IntelliSurvey quick start guide (r9)

This guide provides an overview of the typical workflow of a market research project in the IntelliSurvey platform. For detailed information on the topics mentioned below, click on any of the embedded links in the text, and you will be directed to our Help Center.

Upon logging in, you'll be taken to IntelliSurvey's "Home page," also known as the Survey Navigator, where you'll find a list of all surveys accessible to you. From here, you can navigate to any current surveys or create a new one. You'll also have access to the system-level navigation menu on the left-hand side. In the upper-right, there are controls that allow you to open a specific survey via the Open Survey modal, access the documentation, and edit your user profile. 

Quick start video 1

The first video in this article provides a brief overview of building and testing surveys. To skip ahead to the next video, click here.

Creating a new survey

In the System Navigation menu, click on New Survey to create a new survey. This opens the Create Survey modal.

Notice the first field is the ID. The ID is the actual file name of the survey and will appear in the URL when the respondent accesses the survey. Therefore, ensure that any client or survey-specific information is obfuscated to maintain confidentiality.

To set up your survey:

1. A survey ID will be automatically generated. Replace this with your preferred survey ID. IDs should be all lowercase and cannot contain spaces or special characters, though underscores are permitted. Once the survey is created, the ID cannot be edited again.
2. Next, add in a Survey Description. This is the description that will be displayed at the top of the screen and visible to anyone with access to the survey.
3. The Theme, Primary Country, and Language(s) are all pre-set, but you can change them as needed.
4. Choose your editing mode, discussed in detail in the next section.

Choosing your Editor Mode

IntelliBuilder

IntelliBuilder (IB) is our menu-based survey creation tool, which guides you through the survey setup without requiring any "coding." It's ideal for collaborative creation and editing of surveys. You can build surveys from scratch, or by copying and pasting survey content from questionnaires, without needing to know our survey programming language (SPL). You can also build out a survey in IB, then shift the editing mode to SPL, which is a great way to learn the SPL as you go.

To start:

1. Click Add Question to add a new element.
2. Choose the element type.
3. Fill in all the required fields, and click Apply.
4. When you are satisfied with your edits and ready to save them permanently, locate the Save Version option in the top-right corner of the IB toolbar and click on it.

SPL

If you're programming from a questionnaire and are familiar with our survey programming language, then SPL mode is generally the faster option. This will bring you to the SPL editor.

Our best-practice approach for creating SPL "base code" is to:

1. Copy and modify a Word document directly so you have a backup.
2. Remove all unnecessary instructions or spacing, and anything else that won't be used in the final survey. This includes rich text formatting in programming instructions.
3. Save this file as a .txt file.
4. Use the File Importer tool found in the top right of the toolbar to upload the .txt file.
5. Adjust lists with lettered options to use numbered options instead. Lists with numbers will be easier to reference later on.
6. Replace question instructions like 'single select', '[SC]', etc. with the appropriate SPL tags, e.g., types, groups, instructions, etc. Click Ctrl/control+space to access the snippets library to conveniently find these tags.
   
7. For items that are more complicated or that will be worked on later, use comments. Single lines are commented with a '#' at the line start; block comments start with '/*' before the first line and end with '*/'.
   
8. Once you believe the code is correct, click Save Version in the top right of the screen.
9. Review the version comparison, and click Commit Changes.
10. Review any errors, cautions, and warnings. Click Back to Editor in the top right of the screen to correct the issues and try again, until the survey parses (builds) successfully.

Quick start video 2

The second video in this article covers how to add users, publish your survey, creating and managing quotas, and adding panels to your survey. To skip ahead to the final video in this article, click here.

Adding users

At IntelliSurvey, we offer two levels of user permissions: system and survey levels.

• System permissions determine the global access level a user has, including privileges such as altering system-wide themes and resources, default level of survey visibility and access, and the capability to add other users.
• Survey permissions determine a user's access level to individual surveys, including privileges such as the ability to edit surveys, manage files and other resources, and access data.

For more detailed information on the roles available at the system and survey level, go to your home screen (Survey Navigator), expand the Admin group in the System Navigation menu, and select Roles.

Adding users to the system

To add users to the system, expand the Admin group in the System Navigation menu, and select System Users.

To add a new user in the System Users applet:

1. Click the New User button towards the upper-right portion of the screen.
2. Enter the user's first name, last name, and email address.
3. Select a system role for the new user.
4. Click the Create button to create the user account. An email notification will be sent to the indicated email address so that the new user can finish setting up their account.

Adding users to a survey

To add users to a specific survey, expand the Settings applet group in the Survey Navigation menu. Then, click on Survey Users.

To add a new user to your survey in Survey Users applet:

1. Click Add in the upper right corner.
2. Choose the primary survey role that suits your needs.
3. Select any "add-on" permissions you want to give (for example, Manage Quotas).
4. Enter the user's email address; multiple email addresses may be added, one per line. To add a user group, type "@" to access a modal displaying a list of previously added user groups.
5. Click Add Users/Groups to finish.

Editing your survey

After your initial survey build/compile, you'll likely want to add to or edit your survey content. To access the editor, expand the Build applet group, and click Editor.

The mode you selected when creating the survey will be the mode you default to when the applet opens. For straightforward collaborative edits, IntelliBuilder is ideal. In this mode, users see each other's work in real time. When editing in SPL, coordination is necessary to synchronize updates.

IntelliBuilder editing is best suited for:

- Collaborative refinement with client or researcher input
- Simultaneous work on different survey sections by multiple users
- Proofreading while the team adds content.

Survey Source editing best suited for:

- Quickly establishing base survey content
- Applying advanced respondent exercises like conjoints or complex pathing
- Managing translations.

Testing your survey

Testing your survey as a respondent is vital to ensuring it meets specifications. There are a few ways to access test links for your survey, along with various test modes to choose from. We suggest you "power test" the survey by running it in the Testmode dashboard. You can quickly test multiple termination (screen-out) points, review stored values, edit stored values for testing purposes, and branch out to multiple paths for efficient testing. 

To access the Testmode dashboard, expand the Build navigation group and select Test Survey. 

Additionally, you can launch Testmode by pressing Test 2 from the survey compilation screen after you've saved a new version of your survey.

Lastly, the following video provides a brief overview of some of the testing tools and features found in the Test Survey applet.

Draft and published versions

Programmers and stakeholders need their own safe versions of the survey for editing and reviewing without effecting other testers or live data. This is where the Draft/Pub (Published) framework comes into play. Draft/Pub is not a concept of "test/live." It's a concept related to survey versions. 

At any given time, there are two different versions of a survey that are available to review:

• Draft — This is always the most recently saved survey version. It's your sandbox where every newly saved version will be seen via Draft testing links when the survey page is refreshed or submitted. A Draft version does not have to be published. In fact, you can create as many Draft versions as needed without ever publishing them. 
• Pub — This is the version that is created when a survey is published. Surveys in field (live) should always use the live link for the Published version of the survey.

Quotas

Quotas allow for tracking and capping the number of respondents in particular categories. Quotas can be set up in either editing mode and are primarily managed in the Quotas applet. In this applet, users input a maximum number, also known as a quota target or quota "cap," for each quota group. The Quotas applet can be found within the Field > Quotas applet group in the left navigation menu.

Creating quotas

Quotas can be created in multiple ways in either IB or the SPL editor.

Via IntelliBuilder

• Add a new quota variable by clicking Add Question and selecting Quota under STRUCTURAL, or
• When creating a new simple question type, select Quota from the Add New Property dropdown menu.

Via SPL

• Use quotas: y on a radio, checkbox, or pulldown question,
• Use the type: quotas tag on a question with conditioned options, or
• Quotas like gender by age, called crosslist quotas, are created by forming a new crosslist and then using that list with the optsfrom tag at the quota variable. The example below creates the crosslist GENAGE. Note that it uses question label shorthand at the crosslists tag. Then, the new crosslist is used at the optsfrom tag at the quota variable QGENDERAGE.

setlist: GENAGE
crosslists: QGENDER, QAGE

GENDERAGE. Gender by age
type: quotas
optsfrom: GENAGE

Setting quotas

Your survey must have a published version containing quota variables to see the Quotas applet.

Surveys are generally "soft launched" with reduced quota targets to collect enough live data to perform a review of the data. Set quota targets/caps to prevent any overages.

Each of your quotas will be a separate table with a Quota column and editable cells highlighted in light blue. Click in a specific cell to set a quota target. Press Enter or click out of the cell to save your changes.

A simple quota will have one Quota column, and will display other columns with additional details.

When crosslist quotas are created, you'll encounter a table structure displaying, for example, rows representing QGENDER and columns corresponding to QAGE. Given that one list serves as the rows and the other as the columns, the outcomes are shown as fractions, indicating the number of completes relative to the category's maximum capacity (if specified). In cases where no maximum is defined, a double dash (--) appears instead.

Integrating panel vendors

The IntelliSurvey software offers the Panels applet to set up a database of commonly used panel vendors, their entry link formats, and various exit link formats (redirects). This database can be created either globally for your organization or individually for specific surveys.

To access and integrate vendors into your survey, follow these steps:

1. Go to the navigation menu and select Field > Audiences > Panels.
2. Choose a panel from the Add New Panel dropdown list.
3. Review and adjust the Invite Link Format and edit Redirect Links if needed.

Panel vendors typically conduct testing for both survey completion and termination, providing respondent IDs for verification of receipt and status. Additionally, users from the panel will likely need to be added to the survey via the Survey Users applet so they can review data and manage quotas.

Setting to Field stage

To ease the transition from testing to live fielding, we provide the ability to change your survey's stage. Surveys can be in one of four stages: Build, Field, Analyze, or Archived. By default, when a new survey is created, the survey stage is set to Build. The Build stage is designed to facilitate programming and testing the survey, both in how it displays when it is run, and how the data generated from test records is stored. When the survey is ready to accept live respondents, the stage is changed to Field. Finally, when a survey is ready to be closed, the stage can be changed to Analyze or Archived ("retired").

In the survey itself, the stage is displayed in the banner at the top of the Metrics tab of the Fielding Overview applet. This page is also where the survey's stage is changed.

To change the survey stage, select Change Stage.

The Change Survey Stage modal window appears, providing a list of the stages in which the survey can be set. Select Field, and click Submit.

Quick start video 3

The final video in this article discusses the "soft launch" testing process, performing data checks, creating reports, and closing your survey.

Soft launch

Vendors will use their entry links to begin fielding towards your soft launch goal. Once the quota targets are met, any additional respondents will be routed to the "Over Quota" end links provided by your vendors.

If you need more data, our platform also offers a data generation applet known as Dummy Data. This tool provides a number of options for generating automated, fabricated data for initial review. To create dummy data, expand the Build navigation group and select Dummy Data.

Additionally, there's a feature called Avoid simple terms which enables the Dummy Data tool to bypass straightforward termination points. While we've tailored the tool to work with a number of scenarios, it does not replace the utility of actual respondent data.

Data checking

Your survey's data is the final deliverable; ensuring it matches specifications is paramount. You can use a number of reports to accomplish this review process. Additionally, the Deliverables applet, located in the Reports applet group, provides a central location to view, edit, download, or upload saved reports and exports. 

• • • The Frequency Reports applet will give you an overview of response counts by question and option, which are useful for verifying skip logic.
    • The Response Reports applet is useful for examining individual responses for a limited question subset.
    • The Crosstab Reports applet is a robust tabulation utility for reviewing data.
    • The Base Counts applet is a quick way to determine if question logic is working as expected by seeing the number of responses, or counts, for each survey field.
    • The Page Report applet includes aggregate metadata collected from all survey takers and organizes it by survey pages. This information can be used to answer questions about the respondent experience.
    • Lastly, the Activity tile contains any notices or warnings generated by respondents taking the survey.

Full launch

Once you have verified your survey's performance and data, you're ready to gather your full "N" (number of completes). Adjust your quota targets in the Quotas applet, give your vendors the OK to proceed, and monitor your progress using the Quotas and reporting applets.

Close survey

When your survey is completed, we have two Analyze stages to accommodate its closure:

• Soft close: If you have a few active respondents finishing up the survey, choose this option. In progress respondents will be allowed to complete, while new respondents will be turned away.
• Hard close: Choose this option to turn away all respondents immediately.

Finding help

If you ever need a hand, we are here to help. There are multiple ways to seek assistance. First, for more detailed information on a given feature, you can review the documentation on our software in the Help Center. Our "help docs" provide information on how to perform various tasks in our UI and program surveys using our proprietary survey programming language (SPL). 

If you need to access our documentation, there are two ways to do so: 

• by navigating to our documentation home page at help.intellisurvey.com, or
• by clicking the ? icon in the global header while in our platform.

Read Accessing documentation for an in-depth review of the Help Center.

While in the Help Center, you can access our support chat via the Help icon at the bottom right of the screen. The chat will allow you to ask questions about documentation, leave a message for Support, or speak directly to a Support agent during our support hours.

Read Contacting Support for more information on chat support. 

Lastly, you can email your questions to help@intellisurvey.com. Please include your survey link and all relevant information in the email. Average response time is within an hour during the hours of 9am to 5pm Pacific Time (GMT-7).