Nfield is a dedicated survey system in SurveyTester. A project set to Nfield (or to Automatic) recognises an Nfield Online survey the moment the browser extension opens it: every page with its single-choice questions, grids and number fields, and the error messages Nfield shows under a question. From there everything else in SurveyTester works as usual - Auto Answer, Auto Complete, SurveyBots, test cases, issues and the Pages & Routing overview.
What an Nfield survey looks like to a tester
Nfield Online interviews run on Nfield's own servers; the survey link points to an address containing nfieldmr,
and when you paste such a link into a new project, SurveyTester preselects Nfield for you. Every page shows one or more
questions with Next and, depending on the survey, Back and Clear buttons. When an answer is missing or not valid,
Nfield keeps the respondent on the page and shows a message below the question.
Why this is hard to test without SurveyTester
- No question names on screen. Respondents never see the questionnaire's question names. SurveyTester reads them from the page, so every page and question in the result carries the name from the questionnaire.
- Grids are built from cards. Nfield draws a grid as a stack of rows, each with its own answer buttons. SurveyTester records each row with its scale.
- Errors only show up after Next. A message under a question is easy to overlook in a long run. SurveyTester stores it with the question, so every refused answer is visible in the result.
Supported question types
| Nfield question type | How SurveyTester records it |
|---|---|
| Single choice | One option is chosen. |
| Single-choice grid | Every row is answered with one scale point. |
| Number field | A number is entered. |
| Text-only pages | Recorded as information pages with nothing to answer. |
Other question types are recorded as part of their page, but SurveyTester may not answer them automatically yet. Answer them by hand, and SurveyTester continues with the next page.
Errors and end page
- Error messages. The messages Nfield shows below a question are stored as errors of that question.
- Navigation. SurveyTester moves on with the survey's Next button and knows its Back button.
- End page. Complete, screenout and quota pages are recognised by the survey end page identifiers on the project; set them up before you rely on the outcome of automated runs. See Survey end pages.
Step by step
- Create the project. Choose Nfield as the survey system, or leave it at Automatic - the survey is recognised either way. Paste the survey link.
- 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, grid rows and scale points.
Good to know
- Page and question names. A page is named after the first question on it; questions keep their Nfield names.
- Support is basic. Nfield support covers the question types listed above. If your survey uses other question types or a page that SurveyTester does not read correctly, please send it to us - we extend the support from real pages.