What is a ranking question?
A ranking question asks people to put a list of items in order, from most to least important or preferred. It shows which options win when they compete for the same place, something a separate rating of each item can't show.
Priorities, in order
A ranking question, such as “Rank what matters most when you order”, shows a short list and asks people to arrange it from first to last. Each person has to decide between the items, so the answers reveal trade-offs: price may beat speed, and both may beat packaging.
Ratings often come out high across the board, because people can call everything important. A ranking forces a choice, which makes it useful for roadmap priorities, product features, buying criteria and anything where you can act on only a few items.
The cost is effort. Ordering a list takes more thought than tapping a rating, and long lists are hard to rank well, especially on a phone. Keep the list short, or ask people to pick only their top few.
- Answer
- An order of items, from first to last
- Best for
- Priorities and trade-offs between options
- Read as
- The average place of each item, where lower comes first
- Keep it to
- About five to seven items, or a top three
- Related types
- Rating scale, points allocation
Ranking question examples
Ranking works best with a short list of items that compete for the same thing: your time, your budget, a place on the roadmap. Use items of the same kind and size, so people compare like with like.
- “Rank these features by how much you would use them”
- “Rank what matters most when you choose a hotel”
- “Rank these areas by how much they need improving”
- “Put these reasons for canceling in order of importance”
How to analyze ranking question results
The usual summary is the average rank: add up the places each item received and divide by the number of answers. A lower average means the item tends to come first.
Look at the share of first places as well, since an item can be everyone's second choice and nobody's first.
Average rank = sum of the places an item received ÷ number of answers
First place counts as 1, so the item with the lowest average rank is the top priority.
A ranking question example
Say 100 customers rank four things that matter when they order. Price comes first for 40 of them, second for 30, third for 20 and last for 10.
Price received 200 places in total, so its average rank is 2.0. If Delivery speed averages 2.4, price leads by a small margin, and the share of first places shows how many people put each item on top.
- First place
- 40 customers × 1 = 40
- Second place
- 30 customers × 2 = 60
- Third place
- 20 customers × 3 = 60
- Fourth place
- 10 customers × 4 = 40
- Price average rank
- 200 ÷ 100 = 2.0
Ranking vs rating questions
A rating measures each item on its own, and a ranking measures items against each other. Use a rating when you need to know how good or how important each item is. Use a ranking when you need an order and can act on only a few items.
| Ranking | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Asks | Put these in order | Score each one |
| Shows | Which item comes first | How strongly people feel about each |
| Ties | Not possible | Common |
| Effort | Higher, and grows with the list | Low per item |
| Best for | Priorities, trade-offs | Satisfaction, quality |
How many items should a ranking question have?
Five to seven items are as many as most people can order with care. Beyond that, the top and bottom places are thoughtful and the middle is close to random. For longer lists, ask people to pick and order only their top three.
When you also want to know how much more one item matters than another, give people a budget of points to split across the items. Points allocation shows the strength of each preference as well as the order.
Ranking questions in Usertick
Add a Ranking question in the survey editor with up to 100 items. People reorder the items by dragging or with Move up and Move down buttons, and Randomize items shuffles the starting order so the first position doesn't sway the result. Rank only the top lets people tap the few items that matter, in order, instead of ordering the whole list.
Results shows the average place of each item as bars, with an over time view and a table. When the strength of each preference matters, a Points allocation question splits a budget of points, 100 by default, across the items, and Results shows the average points per bucket.
The Roadmap priorities and Market research templates start with a ranking ready to edit. Logic rules can branch on a top N ranking, for example when it contains a given item.
Mistakes to avoid with ranking questions
Small choices that keep the results useful.
- 01
Lists that are too long
Ten items to order is tiring, and the middle places become guesses. Keep five to seven items, or rank only the top three.
- 02
Mixing items of different kinds
“Price” and “The color of the box” don't compete on equal terms. Rank items of the same kind and size.
- 03
Reading rank as strength
Second place can be close to first or far behind it. Use points allocation when the size of the gap matters.
- 04
Always showing the same order
Items at the top of the starting list end up ranked higher more often. Shuffle the starting order for each person.
Frequently asked questions
Not in a standard ranking question, since every place goes to exactly one item. If ties are natural for your items, a rating scale fits better.
Yes. The order is known, but the distance between places isn't, so second place may sit close to first or far behind it.
Long lists are, because dragging items on a small screen takes care. Keep the list short, offer buttons to move items up and down, or ask for a top three.
A ranking gives the order of the items. Points allocation asks people to split a budget, such as 100 points, so it also shows how much more one item matters than another.
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