Open a project and select + CREATE SURVEY in Surveys. Start by choosing the destination project, then choose how to write the survey, its respondent experience, its details, and its media. You can use the current project, select another existing project, or create a new project during this flow.
Step 1 — Choose the project
Choose the current project, another project you can access, or a new project. A new project becomes the destination for this survey. Check the owning account and destination before continuing: the selected project carries through both new-survey and copy flows.
Creating a survey from a project walkthrough uses the same project-selection step.
Step 2 — Choose how to write the survey
The writing step shows four cards, one per creation route:
- I want AI to help me write my survey — provide a survey brief, including the audience you want to survey and the problems you're trying to solve, and the platform writes the survey for you. Choose this when you have research objectives but no questionnaire yet.
- Use the survey I've already written — paste the text of a Word or Google Doc into the platform and let AI program all survey questions and logic. Choose this when the questionnaire already exists and you want it programmed faithfully rather than rewritten.
- Copy a Survey I've Used Before — make a copy of a survey you've used before, completing any dynamic blocks and uploading the new media. This is the route for trackers and repeat studies.
- I want to program my own survey — if you're proficient in Python and want to program your survey from scratch, this is the place to be. You get the code editor directly, preloaded with a starter survey.
Pasting an existing questionnaire
Copy the questionnaire from Word or another formatted document and paste it into Survey Document. Formatted clipboard content is converted into editable Markdown, retaining supported text, emphasis, links, lists and simple tables. Supplied bold emphasis is also preserved when AI programs question text, options and grid labels.
Wait for Converting pasted content… to finish before saving or pasting another section. If you edit the description during conversion, the platform keeps those edits and asks you to paste again. Review the converted questionnaire before selecting Save, especially instructions, answer lists and table content. Plain-text clipboard content is pasted as plain text.
Use simple rectangular tables. Cells spanning several columns or rows, nested tables, document columns and page-specific layout are not supported survey formatting. Line breaks and multiple paragraphs inside pasted table cells become spaces, so split important instructions into separate paragraphs outside the table. See Formatting your survey text with Markdown for limits and a checklist.
If a large or complex paste fails, paste smaller sections and check each one before continuing. Pasting inserts an editable draft; it does not save the survey automatically.
Before pasting, use Survey logic best practices to make the instructions explicit and Survey formatting best practices for MX8 Labs for guidance and examples covering question types, grids, screening rules, loops, and media instructions.
Step 3 — Choose the respondent experience
Next you choose the respondent experience:
- Traditional Forms Based Survey — best for surveys with lots of grids.
- Chat Based Survey Experience — best for surveys taken on mobile devices or with younger audiences.
Both styles work on desktop and mobile; the difference is how questions are laid out on screen. For guidance on choosing, see Traditional or Chat based survey experience?
Step 4 — Enter survey details
The details depend on the route you picked. The three new-survey routes share a common set of fields: Survey Name, Total Respondents (the number of respondents required to complete the survey), Survey language, Estimated Incidence Rate (the percentage of respondents expected to complete the survey), Markets (where the survey can be fielded), and Supported Languages for the respondent experience.
Below those fields:
- On the AI brief route, Survey Description holds your research brief, with guidance to include business objectives and target audiences. On the existing-questionnaire route, paste into Survey Document, with guidance to include quotas and the number of respondents.
- On the program-it-yourself route, a Python code editor replaces the description, preloaded with a default survey that includes a standard demographic screener you can build on.
Click Save to create the survey.
Copying a survey uses the destination project chosen at the start. Enter a New Survey Name, find the source survey in the searchable Surveys list, and select it. The list shows each survey's name, status, and respondent counts. Select Next after the destination, name, and source are set. The copy is published after its required files and media have transferred successfully.
Upload media and set metadata
After the survey is created or copied, the dialog moves to a media step. Use Upload media to add the images or videos the survey uses (PNG, JPG, and Video only). If you need per-media metadata, use Columns to add a Column Name and Column Type (Text, Number, True / False, or State). This step matters most for copied surveys, where you'll typically replace the previous wave's media — for example, swapping in the new ad creative while keeping the survey itself identical. If you want to add more, you can always upload it later. Click Save to finish.
What happens after creation
AI-assisted questionnaires are reviewed before programming. When the review has findings, the survey opens on Review, with Details and Media available while you work through them. When review is clear or you explicitly proceed with the reviewed description, programming and simulation continue. Wait for media uploads to finish. Once processing and report generation succeed, the survey becomes Ready to field.
Before fielding, open the survey and work through the Go live checklist — the checklist icon in the survey editor tracks outstanding review items and shows how many are done. Take the survey yourself with a test link to confirm the logic and flow; see Testing and Reviewing Your Survey for the full review workflow.
Review the questionnaire before programming
Review findings are linked to the relevant passages in the questionnaire. Select a finding to inspect its passage, or select a marked passage to return to its finding. Apply useful suggestions and dismiss those you do not want; their markers stay linked as you edit.
Saving a changed description starts a fresh review of that version. If you decide to keep the description despite the remaining findings, use Proceed despite review to explicitly proceed with that reviewed version. This decision does not approve later edits. Check every finding and wait for uploads to finish before continuing.
After programming, test the survey to verify routing, response handling, and the respondent experience. Questionnaire review and respondent testing serve different checks.