Choose the right kind of question

The Input Type on a screen’s Interaction tab decides what the visitor gets to interact with. Choosing well is most of the difference between a site people finish and one they abandon.

#Typing something in

For Phone Number you also set a Default Country, which decides the flag and dialling code the box opens on. Eleven countries are offered: United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Australia.

#Dates and times

#Picking from a list

Five list types, and the difference between them matters.

Buttons is the right default. It is the most tappable on a phone and it reads fastest. Keep it to four options at most — beyond that the buttons get cramped and the screen stops scanning cleanly.

For five or more options, or for options with long labels, switch to Check List (Single Select).

Check List (Multiple Select) is the only type that accepts more than one answer. The chosen values are stored as one comma-separated value. Use its Min Selections and Max Selections to say things like “pick two or three”.

#Picking a picture

Pick the shape that suits your pictures, not the other way round — a landscape photo squeezed into a square grid looks wrong on every screen it appears on.

#Setting up options

Whichever list type you use, each option has:

Add Option adds another. Points is what makes quizzes and scorecards possible — see Branch with a split for how to act on the total.

#Files and photos

Camera Upload is the better choice when the answer is a photo of something in front of them — damage, a meter reading, a room. On a phone it opens the camera directly instead of making them find the file afterwards.

#Booking a time

Calendar puts one of your booking calendars into the flow, so the visitor chooses a slot without leaving the site. You select which calendar, and a Calendar Style — Default, Modern or Contemporary.

This is usually the last question. Everything before it qualifies the visitor; the calendar closes the deal.

#What is not an input type

A screen can also show a video, raw HTML, or an embedded booking link — but those are content, set on the screen’s Content tab, not question types. A screen showing a video normally has no input type at all, just a continue button.

#Getting the type right the first time