Ask Anything | Routing Questions FAQ

Overview

Ask Anything lets you completely customize a survey to get answers to nuanced questions. Rules can range from super simple, to very complex. Below are some scenarios to help you with complex routing.

Understanding the ambiguity


When setting up survey logic in Ask Anything, combining IS NOT conditions with DO NOT ASK rules can sometimes lead to unexpected behavior when you specify more than one answer option.

The logic may behave as if multiple conditions are connected by AND rather than OR, which can affect which questions are shown or skipped.

This isn’t a bug in Ask Anything, but rather a reflection of how logic is implemented across Zappi and many other scripting platforms.


Why it happens

When a DO NOT ASK rule is applied, it negates the entire condition it references.

For example:

If Q1 is not any of A, B → Do not ask Q2

You might expect Q2 to be asked if the respondent selects either A or B.

However, because of how negation works, Q2 will only be visible if the respondent selects both A and B.

This happens because when a condition is negated, an OR statement automatically flips into an AND.

As a result, the system only shows the question when all conditions are true, rather than when any condition is true.

This behavior is consistent with general logic processing and not specific to Ask Anything. You would encounter the same scenario in many other survey scripting tools.

How this works in practice

There are different approaches to get the routing to behave as intended for single-choice vs. multi-choice questions.


Example Scenario | Single Choice Question


Original Question Setup

  • Q1: How interested are you in the idea of an energy drink made only with natural ingredients?
    • A: Very interested
    • B: Somewhat interested
    • C: Neutral
    • D: Somewhat uninterested
    • E: Very uninterested
  • Q2: Which of the following flavors would you be interested to try?
    • Option 1
    • Option 2
    • Option 3
    • etc.

If you set the rule as:

If Q1 is not any of A or B → Do not ask Q2

You might expect Q2 to be displayed if the respondent selects either A OR B.

However, because DO NOT ASK negates the condition, the system interprets it as:

Do not ask if Q1 is not A and Q1 is not B.

As a result, Q2 will not be visible to anyone.

Incorrect routing setup

Solution: Use inclusion instead of exclusion

Change 'is not' to 'is' and include the answers that you want the rule to apply to. The answers not listed will be unaffected and the survey will progress as normal. 

Corrected routing setup

Example Scenario | Multiple Choice Question

To achieve the intended routing of a display rule based on multiple answer options without ambiguity, follow the approach below.


Original Question Setup

  • Q1: Which of the following product features are most important to you? Please select all that apply. 
    • A. Eco-friendly packaging
    • B. Recyclable materials
    • C. Low price
    • D. Premium quality

  • Q2: How convincing would you find the following sustainability message on the pack? (This should be asked only if respondents selected either A or B in Q1.)
  • Option 1 
  • Option 2 
  • Option 3

  • etc.


The Problem

If you set the rule as:

If Q1 is not any of A or B → Do not ask Q2

You might expect Q2 to be displayed if the respondent selects either A OR B.

However, because DO NOT ASK negates the condition, the system interprets it as:

Do not ask if Q1 is not A and Q1 is not B.

As a result, Q2 will only be visible if the respondent selects both A AND B, rather than either one. 


Solution: Combine and add a follow-up question 

To simplify the logic, combine related answer options and use a follow-up question to capture more detail.

Updated Questions

  • Q1: Which of the following product features are most important to you?
    • A. Eco-friendly packaging / Recyclable materials
    • B. Low price

    • C. Premium quality


  • (NEW) Q1b: What type of sustainable option do you prefer? (For respondents who selected A - This is an optional follow-up question needed if the user still wants a read on each option since they are now merged in Q1).
    • Eco-friendly packaging

    • Recyclable materials


  • Q2: How convincing would you find the following sustainability message on the pack? (This should be asked only if respondents selected either A or B in Q1.)
  • Option 1 
  • Option 2 
  • Option 3

  • etc..


Updated Logic

  • If the answer is not “Eco-friendly packaging / Recyclable materials” → Do not ask Q1b
  • If the answer is not “Eco-friendly packaging / Recyclable materials” → Do not ask Q2

This setup ensures Q2 is shown to anyone who selected the merged “Eco-friendly packaging / Recyclable materials” response and avoids the ambiguity caused by combining IS NOT conditions with DO NOT ASK rules for multiple choice questions and where multiple answer options are involved.