Ranking question type
About the "Ranking" question type
With the "Ranking" question type, respondents can order a certain number of answer options by their priority. To do this, they drag the most important items to the top via drag & drop. This question type is especially suitable when you want to find out which options, attributes or criteria matter most to your target group.
Typical use cases:
- Which criteria matter most to you when buying a smartphone?
- Which employee-motivation measures do you find most effective?
- Which communication channels do you prefer to use?
- Which tasks should be tackled first in the project?
Note:
Since this question type is based on drag-and-drop, it is not accessible and therefore for surveys with high accessibility requirements (e.g. for blind or severely visually impaired people) not suitable.
In such cases, please switch to other question types — for example the Form, which lets respondents assign the ranks via keyboard.
Question type settings
The right-hand settings panel offers the following question-type-specific options:
Maximum ranks:
Here you set the maximum number of answer options that respondents may prioritize.
By default, all alternatives can be put into a ranking.
In many cases, however, it makes sense to limit the selection to, say, the top 3. Such a limit:- focuses attention on the most important options,
- reduces the effort and cognitive load, especially with long lists,
- simplifies the analysis, by considering only the most relevant placements.
- "Not Applicable" option:
If this option is enabled, an additional choice such as "can't judge" is shown automatically — right next to the respective answer row.
This is especially helpful when some criteria do not apply to all respondents (e.g. "experience using product XY") or require specific knowledge. - Randomized order of rows:
When enabled, the answer options appear for each respondent in random order .
This helps you avoid position effects and increases the neutrality of the answers. Pin item
If the "Randomized order of rows" setting is enabled, individual answer options can be pinned to their original position via the Pin item button in the help menu of the respective alternative.
This is especially helpful for avoiding confusion with certain answer options — for example:- when the "Other" alternative should always appear at the end,
- when particularly relevant options should be at the top or less important ones at the bottom.
Important:
The pinning only affects the initial display of the question. Once the page has loaded, pinned alternatives can be moved freely by respondents.- Item settings:
Using the gear icon next to each row, you can make additional settings for individual answer options — e.g. highlighting, an "Other" field or requiring text entry.
Item settings
For each answer row, the following individual settings are available in the help menu (gear icon):
- Highlight item:
Adds a colored background highlight to the answer row — useful for emphasizing certain options. - Add text field (e.g. "Other"):
Adds an additional input field to the answer row — ideal for the "Other" option. - Require answer for "Other":
When enabled, the text field must be filled in as soon as the option is selected. - Placeholder text for text field:
Optional: Shows a gray hint text in the text field (e.g. "Please specify").
Example of a ranking question
The following example shows a typical ranking question:
Respondents are asked to prioritize the three criteria most important to them when choosing a smartphone.
This kind of question is ideal when you want to understand which aspects have the highest priority for your target group — e.g. battery life, price-performance ratio or brand preference.
👉 Respondents drag the most relevant options to the desired position via drag & drop.