Forsta Surveys - formerly and still widely known as Decipher - is a dedicated survey system in SurveyTester. A project set to Decipher (or to Automatic) recognises a Decipher survey the moment the browser extension opens it: every page with its questions, answer options, grid rows and columns and text fields, Decipher's dynamic questions, the error messages and the end page. From there everything else in SurveyTester works as usual - Auto Answer, Auto Complete, SurveyBots, test cases, issues and the Pages & Routing overview.
What a Decipher survey looks like to a tester
A Decipher survey link usually looks like https://<company>.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/<path>/<project>.
The respondent answers the questions on a page, clicks Continue (on the last page Finish) and the server
sends the next page; a Back button may be shown as well. Before it moves on, Decipher checks the answers and
shows an error message above each question that is not answered correctly.
Many Decipher questions are not plain radio buttons and checkboxes but dynamic questions: button ratings, sliders, star ratings, card sorts, shelves and timed tests, drawn by scripts on top of the actual answer fields.
Why this is hard to test without SurveyTester
- Dynamic questions hide the real fields. A star rating, an accordion or a swipe card stack sits on top of hidden answer fields. Filling the hidden fields does not work - the visible widget has to be operated. SurveyTester knows the widgets and clicks, drags or types where a respondent would.
- Grids in both directions. Decipher can ask a grid by rows or by columns. SurveyTester records each the way it is asked, including "Other" text boxes in the row labels.
- Rules in the question. Exclusive answers, number ranges, decimal numbers, totals and "Prefer not to answer" boxes are part of the question. SurveyTester reads them and answers within them.
- Long, repetitive tasks. MaxDiff and conjoint tasks, card sorts and diaries take many clicks per page. SurveyTester answers them in one go, so the routing behind them can be tested quickly.
Supported question types
| Decipher question type | How SurveyTester records it |
|---|---|
| Single choice (radio buttons, also as buttons) | One option is chosen. |
| Multiple choice, with exclusive options | Several options are ticked; an exclusive option is ticked alone. |
| Options with a text or number box ("Other, please specify") | The option and its box are recorded together. |
| Dropdown (select) | One entry is chosen. |
| Grid, one or several answers per row, also with dropdowns | Every row is answered. |
| Grid asked by columns (flipped grid), with "Other" rows | Every column is answered; the "Other" text is entered once for its row. |
| Button rating | Every row gets one button. |
| Star rating, also as a grid | Every row gets a number of stars. |
| Accordion grid | The rows are answered one after the other in the accordion. |
| Slider (points and number sliders), also as a grid | Every slider is set to a value on its scale. |
| Slider carousel (one item at a time) | Every item is rated on its slider, then the carousel moves on. |
| NPS (0 to 10 buttons) | One value from 0 to 10 is chosen. |
| Number, also with "Prefer not to answer" | A whole number within the allowed range is entered. |
| Decimal number | A number with decimals is entered. |
| Open text, also with an AI follow-up prompt | A fitting text is entered. |
| Several text boxes in one question (for example unaided brand lists) | The boxes are filled; a "Don't know" box is recorded with them. |
| Autosuggest (type and pick from a list) | Every row is typed into the visible search box. |
| Autosum (constant sum) | Every item gets a number; the numbers add up to the required total. |
| Ranking | Every item gets a different rank. |
| MaxDiff (best and worst) | One best and one worst item are chosen in each task. |
| Conjoint / discrete choice | One concept is chosen per task. |
| Card sort (drag cards into buckets) | Every card is dragged into a bucket. |
| Swipe cards (like / dislike) | Every card is answered with the like or dislike button. |
| Implicit association test (timed like / dislike) | The test is started and every card is answered in time. |
| Image map (mark areas on a picture) | Areas are drawn on the picture. |
| Shopping cart / shelf | Products are added to the cart. |
| Text highlighter | Parts of the text are marked with the available markers. |
| Diary (days and hours grid) | Activities are entered in the time slots. |
| Video evaluator (slider while a video plays) | The video is played and the slider is moved while it runs. |
| Image upload, video recording | Answered with the question's own "no answer" option when it has one; a real file is not uploaded. |
| reCAPTCHA | Recorded and marked for the tester to solve by hand; SurveyTester does not solve it. |
| Text-only pages | Recorded as information pages with nothing to answer. |
Errors and end page
- Error messages. When Decipher refuses to continue, its error text is stored as the error of the question it belongs to - and of the grid rows it marks.
- End page. Decipher's closing message is recorded as the last step of the run. Complete, screenout and quota outcomes are configured as for any other survey system, with survey end page identifiers on the project. See Survey end pages.
Step by step
- Create the project. Choose Decipher as the survey system, or leave it at Automatic - the survey is recognised either way. Paste the survey link (the live link or the test link of the project).
- Start a test run from the project with the SurveyTester browser extension, or let SurveyBots run the survey. The SurveyTester bar appears above it, and the first page is recorded as step 1.
- Answer the survey by hand, or press Auto Answer and Auto Next to let SurveyTester fill the page and move on. Each page creates the next step.
- Check the result on the Pages & Routing page: every page appears with its questions, every question with its answer options, rows and columns.
Good to know
- Question names. SurveyTester uses the question labels from the Decipher survey (for example
Q1orS3), so the names in SurveyTester match your questionnaire and the data. - MaxDiff checks. MaxDiff tasks recorded in Decipher surveys can be checked for balance. See Testing MaxDiff questions.
- Uploads and captchas. Questions that need a real photo, a real video or a solved reCAPTCHA cannot be completed automatically. In test links, offer a "no answer" option or switch the captcha off.
- All in production use. Every question type and widget in the table above is answered automatically and is used in live projects. Only questions you script yourself outside Decipher's standard elements may need a hand: SurveyTester records their fields, and if one is not answered as expected, please send us the page.