Preview and results
How rules work together
Section titled “How rules work together”When a participant takes a study, FromUsers roughly applies rules in this order:
- Variables resolved — randomisation, URL, cookies, sample, formulas
- Section display logic — hide whole sections that do not apply
- Section randomisation — shuffle or pick pages/subsections within visible sections
- Page display logic — hide or skip pages (including managed study-group rules)
- Page qualification / screener — pass or fail before main content
- Page block randomisation — shuffle or pick blocks on the current page
- Question display logic — show or hide individual questions
- Compare assets — resolve prototype for the visible page
- Question branching — after answers on a page, jump to another page or ending
- Section branching — after the last page in a section, jump to another section or ending
Most studies use one or two layers. Use this order when debugging preview behaviour.
Live participants vs preview
Section titled “Live participants vs preview”| Live study | Builder preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Group assignment | Server permuted-block balancing via assignment index | Client-side simulation |
| Persistence | Stable across reloads (same session) | Per-tab; Restart preview re-draws random assignments |
| Results | Groups stored on responses | Preview responses may be stored separately |
Testing tips:
- Turn on Follow logic in the preview panel to simulate participant paths (randomisation, branching, conditional display)
- Use study group selectors to jump between compare / randomisation arms
- Click Restart preview to simulate a new participant assignment
- Read the logic hint badges next to the group selectors (see below)
- Test every arm before publishing
Preview logic hints (builder)
Section titled “Preview logic hints (builder)”In the preview toolbar (beside compare-group selectors), sky badges explain why the current page or ending looks the way it does. Hover the info icon on a badge for detail.
| Hint | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Page randomly shown | Section random sample (pick 1 / pick N) included this page in the current session |
| Page order randomised | Pages in this section are shuffled for this session |
| Randomly selected items | Page block randomiser picked a subset of content blocks |
| Items in random order | Content blocks on this page are shuffled |
| Branched here | Participant path jumped to this page via question Path Logic |
| Conditional items on page | One or more blocks use question display logic (some may be hidden) |
| Whole page is conditional | Page-level display logic controls whether this page appears |
| Screener: qualified / not qualified | Routed after screener qualification rules |
| Ending via branching | An ending screen reached by question or section branching |
| Section branching | Landed here from another section, or section branching runs after this page |
Hints appear in the preview toolbar only when Follow logic is on. Hover the info icon on a badge for detail.
Section branching
Section titled “Section branching”Section branching runs when a participant completes the last visible page in a section (including pages inside child subsections).
Configure it in Path Logic → Branching on a section (not on individual pages):
- If — conditions on variables / earlier answers
- Then go to — another top-level section or an ending
- Otherwise — continue linearly, jump to a section, or end the study
Section branching is evaluated after question branching on the same page transition. If no section rule matches, navigation continues to the next page in the study order.
Results and analysis
Section titled “Results and analysis”| Setup | What appears in results |
|---|---|
| No randomisation | Standard response data |
| Shuffle / subset (no groups) | Responses without a named experiment arm |
| Randomisation groups | Group variable values on each response — filter and compare by group |
| Compare assets | Prototype shown per participant |
| Display logic only | No extra randomisation field unless driven by a variable you defined |
For export and dashboards, use randomisation groups or an explicit randomisation variable whenever you need to segment by condition.
Best practices
Section titled “Best practices”- Do not mix direct pages and subsections in one randomised section — restructure first
- Thank you page — keep outside randomised pools
- Name variables clearly (
task_variantnotv1) when using groups across compare assets and sections - Test every arm before publishing — especially when combining section randomisation, compare assets, and display logic
- Screener first — place qualification pages before randomised main content so disqualified participants do not consume assignment slots
- Section branching — keep destination sections free of mixed page/subsection pools; test both rule matches and the Otherwise path
- Preview is not identical to live balancing — use live pilot responses to verify group splits at small sample sizes