When to use it
- You need a clear order of priority, not just “everything matters.”
- The item set is short enough to hold in mind — roughly 3 to 7.
- You want to force trade-offs a rating scale would let respondents dodge.
- You’re prioritizing features, benefits, or messages against each other.
When to reach for something else
- The list is long — ranking 10+ items is fatiguing and noisy; use MaxDiff.
- Items could genuinely be tied in importance — a rating scale fits better.
- You need each item scored on its own absolute merit, not relative to the others.
Sample question
“Drag these five factors into order, from most important (top) to least important (bottom) when choosing a new laptop.”
Best practices
- Keep the list to 3–7 items so respondents can weigh them all.
- State the direction plainly — “1 = most important” — and show it in the UI.
- Use items at the same level of abstraction so the comparison is fair.
- Randomize the starting order to remove anchoring on the initial layout.
- Offer a mobile-friendly control — dragging must work with touch and keyboard.
Data & reporting
Each response stores the item ids in the respondent’s chosen order. Exports write the sequence as “A > B > C.” Reports compute an average rank per item (lower = ranked higher on average) and sort the list by it, so you see the group’s consensus priority order at a glance.
Accessibility
The list is keyboard-reorderable — items can be moved up or down without a mouse — and each item’s current position is announced to screen readers, so drag-and-drop isn’t the only way to answer.
Compared to SurveyMonkey
Both offer drag ranking; when your list grows past a handful of items, Surveti’s MaxDiff lets you field a cleaner trade-off exercise (though it exports raw picks rather than computing utilities).
Frequently asked questions
How many items can I ask people to rank?
Keep it to about three to seven. Beyond that, respondents can’t hold the full set in mind and the middle ranks turn to noise — that’s where MaxDiff earns its place.
How is ranking data summarized?
Surveti averages each item’s rank position across respondents and sorts by it. A lower average rank means the item landed nearer the top more often.
Is ranking better than a rating scale?
It depends on your goal. Ranking forces trade-offs and prevents everything scoring “very important.” A rating scale is better when items can legitimately tie or you need each one’s standalone score.