Survey Builder is the Kincentric integrated application used to create smart surveys.
Use Survey Builder to;
Quickly learn the basics of Survey Builder with this getting started series.
Review each topic to get answers to the most popular questions our users ask.
The Survey Builder does not have mobile support. However, the surveys and reporting are mobile-enabled. Therefore, you should be able to take surveys and see reporting on mobile devices.
Click the Question Mark icon in the top right side of the page and select "Contact Support". You will be taken to the support survey link where you follow the steps listed to submit a request for help. You can also click Contact in the menu of this webpage.
Expect a response within 1 business day with a resolution or steps to resolve the problem.
Yes. You will be able to view a consolidated list of all surveys created in your account under the "Survey List" section.
Copying an existing survey is an easy way for you to re-create a survey using the same questions, intro text, benchmarks, and languages as the survey you are copying from. This will save you time if you are re-surveying at a later time. Below are the settings that get copied when you use the 'Create Copy' feature.
Step 1: Initial Survey Setup
Step 2: Define your survey content
Not at this time
Questions and responses are available in the following languages:
Yes.
From the Survey List page,
The person you shared the survey with will see it in their Survey List page the next time they log in.
The copy will not include any distribution details as these are specific to your survey content but everything else such as questions, text, logo, and other details defined in steps 1, 2 and 3 will be retained.
Predefined programs like engagement surveys or exit surveys are not included. However, you can easily select questions that would appear on these types of surveys by turning on Question Templates in the Columns drop down and then filter on the template that would contain the standard questions for the kind of survey you want to build.
Yes. Open-ended questions can be added using a Textbox response option which is a one line box or open-ended question which provides a larger box.
No, you can’t change our library questions, but you can do the following;
When selecting to do either of these two options, you will be required to enter new translations. Existing translations will not be copied.
Yes. You have the ability to add custom questions and add translations. Kincentric is not responsible for adding translations to any custom questions.
No. Kincenric library questions and dimension translations cannot be edited. You would need to make a copy of an existing question and then enter your own translations.
No. There is no online translation tool available. Kincentric uses a trusted translation company and always reviews the translations using internal reviewers to ensure accuracy.
When looking through questions in the question library, select "Show All Alts Button". This will add a column in the table and display any questions that have alternative question wording.
If you want to create custom questions to share with others, work with your Client Admin who can add them to the Question Library. Once they are made public, everyone in your company will be able to use the question and dimensions.
Yes. Custom dimensions and indicies can be created in the Question Library. Work with your Client Admin to create them and make public for other Survey Builder users.
The custom question text for survey questions and demographic questions have a limit of 250 characters. Open ended comment response options do not have a limit.
You cannot change the sequence of your questions, but you can edit the question text or translations. Read more about how to edit a live survey here:
There is a limit of 300 questions per survey.
We recommend keeping your length of text character string for response options to 150 characters, including spaces between words.
Yes. When the question is reported, it will show under all indicies.
From the Dashboard click on the ... icon in the Actions column for the survey you would like to copy and select 'Copy Survey'. A copy of the survey will be created and the name will include 'Copy 1' at the end.
Below are the settings that get copied when you use the 'Create Copy' feature
Yes. The rich text editor allows you to add hyperlinks to Survey Intro text, text throughout the survey and text within the invitation. You can even specify how you want the link to open.
The branching feature uses multiple sources to create the question links. If you're using demographic information as a criteria, you need to create the distribution list that contains the demographics or upload the employee file in Org Manager first. Once the file is uploaded, the options will become available for you to use.
The 'Run Validation' button should be used when programming branching. If you make any changes to the files used for branching or you change information in Org Manager you should use the Run Validation option to ensure the changes you made did not affect the branching selections you made. Survey Builder will check to make sure branching will work as expected and apply a red exclamation icon next to any branching that has an issue.
All new surveys you create will require you pick a meter in order to continue. When a survey participant has an indicator letting them know how close they are to completing a survey, they are more likely to continue. The progress meter should always be included and is part of our standard survey criteria.
No. When a question from the library changes, you will see a warning on the Step 2: Define your survey content page letting you know a question, translation or response option text changed. You can accept all changes from the warning box or you can scroll to the question that has a 'View Change' link. Click the link for a complete summary of the changes that were made. Click 'Accept' to update the information in your draft survey or click 'Cancel' to ignore the changes and keep the text you have. Repeat this process for each question that has the 'View Change' link.
If you create a copy of the survey or create a new survey, the new text will automatically be applied.
Once a year (in March) Kincentric releases new benchmarks. If you created a draft survey during the time we released the new benchmarks, the existing benchmark you picked will no longer be valid. Simply go to Step 1: Initial survey setup and re-add the desired benchmarks.
Kincentric questions can often be associated with multiple dimensions or you might have customized a Kincentric question and assigned your own dimension. When reporting, a question can only be reported under one dimension. If we were to include it in multiple dimensions, then that question would be counted more than once and impact your overall score. When you pick a question that has multiple dimensions, you will be asked to select which dimension you want the question to be reported under. If you select 'No Dimension', when reporting this question will appear under an 'Other' category in Learn and will not be included in any calculations on the Dashboard.
A radio button allows you to list the questions on the page in a table format. This saves room on the page and groups all 6-Point Agree questions into the same table.
A slider selector is listed under each question. The participant slides the selector to the desired response option.
In order to use this feature, your Kincentric partner must set the attribute to allow for this feature to be used. Partner with them to turn it on, once its available you can use it on the demographic question you're trying to create. Your partner can also instruct you on how to use it efficiently.
Yes! Both custom questions and custom demographic questions can have multiple answer response options! Check out this video for an overview of how to do create it and what it will look like in your reporting site.
Yes. You can add demographic information while uploading the list of participants details. A maximum of 50 demographics is allowed. Excel templates are also available in the Survey Builder to upload the data related to demographic tie-back.
Once you complete all the steps for setting up "Survey Distribution", survey invitations would immediately go out to the respondents once you publish the survey.
There are 4 types of "Survey Distribution" types available on the when sending a survey:
incentric will need to program your account to look at historical information and is generally purchased as Add-On work. If you have purchased this option, reach out to your Kincentric Partner if this is not already programmed.
Yes. However when creating multiple distributions, you cannot have an employee with the same Employee ID listed twice or this will cause the employee to receive two invitations. Survey Builder will look across all the events and automatically remove any employees that are listed twice.
Yes. There is a maximum of 50 demographics that can be loaded.
20,000 is the system limit for survey participants. Any survey that has more than 20k participants may experience issues. Also, remember that the type of subscription you purchased will determine how many invitations you are allowed to send for the year. Check with your Kincentric partner if you aren't sure of your subscription limit.
Yes. In Step 4: Distribute your survey, click the Actions icon. You will have the option to download the Name & Email of all the participants.
Access Codes can be used to require a survey participant to enter the unique passcode that is included in their email invitation. Our systems will automatically generate a unique code for each participant.
Add the Access Code to the email content:
Example survey with access code required
Example Invitation
Yes, you can create an exact copy of an administration by clicking the Actions icon (...) and selecting Copy. Everything will be copied except the people in the distribution.
No. We do not have the ability to recall sent emails.
Yes. You can set the time for your survey to the nearest hour (not minutes). The time zone that is sent is the time zone you are using in your browser (usually your local time zone).
Reminders are sent based on the type of distribution you selected:
No. You can only send email invitations and reminders.
Use the 'Enable HTML Content' toggle to turn on the editor. When this is enabled you'll have tons of formatting options.
In Step 4: Distribute your survey, click the Actions icon. You will have the option to add an email address and send a test invitation.
Yes, you can select what time the invitations are sent down to the minute. When you have large distribution lists, it may take several minutes for the invitation to appear in the participants inbox as each administration is sent in 'batches' at the time you determine. The smaller the administration, the faster the invitations will be received.
Navigate to the Survey Admin and click the 'Resend/Reset/Reopen' Tile. From there you can delete participants, resend invitations, add new participants, reset a survey and reopen a completed survey.
To add or delete participants, you will do that within the Events Section of the Survey Admin page. How you add or remove participants will be determined by the method you used to create the event: Employee File and Hierarchies from Org Manager or Distribution List upload.
Because you used a hierarchy that was created in Org Manager, you must manage the participation in Org Manager.
Delete a Participant
The participant will now receive a message that the link is not valid if they click on the link in the invitation.
Add a Participant
The invitation will be sent to the participants email. This is the original invitation and not the reminder email which cannot be resent using this feature.
This will remove the participants from being able to participate in the survey. If the participant has started or completed the survey, the data they entered will be removed the system and not be included in any reporting. This action cannot be undone. If they click the link in their invitation, they will see a message that the survey has been cancelled.
This option is only available when you selected the distribution audience for 'A unique link for each employee'. Its commonly used when one participant forwards their invitation to someone else, and their link no longer works. When you select this option, the following activities happen:
This action will reopen the survey for the selected participants. This is most commonly used when a participant saves the survey with the intent to complete it later and forgets the survey password required to access the saved survey.
Yes, there are some things you can change while a survey is live!
Survey title & translations
Survey intro & translations
Survey definitions & translations
Response option requirement
Question text & translations
Read more about how to edit a live survey here:
Survey Administration instructions using a Distribution List.pdf
Survey Administration instructions using an Employee File and Hierarchy in Org Manager.pdf
No. Results cannot be viewed during survey administration. Results are available about 15 minutes after the survey closes.
My Reports outputs are available in PDF, Excel and PowerPoint.
The standard cut-off (Minimum N) for reporting results is 10 unless your company has defined a specific Min N.
A cut-off (Minimum N) change for reporting can be requested, please reach out to your Kincentric Partner to have it changed. However, the new minimum N will be applied to all surveys across your account. You cannot change it for just one survey.
Yes. This can be done by creating Profiles in Org Manager. Watch this Profiles & Access instructional video for a complete overview.
Yes. This can be done by creating Profiles in Org Manager. Watch this Profiles & Access instructional video for a complete overview.
The data takes approximately 15 minutes from survey close to populate and for data results to appear in My Reports. If the results do still not appear then try to clear your browser's cache. If, still problem occurs please Contact Support.
No. All users have the same benchmarks available to them.
No. Action planning is not available in My Reports.
Yes. This can be done by creating Profiles in Org Manager. Watch this Profiles & Access instructional video for a complete overview.
No. However once the presentation is downloaded, you can customize it as desired.
Customized benchmarks are Add-On work. If you have purchased this option, reach out to your Kincentric Partner if this is not already programmed.
Yes. Any advance analytics is Add-On work and can be purchased for an additional fee.
When reporting in My Reports, a question can only be reported in one dimension. If we were to include it in multiple dimensions, then that question would be counted more than once and impact your overall score. If you pick a question that has multiple dimensions associated, you will be required to pick a dimension for reporting.
The repository for survey questions and responses has 80 languages, however My Reports does not utilize all the languages available for surveying. Your survey audience should be able to take surveys in any of the 80 languages, however the results of the survey is usually kept to a small group of people so the languages in My Reports are limited to languages that are used most throughout the globe.
My Reports includes the following languages:
If your survey is closed, you can go directly to the reporting site without having to enter your credentials.
You will be directly logged into your reporting site