Conditional Logic: Build Smarter, More Relevant Surveys

Conditional logic allows you to create dynamic surveys that adapt based on employee responses or predefined segments. Instead of displaying every question to every respondent, you can control when a question appears and when it must be answered.

This helps you:

• Reduce survey fatigue

• Improve response quality

• Collect deeper insights where necessary

• Target questions to the right audience

This guide explains how conditional logic can be configured and provides practical examples using real survey questions.

How Conditional Logic Can Be Configured:

Conditional logic can be set up in four ways:

1. Show Question Based on Another Answer: A question appears only when a specific response is selected in a previous question, allowing you to ask follow-up questions only when they are relevant.

2. Show Question Based on Employee Segment: A question appears only for selected employee groups (e.g., managers, probation employees, specific departments), helping you target questions to the appropriate population.

3. Make Question Required Based on Another Answer: A question becomes mandatory only when a specific response is selected in a previous question, ensuring that critical follow-up information is collected when needed.

4. Make Question Required Based on Employee Segment: A question becomes mandatory only for certain employee groups, enabling you to enforce required input for compliance or accountability purposes.

These configurations can also work together. For example, a question can be shown as visible and then made required using the built-in Required toggle within the question settings.

Understanding the “Required” Setting

Each question includes a Required option in its settings.

When enabled:

• The question must be answered before submission

• Validation prevents incomplete responses

If a question is hidden due to conditional logic, it will not block submission, even if the Required option is turned on. The requirement only applies when the question is visible.

Use Case 1: Show Question Based on Employee Segment

You want to ask a retention-related question only to a specific employee group.

Question:
“Even if offered a comparable role and compensation package at another organisation, I would choose to stay at .”

This question may only be relevant to:

• Permanent employees

• Employees with tenure over 6 months

• A specific Country

Step 1: Add the Question

Create the question as a rating scale (e.g., 1–5).

Step 2: Configure Segment Visibility

In the Conditional Logic settings:

• Select “Question is visible based on employee segment”

• Choose the relevant Attribute (e.g., Countries )

• Choose the relevant Segment (e.g., Singapore)

Expected Outcome

• Employees in the selected segment will see the question

• All other employees will not see it

If this insight is mandatory for that group, enable the Required toggle within the question settings.

 

Use case 2: Make Question Required Based on Another Answer

You want additional context only when satisfaction is low. You have the sample of Main Question: “I am satisfied with the performance review process at my organisation.” (Scale 1-5)

Step 1: Create a Follow-Up Question

Example follow-up: “What is the main reason for your rating?” (Open-ended)

Step 2: Configure Visibility Based on Answer

For the follow-up question:

• Reference question: Performance review satisfaction

• Operator: Less than or equal to

• Value: 2

This ensures the follow-up question appears only when the rating is 1 or 2.

Step 3: Enable Required

Turn on the Required toggle for the follow-up question.

Expected Outcome

• If the employee selects 1 or 2:
  The follow-up question appears and must be answered before submission.

• If the employee selects 3, 4, or 5:
  The follow-up question remains hidden.

 

Testing Before Publishing

Before launching your survey, ensure that you test all possible logic paths thoroughly. This includes reviewing the survey as an employee within the selected segment and as one outside the segment. Test both low-score scenarios (1–2) and high-score scenarios (3–5) to ensure the visibility rules function according to the intended outcome. You should also verify required validation behaviour to ensure that any question marked as required blocks submission when unanswered. At the same time, confirm that hidden questions do not interfere with submission or trigger unnecessary validation errors.

IMPORTANT! Questions configured with conditional logic are not included in the overall score calculation. This is because they are only shown to a subset of respondents based on specific answers or segments, meaning not everyone has the opportunity to respond. Including these questions in the overall score could skew results and reduce comparability. To ensure accuracy and consistency in reporting, overall scores are calculated only from questions that are visible to all relevant respondents.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to us at support@engagerocket.co We're here to help!