Survey designer elements

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Survey Designer Elements

    The Survey Designer in ServiceNow allows users to create and manage surveys efficiently. Accessible from the Survey section, it includes a Controls tab, Questions tab, Categories tab, a header bar, and a design canvas for streamlined survey creation and customization.

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    Key Features

    • Controls Tab: Users can drag and drop various data type controls onto the design canvas to create questions.
    • Question Data Types: The survey designer supports multiple question types, such as:
      • Scored: Converts responses into scores (0-10).
      • Boolean: Yes/No question format.
      • Choice: Predefined options for user selection.
      • Image Scale: Allows image selection as responses.
      • Ranking: Users select order numbers for options.
    • Questions Tab: Displays all survey metrics and allows filtering for easy navigation.
    • Categories Tab: Organizes metrics under corresponding categories, also searchable.
    • Header Bar: Provides access to different views (Design, Configuration, Availability) and functions (Save, Preview, Publish, etc.).
    • Design Canvas: Offers a visual workspace for adding survey elements, with a blank question field and category containers.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing the Survey Designer, ServiceNow customers can create customized surveys that effectively gather data, engage recipients, and analyze responses through varied question types. The intuitive design and functionality enhance the overall survey creation experience, making it easier to manage surveys from inception to distribution.

    The survey designer is accessible from Survey > Survey Designer.

    The survey designer contains the Controls tab, the Questions tab, the Categories tab,a header bar, and the design canvas.

    Controls tab

    To create a question, drag the appropriate data type control from the Controls palette and drop it onto the designer canvas.

    Figure 1. Controls
    Data type controls for questions
    The assessment engine provides a built-in result calculation feature that converts responses to scored question data types to a score from 0 through 10.
    Table 1. Question data types
    Data type Scored Description
    Attachment No Question with a Manage Attachments icon that allows users to attach one or more files.
    Boolean Yes Question with a check box or Yes and No choices for user responses.
    Choice Yes List of predefined options. For more information, see the definition of the Choices field in Create a question in the survey designer.
    Note:
    The Choice values can only be numeric, string values will not be saved.
    Date No Date field.
    Date/Time No Date and time field.
    Number No Number field with predefined minimum and maximum values. The default is 1-10.
    Percentage No Percentage field with a prescribed range.
    Scale Yes Predefined Likert scale. Answer options appear as radio buttons.
    Numeric Scale Yes Selectable number scale. The default is 1-5. Answer options appear as radio buttons.
    String No Single or multi-line text field.
    Template Yes Choice list of templates that provide a predefined scale of options. For details, see Quiz scorecards.
    Reference No Choice list of fields from a specified reference table. This data type does not support reference qualifiers.

    For example, a user could select a user name if you specify sys_user as the reference table.
    Image Scale Yes Question with a choice of images that can be selected.

    A template can be used to apply the same images to multiple questions.
    Multiple Selection Yes Question with multiple check boxes that can be selected.
    Ranking Question with an order number to be selected for each option.

    One order number cannot be selected twice. This question can be mandatory and it can also be dependent on a parent question, but not vice versa.

    Questions tab

    This tab displays all metrics added to the question bank for surveys. Use the Filter field to search for questions. Each metric is displayed with its name and type.

    Categories tab

    This tab displays all metric categories added to the question bank for surveys. All metrics in the question bank are group under the corresponding metric category. Use the Filter field to search for categories or questions.

    Header bar

    The tabs on the header bar display views and a menu of functions. Click a tab to change the view on the canvas:
    • Design: Add and configure the properties of categories and questions. This is the default view.
    • Configuration: Create introductions and end notes for surveys and select a signature.
    • Availability: Select the recipients for each category in the survey.
    Point to the menu icon (Menu icon) to select an option. The list of options depends on the currently open survey.
    • Save: Save the current survey without changing its state.
    • Preview: Display a preview of the survey as it appears to recipients.
    • Publish: Distribute the survey to the selected recipients.
    • Save and Publish: Save the survey to the Draft state and distribute the survey in one step.
    • New Survey: Open a fresh canvas for a new survey.
    • Load Survey: View the list of existing surveys.
    • Copy Survey: Copy the current survey.

    Design canvas

    New surveys open in the canvas of the Design view. The survey Name field appears above first category in the canvas. A blank question field appears in the category container.

    Figure 2. Initial appearance of the Survey Designer canvas
    New survey question field