct link to the test because those individuals will be more familiar with completing surveys silently, than thinking out loud. Plus, it makes for some excellent sound bites that can be passed along to your team.

5. Do decide whether contributors can select more than one answer.

In some scenarios, it might make sense to let contributors choose multiple answers that apply to them. You'll see the option to do this when you're creating the task.

Tip: If you're allowing contributors to select more than one answer, this text will automatically be included with your task: You may choose as many as you like.

See below for an example of how the task will appear to contributors during the test:

Please provide any feedback you have on this article. Your feedback will be used to improve the article and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. Article evaluations will remain completely confidential unless you request a follow-up.