🆓 Branching Logic is available to all OpinionX users, on every plan.
Branching logic lets you change the path a participant takes through your survey based on how they answer, so each person only sees the questions that are relevant to them. It is sometimes called skip logic, conditional logic, or survey routing.
On OpinionX, it's called Branching Logic, and it's available on every plan, including the free tier. This guide explains what branching does, how it works, and how to set it up, with clear examples for the most common use cases.
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Why use branching logic?
A linear survey shows everyone the same questions in the same order. That works until your audience isn't uniform (most aren't!). Branching logic solves four problems at once:
Relevance → Stop showing people questions that don't apply to them. A respondent who's never used a feature shouldn't be asked to rank it.
Completion Rates → Shorter, more relevant surveys get finished. Branching trims each person's path to only what matters.
Data Quality → You stop collecting low-effort answers from people guessing at irrelevant questions.
Screening → Route people who don't fit your criteria to a finish page instead of letting them complete the whole study (eg. when recruiting respondents).
If you've ever wanted a survey to "ask this only if they said that," branching is how you accomplish that kind of experience.
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How branching logic works on OpinionX
Branching is built from a few simple pieces. Learn these once and you can build anything from a single screen-out rule to multi-step conditional routing.
▸ Branches
A branch is one routing rule you attach to a block. It answers a single question: 'if these conditions are true, where should this person go next?'
You can add several branches to each survey block. They're evaluated from top to bottom, and the first branch whose conditions match decides where the participant goes. This means that once a participant matches a rule, all other rules below it are skipped. So order matters: put your most specific rules at the top.
▸ Conditions
A condition is one test against an answer, made of three parts:
Source → Which answer to check (this can be the current question or any earlier one in the survey).
Operator → How to compare it (for example, includes any of or is empty).
Value → The answer you're testing for.
▸ Connectors
One branch can hold multiple conditions, which are joined together using logic connectors:
AND → Every condition must be true.
OR → At least one condition must be true.
▸ Groups
Imagine needing something more nuanced, like Answer-X OR (Answer-Y AND Answer-Z). That bracket section at the end is a condition group; it uses nested logic to express precise rules without creating a separate branch for every combination.
▸ Destinations
Every branch sends people somewhere:
Go To → The destination when the conditions match.
Else Go To → The destination when they don't match any conditions.
A destination can be another question, a different survey section, a finish page, a screen-out, or a redirect.
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How to set up branching (step by step)
On the Survey Setup dashboard, go to any survey block and click the settings icon (⚙️) in the bottom-right corner.
Click the checkbox labelled "Branching Logic" to display the branching configuration feature.
Choose the question to base the rule on. It can be this block or any earlier one.
Pick an operator and select the value(s) you're testing for.
Add more conditions if you need them, joining with AND/OR or nesting a group of conditions.
Set your destinations, a "Go to" for matches and an "Else go to" for everyone else.
Add more branches as needed, and place them in priority order from top to bottom.
Open 'Branching View' to check the whole flow visually before you share.
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What you can branch on
Not every block branches the same way. Some let you write detailed conditions using operators ("if the answer is greater than 8…"); others simply send everyone who finishes the block to a single destination. Knowing which is which saves a lot of guesswork.
Any block can be a branch destination — you can always send people to a question, a section, a Finish Page, a Screen Out, or a Redirect. The difference below is about which blocks you can branch on.
Blocks with destination branching only
These blocks don't offer condition operators -- ie. you can't currently use people's answers on these questions to program conditional branches. You simply choose one destination for everyone who completes the block. The only conditional options for these blocks are "was skipped" or "was not skipped", which are available only when the question is set to optional.
Blocks with full operator branching
These blocks let you build conditions using operators. The available operators depend on the block type:
Multiple Choice — includes any of · includes all of · includes none of · is empty · is not empty · has an "other" answer · has no "other" answer · was skipped · was not skipped (works with both "Pick One" and "Pick Many")
Text Response — is · is not · contains · does not contain · is empty · is not empty · was skipped · was not skipped
Rating Scale — includes any of · includes all of · includes none of · is empty · is not empty · is greater than · is greater than or equal to · is less than · is less than or equal to · was skipped · was not skipped
Number Response — is · is not · is empty · is not empty · is greater than · is greater than or equal to · is less than · is less than or equal to · was skipped · was not skipped
Email Address — is · is not · contains · does not contain · is empty · is not empty · was skipped · was not skipped
Participant Name — is · is not · contains · does not contain · is empty · is not empty · was skipped · was not skipped
Username / ID — is · is not · contains · does not contain · is empty · is not empty · was skipped · was not skipped
Phone Number — is · is not · contains · does not contain · is empty · is not empty · was skipped · was not skipped
Custom Identifier — is · is not · contains · does not contain · is empty · is not empty · was skipped · was not skipped
Some of these options will only appear if specific conditions are met, such as "Was skipped" and "Was not skipped" operators only appearing if a question is optional, since required questions can't be skipped.
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See your whole flow with Branching View
As surveys grow, logic gets hard to hold in your head. The Branching View feature draws your entire survey as a map: each block is a node, arrows show the paths between them, and labels show the condition behind each route (plus an "Otherwise" path for non-matches).
Click any node to jump straight to that step, and use the zoom controls to navigate large maps. It's the fastest way to catch a path that dead-ends, loops, or skips a block by mistake.
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Recipes: common branching setups
1. Screen out people who don't qualify
Send unqualified respondents to an early finish page so they don't complete (and skew) your study.
If "Have you purchased from us in the last 6 months?" includes any of "No" → Go to a Screen Out page.
Else go to → the first real question.
2. Skip a whole section that doesn't apply
Only show device-specific questions to the people they're relevant to.
If "Which devices do you use our app on?" includes all of "Desktop" → Go to the desktop experience questions.
Else go to → skip ahead to the mobile section.
3. Ask a follow-up only when it's warranted
Dig into low scores without bothering happy respondents.
If "How satisfied are you with your experience?" includes any of "1", "2", "3" → Go to a Text Response asking "What would have made it better?"
Else go to → the next question.
4. Personalize the path with multiple conditions
Show a tailored ranking question only to a specific segment, using AND logic.
If "What best describes you?" includes any of "Power user"
And "How often do you use the product?" includes any of "Daily"
Go to an advanced-feature ranking block.
Else go to → a general-feature ranking block.
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Best practices
Order branches from specific to general. First match wins, so a broad rule placed too high can swallow the cases you meant to catch below it.
Always set an "Else go to." Every participant who doesn't match needs a clear next step so no one hits a dead end.
Prefer one branch with AND/OR over many near-identical branches — it's easier to read and maintain.
Check Branching View before sharing. A 20-second look at the map catches most logic mistakes.
Test as a participant. Use Preview and walk each path to confirm people land where you intend.
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Branching vs. segmentation: which do you need?
These solve different problems and are easy to mix up:
Branching changes what each participant sees while taking the survey. Use it when a question is only relevant to some people, so showing it to everyone would be a poor experience (or pollute your data).
Segmentation shows everyone the same questions, then lets you compare subgroups afterward in your results. Use it when you want every respondent to answer, but want to analyse the groups separately.
A common pattern is to use both: branch people into the right questions during the survey, then segment the results to compare how each group responded.
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Frequently asked questions
What is branching logic in a survey? Branching logic (also called skip logic or conditional logic) routes each participant to different questions or finish pages based on their previous answers, so they only see what's relevant to them.
Is branching logic free in OpinionX? Yes. Branching Logic is available to all OpinionX users on every plan, including the free tier.
Can I branch based on an answer from earlier in the survey? Yes. You can build a condition from any previous question, not just the one a participant most recently answered — so you can collect an answer early and route on it much later.
Does branching work with multi-select (Pick Many) questions? Yes. Branching works with both "Pick One" and "Pick Many" Multiple Choice questions.
Can a branch use more than one condition? Yes. Combine conditions with AND (all must match) or OR (any can match), and nest them into groups for more advanced logic.
What happens if a participant doesn't match any branch? They follow the "Else go to" destination. Always set one so no participant reaches a dead end.
Can I use branching to disqualify or screen out respondents? Yes. Point a branch at a Screen Out or finish page to end the survey early for people who don't meet your criteria.
Can different paths come back together later in the survey? Yes — branched paths can reconverge on a shared block further down, which you can see in Branching View.
How do I see all my branching rules in one place? Open Branching View from the Branching Logic panel for a visual map of every path. Click any node to jump to that step.