Branching Options in Microsoft Forms
- Fleshman-Cooper, Ian
Overview
Branching (also known as conditional logic) allows you to create personalized paths through your form, quiz, or poll based on how respondents answer specific questions. This feature is particularly useful for tailoring the experience to each respondent, making your forms more dynamic and engaging.
What is Branching?
Branching enables you to direct respondents to different sections or questions based on their answers. For example:
If a respondent selects "Yes" to a question, they are directed to a follow-up question.
If they select "No," they skip the follow-up and move to a different question or section of the form.
How to Set Up Branching
Create Your Form:
Add all the questions and sections you want to include in your form.
Please refer to Create a Form for more details on how to do this.
Enable Branching:
Select on the question or section that you would like to set up branching logic.
Click the More Options (•••) button in the bottom-right corner of the selected question for section.
Select Add branching.
Set Up Branching Logic:
For each question, click the dropdown menu next to each answer choice.
Choose the section or question the respondent should be directed to based on their answer.
Repeat this process for all relevant questions and answer choices.
Test Your Branching:
Use the Preview feature when viewing form to test the branching logic and ensure it works as intended.
Example Use Cases
Customer Feedback Survey:
Question: "Did you enjoy our product?" (Yes/No).
If "Yes," direct respondents to a question about their favorite feature.
If "No," direct them to a question about what could be improved.
Event Registration:
Question: "Will you attend the event?" (Yes/No/Maybe).
If "Yes," direct respondents to a section for dietary preferences.
If "No" or "Maybe," skip to the final thank-you message.
Educational Quiz:
Question: "What is 2 + 2?" (3/4/5).
If "4," direct respondents to a harder question.
If "3" or "5," direct them to an easier question.
Best Practices for Using Branching
Plan Ahead: Map out the flow of your form before setting up branching to ensure a logical and smooth experience.
Keep It Simple: Avoid overly complex branching paths that may confuse respondents.
Test Thoroughly: Use the preview feature to test all possible paths and ensure the branching works as expected.
Use Sections: Organize your form into sections to make branching easier to manage.
Limitations of Branching
Single-Level Branching: Microsoft Forms currently supports only one level of branching per question (i.e., you can’t branch based on a branched question).
No Loops: You cannot create loops where respondents are directed back to a previous question or section.
Limited to Choice Questions: Branching is only available for multiple-choice, checkbox, and rating questions.