Built on matrix. Simple Icon Grid replaces a standard rating grid's radio buttons or text cells with a tappable row of icons (faces, stars, thumbs, or any icon set you supply), so respondents rate each concept against each criterion with a single tap.
What respondents see#
A concept or statement at the top, with a horizontal row of tappable icons below it representing scale points. Tapping an icon registers that rating for the current criterion; the builder can chunk criteria into screens instead of showing everything at once, and can auto-advance to the next screen once a tap registers.
When to use it#
- Emotion or agreement scales where icons communicate faster than text labels.
- Studies with lower-literacy or multilingual audiences, where an icon scale reduces translation burden.
- Any matrix you'd rather present as a tap-friendly icon row than a dense grid.
Configuring it in the builder#
Drag Simple Icon Grid from the Custom Interfaces group in the question palette. It's built on a matrix question, so rows (concepts) and columns (criteria) are authored the same way as a standard matrix; the number of scale points is set in Settings. Below each column in the matrix editor you'll also find an icon-authoring block:
- Icon mode
single— upload one icon for that column; it's used as the tap glyph everywhere that column appears. - Icon mode
multi— upload and order a set of icons for that column, one per rank/scale point (e.g. an empty star through a full star) — reorder with Up/Down or remove any icon.
Open Settings for the plugin-specific layout controls, and the Messages tab for button labels:
Settings reference#
| Setting | What it controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
layoutMode | simple (flat row of icons) or anchor (anchored/labeled layout) | simple |
iconMode | single (one icon per column) or multi (an ordered set of scale-point icons per column) | single |
tapCount | Number of scale points / icon levels (only shown when Icon mode is single) | 7 |
displayChoicePerScreen | How many criteria (rows) show per screen before paging | 3 |
isAutoAdvance | Auto-advance to the next screen once every criterion in the current chunk is rated | true |
textfontSize / desktopAdjustment | Base font size (mobile) and the px bump added on desktop | 15 / 4 |
| Confirm button (popup) (Messages tab) | Label on the instructions confirm popup | "Let's Go" |
| Instructions button (Messages tab) | Label on the "review instructions" button | "Instructions" |
| Previous arrow (screen readers) / Next arrow (screen readers) (Messages tab) | What a screen reader announces for the back and forward arrows | "prev" / "next" |
| Per-column icon(s) | The tap icon (or ordered icon set) for that column, authored inline in the matrix editor | — |
The Messages tab texts are written in the survey's base language. In a multi-language survey, translate them in Translations → Messages & Alerts, where each is listed under the question as an Interface: row. In the anchor layout, each criterion's left and right anchor labels are listed on the Content tab of Translations, as Left Anchor and Right Anchor rows.
Responses, exports and editing after sync#
An Icon Grid added to a survey now reads in exports, Response Details and HM Admin as one ordinary single-select question per criterion (column), with points labelled 1, 2, 3 … up to the number of scale points (or icons, in multi icon mode). What respondents see and what is saved are unchanged.
You can keep editing the question after responses arrive, as with any other question. If HM Admin already holds it as one question per criterion, changing its interface or deleting a criterion removes those questions from HM Admin at the next sync, just as deleting a question does.
Display logic, skip logic and quotas on this question work in the survey as described below. In HM Admin, they are applied to each of the per-criterion questions so the same people are counted. If a quota cannot be shown that way in HM Admin, it is left out of HM Admin, but the survey still enforces it.
Logic support#
A condition can look at one concept and one criterion: pick the concept, the criterion, then a comparison (Is Equal to, Is Not Equal to, Is Greater Than, Is Less Than and their "or Equal to" forms) and choose the level from the list 1, 2, 3 … up to the number of scale points. The level is compared as a number, so Is Greater Than 4 matches levels 5 and up. Is Not Equal to also matches a respondent who did not rate that concept and criterion. See Display logic — Multigrid Sequential Carousel and Simple Icon Grid and Logic, Flow & Conditions.
Related guides#
- Question Types — overview and when-to-use table
- Custom Interfaces — all 22 custom interface formats
- Logic, Flow & Conditions — operators and condition builder
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