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Building a survey

Everything you ask lives on the Questions tab of a survey. This page covers question types, organising questions into pages, branching logic, grouping surveys, reusing templates, and theming.

Question types​

Add a question, choose its type, write the prompt, and set its order. Davies CXsmart supports these question types:

TypeWhat it captures
NPSNet Promoter Score — the classic 0–10 "how likely are you to recommend" scale.
CSATCustomer Satisfaction — a satisfaction rating.
CESCustomer Effort Score — how easy it was to get something done.
RatingA general numeric or star rating.
Single selectChoose exactly one option.
Multi selectChoose one or more options.
TextA free-text (verbatim) answer. Choose multi-line, single line, or email (validated).
MatrixA grid of rows scored against a shared scale, with optional low/high anchor labels and a per-row slider on mobile.
Voice recordingCapture an audio answer; recordings are transcribed for verbatim analysis.
Info / content blockA read-only block of information — instructions, a section heading, or consent copy. No answer captured.

For each choice question (single or multi select) you add options, each with a label, a value, and an order. On the web, choice questions can be shown as a dropdown (single select), radio buttons, or buttons, and laid out vertically or in a horizontal row. Multi-select questions can also set a minimum and maximum number of answers.

:::tip Channel support Not every type runs on every channel. SMS and IVR are reply/keypad only, so they cannot deliver multi-select, matrix, or voice-recording questions. When you set channels on a survey, you'll be warned if a question type isn't supported there. See the channel capability matrix. :::

Required and optional questions​

Each question can be marked optional or required. Required questions must be answered before the respondent can continue.

Pages​

Questions are arranged into pages. Pages let you break a long survey into digestible steps and are the unit that branching rules act on. On the web, each page is shown in turn, and progress is saved per page so a respondent can leave and come back without losing earlier answers.

Branching and logic​

Branching lets the survey adapt to earlier answers so respondents only see relevant questions.

  • Question-level rules (show-if): show a question only when an earlier answer matches a value you specify. For example, show a follow-up text box only when someone selects "Dissatisfied".
  • Page rules: in the visual designer you can edit page-branching rules to route respondents from one page to another based on their answers.

To add a show-if rule, edit the question and choose the earlier question plus the answer value that should reveal it. Questions and pages are evaluated in order, so rules reference earlier questions.

Survey groups​

Groups help you organise related surveys (for example, by brand, region, or programme). On the Settings tab you can assign a survey to a group, and you can create new groups as you need them. Groups are then available as a way to filter and find surveys.

Templates​

If you run similar surveys repeatedly, start from a template instead of building from scratch. Templates capture a survey's structure so you can spin up a new survey with the same questions and layout, then adjust it.

Theming​

The Settings tab includes theming so respondent-facing surveys match your brand:

  • Primary and secondary colours — the accent colour used through the survey, plus a secondary accent for the progress bar fill and selected-option tint.
  • Logo — the image shown at the top of the survey. You can paste a URL or upload an image, and toggle Show logo on or off.
  • Background image — a full-bleed image behind the survey card (paste a URL or upload one).
  • Intro text — a short welcome message shown before the first question.
  • Show progress bar — whether respondents see how far through they are.

:::note Image and link URLs Logo, background-image, and review URLs must be http(s) links. Other schemes are rejected to keep the public survey page safe. :::

Post-completion review redirect​

Optionally, after a respondent finishes you can offer them a link to leave a public review on Trustpilot or Google Reviews — shown as a button or an automatic redirect, and gated by a minimum score so you only invite happy customers. Leave the review URL blank to disable it.

Theming applies to web and embedded surveys, where respondents see the full visual experience.

Next steps​