Internal Questionnaire
I am developing a questionnaire for internal use and looking at various methods of doing so.
The question will have various free text entries, some date pickers and most importantly 12 Yes / No questions.
I have currently looked at 3 applications for this questionnaire and each seems to have a downfall with the 12 questions.
InfoPath
This application seems ideal as I can set the Yes / No options such that they can be only Yes / No and I can count the number of Yes answers for an automated decision based on the questions. The decision can then determine the Submission route/email. I can use Validation rules to check entries before submission.
Downfall - no longer provided after Office 2013 but I hear that something similar may be available through SharePoint. Our organisation does not use SharePoint.
MS Word
Format of questionnaire is easy to manage with tables.
I can insert Check Box option buttons but they are not related to each other, ie I can insert two check boxes in a table alongside the question, one each for Yes or No answers but the user can check both. The count of the check boxes has to be done manually to make the routing decision. The Word document has to be saved and emailed manually.
MS Excel
Similar issue with option buttons as MS Word. If I insert option buttons on a sheet, they all become related and I can only select one button. I can get round this by putting the pairs of buttons on separate sheets ie one question per sheet with navigation buttons to move between question sheets. I would like the user to be able to print the form if they wish so the responses would then have to be collated on an answer sheet for printing. This is all very do-able and then the "Print" sheet could also be emailed as required with the routing determined by the questions.
So questions:
MS Word - can we link check boxes in pairs so that they are dynamic choices? Could maybe use list-box with Yes / No entries??
MS Excel - can option buttons be unlinked so that they only work in pairs. Maybe Data Validation list with only Yes / No
InfoPath - what is the equivalent in SharePoint? There may be an option to go down that route.
Other suggestions???
Thanks
Rob H
The question will have various free text entries, some date pickers and most importantly 12 Yes / No questions.
I have currently looked at 3 applications for this questionnaire and each seems to have a downfall with the 12 questions.
InfoPath
This application seems ideal as I can set the Yes / No options such that they can be only Yes / No and I can count the number of Yes answers for an automated decision based on the questions. The decision can then determine the Submission route/email. I can use Validation rules to check entries before submission.
Downfall - no longer provided after Office 2013 but I hear that something similar may be available through SharePoint. Our organisation does not use SharePoint.
MS Word
Format of questionnaire is easy to manage with tables.
I can insert Check Box option buttons but they are not related to each other, ie I can insert two check boxes in a table alongside the question, one each for Yes or No answers but the user can check both. The count of the check boxes has to be done manually to make the routing decision. The Word document has to be saved and emailed manually.
MS Excel
Similar issue with option buttons as MS Word. If I insert option buttons on a sheet, they all become related and I can only select one button. I can get round this by putting the pairs of buttons on separate sheets ie one question per sheet with navigation buttons to move between question sheets. I would like the user to be able to print the form if they wish so the responses would then have to be collated on an answer sheet for printing. This is all very do-able and then the "Print" sheet could also be emailed as required with the routing determined by the questions.
So questions:
MS Word - can we link check boxes in pairs so that they are dynamic choices? Could maybe use list-box with Yes / No entries??
MS Excel - can option buttons be unlinked so that they only work in pairs. Maybe Data Validation list with only Yes / No
InfoPath - what is the equivalent in SharePoint? There may be an option to go down that route.
Other suggestions???
Thanks
Rob H
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
If it helps, this is the 'about' page for Google Forms:
https://www.google.com/forms/about/https://www.google.com/for
This article lists some other options (and includes Google Forms, and SurveyMonkey):
http://www.wordstream.com/
Might be a bit out of date, but http://www.typeform.com/ looks like a good option too.
Hope that helps,
Alan.
https://www.google.com/forms/about/https://www.google.com/for
This article lists some other options (and includes Google Forms, and SurveyMonkey):
http://www.wordstream.com/
Might be a bit out of date, but http://www.typeform.com/ looks like a good option too.
Hope that helps,
Alan.
ASKER
I have been "playing" with Google Forms and that looks quite a cool option. Formatting is not great as it makes a tall thin form even on a wide screen monitor.
Breakdown of sections is good, especially as one section is only required based on the response of a particular question.
I will float this past my boss to see what she thinks.
Thanks
Rob H
Breakdown of sections is good, especially as one section is only required based on the response of a particular question.
I will float this past my boss to see what she thinks.
Thanks
Rob H
Hi Rob,
Yes - I agree, it is not as 'pretty' as some other options, but it is free, and it has the advantage that the results are in a spreadsheet right from the start, so very easy to work with.
Good luck with your boss!
Alan.
Yes - I agree, it is not as 'pretty' as some other options, but it is free, and it has the advantage that the results are in a spreadsheet right from the start, so very easy to work with.
Good luck with your boss!
Alan.
ASKER
Just demo'd the Google Forms with the boss and she was very impressed.
Looks like that is the way to go; do you know if there is a way of getting notification when a form has been submitted?
Looks like that is the way to go; do you know if there is a way of getting notification when a form has been submitted?
Hi Rob,
I believe you can add scripting to do that (equivalent to VBA in Excel) - might need to post a new question and tag it for Google Spreadsheets / Scripting to get help with that as I haven't tried it myself.
Hope that helps,
Alan.
I believe you can add scripting to do that (equivalent to VBA in Excel) - might need to post a new question and tag it for Google Spreadsheets / Scripting to get help with that as I haven't tried it myself.
Hope that helps,
Alan.
ASKER
Google forms was the answer, just need to find a way of copying it out of my personal gmail account and putting it in a corporate account.
Hi Rob,
Glad to have helped.
Not sure about how you achieve that export / import - it is a downside of Google Docs compared to, say, an Excel file or anything that you can copy onto a drive as a file.
Good luck!
Alan.
Glad to have helped.
Not sure about how you achieve that export / import - it is a downside of Google Docs compared to, say, an Excel file or anything that you can copy onto a drive as a file.
Good luck!
Alan.
ASKER
Unfortunately, our IT department won't allow a link to an external third party on our intranet so can't use Google forms.
However, IT have informed me that all employees within our organisation have an Office 365 account and I have found an equivalent to Google forms through Office 365:
http://forms.microsoft.com
This is not quite as elegant as the Google equivalent but it is useable and it is now on my work O365 subscription rather than my personal gmail account. It also saves the results of the questionnaire to a One Drive location. I am hoping that I can then share the One Drive file across the team.
However, IT have informed me that all employees within our organisation have an Office 365 account and I have found an equivalent to Google forms through Office 365:
http://forms.microsoft.com
This is not quite as elegant as the Google equivalent but it is useable and it is now on my work O365 subscription rather than my personal gmail account. It also saves the results of the questionnaire to a One Drive location. I am hoping that I can then share the One Drive file across the team.
Hi Rob,
I guess you have to go with what company policy allows.
Hope it works okay without too much additional manipulation.
Alan.
I guess you have to go with what company policy allows.
Hope it works okay without too much additional manipulation.
Alan.
ASKER
I had a quick look at Survey Monkey; basic subscription is free but limited to 10 questions.
I have asked around the organisation if we have a paid subscription so that may be an option.
I will take a look at Google forms.
Thanks
Rob H