Survey Surveys in Yazi
Overview
Yazi surveys are delivered entirely within WhatsApp — no links, no app downloads, no browser redirects. Participants answer questions directly in their existing WhatsApp chat, making it feel like a natural conversation rather than a formal research exercise.
Each survey response is captured individually as the participant answers, meaning even partial completions yield usable data.
How It Works
Participant Experience
Participant receives a WhatsApp message inviting them to take part
They tap a button to begin
An introductory message is displayed before the first question
Questions appear one at a time within the chat
Participants respond using buttons, lists, text, voice notes, images, or video
On completion, they receive a customisable closing message
The entire experience stays inside WhatsApp. Participants can pause mid-survey and return later without losing progress.
Here’s the updated Two Rendering Modes section to replace the existing one in the Survey page:
Two Rendering Modes
Yazi supports two ways of displaying questions within WhatsApp: In-Chat and Flows. Choosing the right render mode significantly affects the participant experience, the types of media you can collect, and how participants interact with your study.
In-Chat
Questions and answer options appear as native WhatsApp messages directly in the conversation thread — one message per question, with buttons or lists for answer options. This is the most familiar experience for participants and feels like a natural WhatsApp conversation.
Key characteristics:
Multi-select options display as lettered list options (e.g., A, B, C, D) — functional but not the most elegant experience
Participants can leave and return at any time — progress is always saved and the conversation picks up exactly where they left off
Supports voice note and video responses from participants
Supports image responses from participants
Participants can send media with a caption — e.g., a photo accompanied by a text description in the same message
You can send images to participants within the question (e.g., show a product image or stimulus material)
Slightly slower to complete — one question per message creates a more conversational pace
Better for qualitative and diary studies where rich media capture and the ability to return later are essential
Flows
Questions render as a dynamic modal overlay on top of the WhatsApp chat — almost like a browser window that opens within WhatsApp. Participants move through questions more quickly in a single interactive screen.
Key characteristics:
Multi-select options display as proper tickboxes — a cleaner, more intuitive experience than lettered lists
Faster to complete — participants can progress through questions more rapidly, making this well-suited for longer quantitative surveys
Participants cannot easily return to complete a partially finished flow — if they exit mid-way, resuming may be less seamless than In-Chat
Does not support voice note or video responses from participants — media capture questions are not available in Flows
You cannot send images to participants within the question
Better for quantitative surveys where speed of completion and clean answer selection matter more than media capture
Requires a newer version of WhatsApp — older devices may not support the Flows interface
Side-by-Side Comparison
In-Chat
Flows
Look and feel
Native WhatsApp messages
Pop-up window within WhatsApp
Completion speed
Conversational pace
Faster — all in one interface
Multi-select display
Lettered list options
Proper tickboxes
Return to complete later
Yes — always
Not easily
Voice note responses
✅ Supported
❌ Not supported
Video responses
✅ Supported
❌ Not supported
Image responses from participant
✅ Supported
❌ Not supported
Media + caption from participant
✅ Supported
❌ Not supported
Send images to participant
✅ Supported
❌ Not supported
Device compatibility
All devices and WhatsApp versions
Requires newer WhatsApp version
Best for
Diaries, AI interviews, qualitative studies, any study requiring media
Quantitative surveys where speed and clean UX matter
You can switch between In-Chat and Flows at any time in the survey builder — no need to rebuild your study.
Recommendation: Default to In-Chat for maximum compatibility and whenever you need to collect media, run a diary study, or need participants to complete across multiple sessions. Use Flows when you’re running a purely quantitative survey and want a faster, cleaner completion experience — and your audience has up-to-date devices.
The Survey Builder
Creating & Editing Questions
The survey builder lets you add, reorder, and delete questions from a single screen. Each question card shows the question text, answer options, and configuration settings at a glance.
Key builder features:
Text formatting — question text supports bold, italics, and quotes for emphasis and clarity
Live preview — press the “i” icon on any question to see exactly how it will render in WhatsApp before publishing
Validation warnings — the builder flags answer options that exceed WhatsApp’s character limits, shown in red, so you can fix them before launch
Drag and reorder — rearrange questions freely without affecting existing response data
Settings wheel — access per-question configuration options including randomisation and “Other” toggles
Intro & Closing Messages
Intro message: Customise the message participants see before the first question. Use this to explain the purpose of the survey, estimated completion time, and any incentive details.
Closing remarks: Customise the message shown after the final question. Use this for a thank-you, next steps, or a redirect link.
Question Types
Supported Types
Type
Description
Format
Single Select
One answer from a set of options
Buttons (≤3 options) or List (4+ options)
Multi-Select
Multiple answers from a set of options
List format with checkboxes
Open Text
Free-text response
Participant types reply
Rating Scale
Numeric scale (e.g., 1–10, NPS)
Buttons or list depending on range
Voice Note
Audio response recorded in WhatsApp
Native WhatsApp voice note
Image Upload
Photo capture or gallery upload
Native WhatsApp image sharing
Video Upload
Video capture or gallery upload
Native WhatsApp video sharing
Location
GPS pin drop
Native WhatsApp location sharing
File/Document
PDF or document upload
Native WhatsApp file sharing
Display Behaviour
3 or fewer options: Render as tappable buttons directly in the chat (In-Chat mode)
4 or more options: Render as a scrollable list accessed via a burger menu button
Long option text: Options exceeding ~24 characters automatically switch from button format to list format
“Other” Option
Toggle on an “Other” option for any single-select or multi-select question. When selected, the participant is prompted to type a free-text response, capturing answers you may not have anticipated.
Option Randomisation
Toggle randomisation on or off per question via the settings wheel. This shuffles the order of answer options for each participant, reducing first-option bias — particularly important on mobile where participants tend to tap the first visible choice.
Known Limitations
No grid/matrix questions — WhatsApp’s API does not support grid layouts. Break grids into individual rating questions instead.
No ranking questions — Participants cannot drag-and-drop to rank items. Use sequential “most important” / “least important” questions as an alternative.
Button text limit — Button-style options are limited to approximately 24 characters. Longer text automatically renders as a scrollable list instead. The builder will flag options that exceed this limit in red.
No native polls — WhatsApp’s poll feature is separate from the Business API and cannot be used.
Routing & Logic
Surveys support conditional routing based on participant responses:
Skip logic — skip irrelevant questions based on a previous answer
Branching — route participants down different question paths (e.g., “Customer” path vs. “Non-customer” path)
Screen-outs — end the survey early for participants who don’t qualify
Looping — return participants to a menu to log multiple entries (e.g., multiple meals, multiple products used)
Routing is configured per question in the builder. When logic has been applied to a question, it is visually indicated so you can see your survey flow at a glance.
Complex routing with multiple conditional pathways and nested branches is supported. Simple linear flows and moderate branching carry no additional setup cost.
Multi-Language Support
Surveys can be authored in one language and automatically translated into multiple languages for participants.
How It Works
Write all questions and options in your primary language (typically English)
Yazi auto-translates using Google Translate into your target languages
You can manually edit any translation for accuracy before publishing
At the start of the survey, each participant selects their preferred language
All questions render in their chosen language
Responses are captured in the original language and translated back into your primary language
In the Results
Each response appears in three columns:
Original response (in the participant’s language)
English translation (or your primary language)
Audio file (if voice note, with transcript in both languages)
This is particularly valuable for multilingual markets where participants may code-switch between languages within a single response.
Survey Design Best Practices
Question Count
Sweet spot: 22–28 questions for a standard survey
Maximum: 32 questions before significant drop-off risk
Minimum for statistical value: 8–10 questions
Every individual question is captured as the participant answers, so even if someone drops off at question 15, you still have 15 usable data points
Question Order
Place the most important questions first — treat every subsequent question as a bonus
Put demographic/classification questions at the end unless they’re needed for routing
Place open-text and voice note questions strategically (these have higher drop-off rates)
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Avoid internal jargon — participants won’t understand your organisation’s product names or acronyms. Use plain language they’d recognise.
Avoid opinion-based multiple choice — if you want nuanced feedback, use open-text or voice note questions rather than forcing sentiment into predefined categories.
Keep option lists short — more than 8–10 options in a single question creates fatigue. Consider splitting into two questions or using a different approach.
Randomise options — enable randomisation on multiple-choice questions to avoid first-option bias.
Brief Upload
If you have a research brief or discussion guide in Word or Google Doc format, upload it to Yazi’s AI generator to automatically create survey questions. The AI produces a draft in approximately 5–6 minutes, which you can then edit and refine in the survey builder.
Sandbox Testing
Before launching with your dedicated WhatsApp number, you can build and test your entire survey in the Yazi sandbox:
All work carries over when you go live — nothing is lost
Test the full participant experience using Yazi’s test number
Sandbox data exports are limited to 10 rows (full export available on live account)
Last updated