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Using Qualtrics as a form

  • 18 August 2021
  • 7 replies
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J

I'm using Qualtrics to act as a 'Smartform' that gives me (as a system owner) an indication of what an employee wants to do in my system.
The intent is for the employee to answer a series of questions (which in the backend are scored against specific categories). Based on their responses, I will have a better idea of what they want to do in my system and provide them with a solution based on their needs.
The flow of my survey/ Smartform:
Block#1- Initially, Person A (employee) answers some demographic questions and some 'persona' questions (My main responsibilities are...I need to obtain...In order to do...). Each answer under the three persona questions is assigned to one of specific categories mentioned above.

Block #2- Once Person A answers the last question and clicks their 'submit' button, I want it to trigger an email with a survey link to Person B (Manager). When Person B clicks the survey link, they should see a summary of Person A's responses and then proceed to answer 2-3 questions (these questions are about whether the manager endorses the employees request for a solution). They should only be able to see and answer the 2-3 questions relevant to them.

Block #3- When Person B answers their last question and clicks their 'submit' button, it should finally trigger an email that sends the survey to Person C (Administrator). Person C should see a summary of Person A & B's responses. They should also have their own questions that asks them to confirm what solution has been implemented for Person A.

Is this possible? If so, how do I do it?

The main thing I'm struggling with is setting it up so that when each person clicks on their respective survey link, they only see the questions relevant to them.

Thanks!

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Best answer by mklubeck 18 August 2021, 22:58

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mklubeck
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Easy breezy actually.
You would have three different surveys.
You'd have at least one contact list. The answers gathered in the first survey, populate the contact list. Then you pass in the ResponseID as a unique key (ExternalDataReference) so that on opening the link in the email (the link includes the responseID), you get the right record from the Contact List. Then you use the data in the second form from the Contact List...etc. Here is a local instruction I wrote on how to do this for my users (this is all native, no coding necessary).
Question: How can we create a data set for answers from different forms/surveys.  
Context: In a workflow, we may want to have different respondents filling out information in different forms. When they provide data we want to update a single file, compiling the information into one location. This will allow us to see what others have provided, aggregate their information, and have a single source for the results.
Cause: Qualtrics generates a different response set for each form/survey. And each respondents answers are treated as a separate record
Answer: Contact List Triggers! Create a Contact List

  1. Go to Contacts in the top menu (right)

  2. Create a Contact List with headers (fields) for ALL of the data you'll want in the end. This requires some planning up front to identify the complete data set you will want in the end.  

  3. Create a Contact List trigger for the first form in your workflow.  

  4. Go to Tools

  5. Triggers

  6. Contact List Triggers...

  7. NOTE: Add a Condition can be very helpful. You can update the Contact List only if the respondent made specific choices or if it fits criteria you want to affirm

  8. Choose your Contact List (from step 1)

  9. We'll need to have a reference point within your Contact List. We'll be using the External Data Reference. You can set this up to be a value you pass into and out of each form. On your first form, you can make this equal to a quota value that you use to determine the number of responses. That way you also know which form completion each is. On an original contact list, you can make the field name "ExternalDataReference"

  10. For all subsequent forms (after the initial one), you'll want to associate the form with the Contact List

  11. In both cases we'll have to do an authentication at the start of each form.

  12. On the second and subsequent forms go to Survey Flow

  13. If you don't want the user to have to input the value (since you may know which record they should be working on)...

  14. Capture it with embedded data in the survey flow. BEFORE your Contact List authenticator insert an Embedded Data element. Put "ExternalDataReference" in as an embedded data field. Don't set the value as it will come in on the URL

  15. nd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_wierdlettersindistributionlinkv?ExternalDataReference=${e://Field/ResponseID}

  16. Append the query string to the end of the URL used to open the form. I like using the ResponseID from the first form since this is guaranteed to be a unique value without spaces. You will have to set the External Data Reference in your Contact List Trigger to ResponseID. The safest way to add the value to your URL (for the next form - get it from the distribution tab of the second form) is to call the variable "ExternalDataReference" Here is an example string 

  17. Select the option to prefill on the authenticator, so that the participants don't actually have to authenticate in. Put "ExternalDataReference" in the PreFill field.  Here is a video showing how it will work

  18. You can have the respondent input the value (External Data Reference) when they open the form OR you can have it passed in.

  19. Put an Authenticator at the top of the flow.

  20. Make the Authentication Type: Contact

  21. Make the "Authenticate Using Contact" point to the Contact List you created in Step 1

  22. Under "Authentication Fields" choose "External Data Reference" and put in the variable name you want to store the value in


mklubeck
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BTW, I call what you are asking, "workflow" here is the article that would point you to what I just provided:

Question


Can we do workflow in Qualtrics?

Answer


Yes.
SOLUTION 1: Totally through passing data in a URL
You can create a trigger email (email sent at completion of a form/survey) which includes information used in responses in the form/survey. This includes the TO: email address, specific information to use to display, text to use in questions, and even default values for choices. These will be included in the URL for the form/survey the next respondent (in the workflow) will complete.
Some important considerations; there seem to be no limits to the number of items you can include. It doesn't work if you use the URL in the body (it would be very long and therefore unseemly) so the solution is to use a phrase like "click here to fill out the form" and use the embed link tool. If you "hide" the URL it will work properly. If you don't, any spaces in the text that will be inserted into the URL is likely to break the URL. To fix this issue:
  1. To deal with blanks in the data, you will need to add “?Format=urlencode” to the end of the string and then close the parenthesis.

  2. Here’s what it should look like: https://nd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ef9kWWip0ILwrl3?SubmitterLName=${m://LastName?Format=urlencode}

  3. For a more in depth explanation click here (I put it in the next message)

SOLUTION 2: Reopen Completed Form
By using the Retake link for the survey, we can pass the "completed" form in edit mode to the next person in the workflow cycle. This allows you to create questions and/or blocks which won't be displayed unless you are in the right cycle for the workflow, edit previously entered data, and progress forward. You can send this to more than one person, with different permissions/displays for each.
This is also useful if you want part of the form to be "For Office Use Only" - in our scenario the first respondent wouldn't even see this section, but it would appear in the second respondents view. A big benefit to this is that you have only one set of responses/completed data.
For details on how to send a retake link (to edit a response or to enter a new response) in a trigger email, check out: https://www.qualtrics.com/support/survey-platform/data-and-analysis-module/retake-survey-link/
SOLUTION 3: use a Contact List Trigger
This may be the best, especially if you are pulling in information from multiple forms. The Contact List Trigger allows you to combine responses from totally different forms...but you'll need a common field (unique field). Qualtrics only allows two options for linking to a Contact List - either email or External Data Reference. Email rarely will work for workflow since users in your process may need to create more than one artifact (application, review, approval, etc.). So the External Data Reference is usually better. Since you need a unique value, using the Response ID from the first form in your workflow is a good choice. You can then pass that value to each form in turn through trigger emails so that consequent forms will update the same record in the Contact List Trigger.

mklubeck
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And the last article I promised above (this points out that these three could be combined - something I may do later)
Question: Want to pass information into a survey via the URL. This can be done in a trigger email or in the original invitation email. If from a trigger, you can include information gathered from the survey used to generate the trigger
Context: Qualtrics Trigger Email used on completion of a form/survey
Answer: Note, you can use this also on the original email invitation, but you won't have any collected data to use

  1. You're going to use the link for the survey/form you want the recipient of this email to open.

  2. This is part of the setup phase for creating a simple workflow. A respondent fills in a form. Then a trigger email is sent to the next person in the workflow. That person clicks on a link to a new form, and the URL for that form includes information used in the next form. 

  3. Open the second form (survey/project) in your workflow

  4. Go to Distributions

  5. Choose Anonymous Link

  6. Copy that link into a word processor (we'll need to edit it)

  7. Go to the trigger email that you want the data to pass through.

  8. Open your survey

  9. Go to Tools dropdown

  10. Choose Triggers

  11. Open the first form (survey/project)

  12. Identify any data you want passed through

  13. I do this by opening the trigger email and adding items via Piped Text. I add them all so I have the references I need.

  14. Choose Email Triggers...

  15. In the body of the email use piped text to cycle through the items from the form you want to pass through to the next form.

  16. NOTE: Change as of 4/2017 - In the past, the default URL had "/SE/?SID=" after the website and before the Survey Identifier. With the latest update, the URL now has "/jfe/form/" which means there is no ? leading the link. So when we add items, we need to include a "?" at the begining. 

  17. format [url]?field1=value1&field2=value2&field3=value3... etc.)

  18. Go to the link you pasted into the word processor

  19. Pick all of the information you want to pass through

  20. Use the piped text icon {a} and choose question responses or embedded data

  21. Add the "?" to the end of the URL before you add the fields. 

  22. The first field should NOT have an "&" leading it 

  23. For all subsequent variables (fields) use the "&" as described in the next step

  24. At the end of the link add the data you want

  25. Add a "&" to the end of the URL string

  26. Add a variable name you will reference in the next form

  27. Add "="

  28. Add the reference to the embedded data

  29. Inside the last "}" in the reference add "?format=urlencode"

  30. Repeat the previous step (4.4) for every data you want to pass through

  31. You're going to use the link for the form (survey/project) you want the recipient of this email to open.

  32. In the URL field, paste the finished link you created in your word processor

  33. Click on the Link icon 

  34. Highlight the text you just added

  35. In the body of the email add text something like, "Click here to continue the workflow"

  36. You can delete all of the embedded data you pasted in the email to be used.

You'll need to ensure you add the variable into the survey flow for the next form in the workflow.
This is not simple and you may need help. Contact the Product Manager for Qualtrics if you need h

J

Hello mklubeck , thanks so much for the amazing detail you've provided.

I would also need to retain each record as an audit trail. In the Data and Analysis view, would I (as a system owner) be able to see the answers across the whole survey in a single record? E.g. for record one, I can see the responses for employee, manager and administrator, for record two I can see the responses for another employee, manager and administrator (and so forth).

mklubeck
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Userlevel 6
Badge +8

Two choices:

  1. You can keep updating the contact list. Then the Contact List will have the full record

  2. In the last form (each form has that form and each previous form's data) the data & analysis tab should have all of it (remember to pull in the data in the Survey Flow).

J

Thanks mklubeck , looking forward to attempting this :)

mklubeck
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Userlevel 6
Badge +8

happy to help when you do.

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