Routing lets you direct respondents to different questions or sections of a survey depending on how they answer specific questions. This allows you to create distinct paths through a survey and avoid showing respondents questions that are not relevant to them.
Routing is typically used when respondents should follow clearly different sequences of questions. If you only need to show or hide individual questions without changing the overall survey flow, use display logic instead. See Using display logic to show or hide questions for more detail.
How routing works
You can apply routing based on answers to single-choice or multiple-choice questions. Each answer can be routed to a different destination question or text card.
Routing can be set up in either list view or map view.
Setting up routing in list view
In list view, routing is configured from the question card itself. Select Change Routes in the bottom right of the question card to open the routing panel. For each answer, use the Answer route dropdown to select the question or text card respondents should be sent to.
Note: in list view, the destination card must already exist before you can select it.
Setting up routing in map view
In map view, routing is created visually. Click the routing icon next to the answer you want to route, then select an existing destination card or click an empty space to create a new one. Routes are shown as lines between cards, making it easier to understand how respondents will move through the survey.
To remove a route, hover over the routing icon until it turns red, then click the bin icon.
Bringing routes back together
If you want respondents from different paths to rejoin the same flow, you can route multiple cards to a single destination.
Click the routing icon at the top right of a card and select a destination card. All respondents who reach that card will be sent to the same next step, regardless of the route they took earlier.
Checking your routes using preview
Before launching your survey, it’s important to check that respondents move through the survey as expected.
Use Preview to step through the survey and test different answer combinations. This allows you to confirm that:
respondents are sent down the correct routes
no questions are skipped unintentionally
different paths rejoin where expected
Preview helps catch structural issues early, before the survey goes live.
Things to be aware of
Using routing or display logic can affect how many responses you receive overall, as not all respondents will see the same questions.
At the moment, Compass cannot assist with creating or reviewing routing or display logic. If you would like support, our customer team can help review your survey structure and answer questions via in-platform chat.