Before launching your survey to respondents, thoroughly test your survey logic, skip patterns, and question flow. The MX8 Labs Research Platform provides several tools to help you catch issues early and collaborate with teammates during the review process.
Create and Share a Test Link
Secure test links let you preview a survey without mixing test activity with live respondent data.
- Open the survey's Summary tab and find Survey Links.
- Optionally use First question to start at a specific section. This is useful when you need to test a later branch without answering every preceding question.
- Find the link for the language you want to test.
- Open the link in a new tab, or copy it and send it to a reviewer.
A link represents one test respondent. Generate a fresh link for each independent test pass or reviewer so their answers and comments remain separate. If a link has expired, refresh Survey Links to generate another one.
Download 100 Independent Test Links
For a larger review team or repeated test passes:
- Open the survey's Download files dialog using the download icon at the top right.
- Set Dataset to Test and File Type to Excel.
- Select 100 Test Links in Excel.
- Share a different row's link with each reviewer or use a fresh row for each independent pass.
The workbook contains 100 unique test sessions in the survey's primary language. Reusing a link reuses that session; it does not create another respondent. Use the individual links in Survey Links when you need to choose another survey language or a starting question.
Choose What to Test
The screens shown after opening a test link depend on the respondent sources configured for that survey language. Steps that are not needed are skipped automatically.
- If matching sources cover more than one market, choose the market you want to test.
- If the selected market has more than one matching source, choose the source whose targeting and respondent data you want to use.
- If the selected source supports phone testing, choose Phone or Online. Sources without a phone experience open the online survey directly.
Test Online
Choose Online to open the survey in your browser. The test respondent uses the selected source's market, language, mappings, and other configured respondent data.
Online testing is the quickest way to check wording, display, question logic, and skip paths. It does not send a text message or place a call.
Test by Phone
Choose Phone to test an SMS, voice, or text-to-caller source on a real phone:
- Confirm the phone channel shown on the page.
- Enter your number in E.164 international format, including the
+and country code. - Complete any Test respondent fields shown on the form. These optional values apply only to this test respondent and do not update the source's uploaded contacts.
- Select Start Phone Test.
The test number must not already be present in the selected source's contacts. Use a separate number or remove it from the contact file before testing.
What happens next depends on the source:
- Twilio Text sends the first survey question by SMS and continues the interview by text message.
- Twilio Voice calls the number and runs the interview by voice.
- Twilio Text-to-Caller sends the initial SMS opt-in and starts the voice call after you reply.
After the test starts, continue on the phone. Starting another test for the same destination creates a new test respondent and replaces any active text-test session for that destination.
Using Test Mode
When you test online, a movable toolbox appears beside the survey. Use it to undo responses, add a comment, or open the additional test controls without interrupting the survey preview.
One of the most useful features is the ability to comment on questions directly during review. Each comment automatically creates a checklist item that links back to your survey code, making it easy to track feedback and requested changes. This is especially valuable when reviewing with teammates. Every comment becomes a trackable item that references the exact question being discussed.
Completion, termination and redirects
Internal survey test links, including links from Survey Links, stay in the survey when the respondent completes or terminates. You can inspect the final message and use the available test controls without being redirected to a sample provider.
An external audience test link follows the source's configured completion or termination destination and delay. Use it when checking provider integration. Undo remains available before navigation when a countdown gives you time; an immediate redirect does not leave time to inspect the end screen. A destination with no redirect stays in the survey.
Check both successful completion and each relevant screenout route. See Setting up any sample provider for outcome URLs and delays.
Submit a default answer
In an online test session with Undo enabled, select Auto in the toolbox to submit the current question without entering an answer manually. It uses the question's configured default or its simulated answer when no default is set.
This is useful for moving through questions on the way to a route you want to review. It submits the current question only; it does not complete the whole survey. You can use Undo to return and test a different answer. Continue entering answers manually when testing wording, input controls, or validation.
Managing Test Responses
As you test, you'll accumulate test responses. The platform lets you delete any individual test response, not just the most recent one, so you can clean up and start fresh without affecting your survey setup. This flexibility lets you test multiple scenarios across different skip paths and conditional branches, then tidy up your test data before launch.
Review All Testing History
In Download files, choose Test → Excel → All Testing Report. The workbook groups test attempts by saved survey version. Open an attempt to see its answers in order, with timestamps in the report's time zone. Use it to compare a failed test with a later fix.
The overview groups attempts by the saved survey version. Select a respondent link to open its attempt history:
Clearing test responses preserves this history. It remains available on the original survey; a copied survey does not include it. For permanent deletion of personal data, follow the privacy guidance.
Catching Problems Before Launch
The platform automatically detects common issues that could break your survey. Programming errors like syntax issues or logic problems are highlighted directly in the interface, and you can use the Quick Fix option to resolve many common errors without manually editing code.
The platform also simulates respondent responses to flag unreachable questions; questions that can never be reached due to skip logic or conditional branching. This helps you identify and fix broken paths in your survey flow before any real respondent encounters them.
Finally, comprehensive batch checks cover syntax, simulation, report generation, translation, and weighting. Any failures are displayed with clear error messages and retry options, so you can fix issues and rerun the checks.
Best Practices
Give each reviewer a fresh link: Rather than asking teammates to edit the survey directly, generate a separate test link for each reviewer. Their answers and comments then remain attached to separate test respondents.
Use comments to create review checklists: Add comments to questions that need revision or clarification. Each comment becomes a checklist item linked to your survey code, making it simple to track and complete requested changes.
Test multiple paths: Use the "start at question" feature to jump to different sections of your survey and verify all conditional branches work correctly.
Test every respondent experience: When a survey has multiple markets, languages, or source types, run a separate test for each one. Check both Phone and Online modes when both are available.
Review before uploading contacts or going live: Configure the respondent sources you need for testing, but complete the review and fix errors before uploading production contact lists or starting fieldwork.