Page Breaks and Progress in Surveys

Page breaks and progress cues help respondents understand how much work remains. In research surveys, pacing is especially important for consent pages, screeners, treatment materials, long scale batteries, and mobile respondents.

Domandata progress is calculated across pages, so a page with five questions advances once when the respondent leaves that page. Use the Page Break switch in each question card to control where pages end, then review the Show progress bar setting in Deploy.

1. Step 1: Open Block Builder. Select the survey, open the editor, and stay on Block Builder.

   Step 1: Open Block Builder

2. Step 2: Select the question card. The Page Break switch sits in the question card header beside the question type and Required switch.

   Step 2: Select Question Card

3. Step 3: Turn on Page Break after the last question for that page. The break applies after that question, so the next question or block starts on the next respondent page.

   Step 3: Turn On Page Break

4. Step 4: Open Deploy. In the survey tab bar, select Deploy, then open the structure controls.

   Step 4: Open Deploy

5. Step 5: Enable Show progress bar when useful. Choose whether the progress bar appears at the top or bottom, and decide whether it should stay visible while respondents scroll.

   Step 5: Enable Progress Bar

6. Step 6: Preview the page count. Open Preview and move through the survey as a respondent to confirm each page break and progress update feels natural.

   Step 6: Preview Page Count

1. Step 1: Start from the block structure. Use blocks to separate consent, screening, treatment, outcomes, demographics, and end screens.

   Step 1: Block Structure

2. Step 2: Keep dense tasks isolated. Put large Grid Matrix, Conjoint, Ranking, or Heatmap tasks on focused pages so respondents do not miss instructions below the fold.

   Step 2: Isolate Dense Tasks

3. Step 3: Keep instructions attached to the task. Use Content Blocks before the page break when respondents need to read instructions or stimuli before answering.

   Step 3: Content Block Instructions

4. Step 4: Check Flow transitions. Open Flow and confirm branches move respondents to complete pages, not confusing partial sections.

   Step 4: Check Flow Transitions

5. Step 5: Preview on mobile. Use Mobile-Friendly Research Surveys to check scrolling, validation messages, and task length on phones.

   Step 5: Preview on Mobile

6. Step 6: Pilot timing. During pilot testing, ask participants where the survey feels too long or unclear.

   Step 6: Pilot Timing

• Consent page: place consent language and the consent question on their own page so respondents do not accidentally skip the decision point.
• Screener page: keep eligibility questions close together, then route ineligible respondents to a specific end screen.
• Treatment page: show the stimulus or vignette without unrelated demographic questions competing for attention.
• Outcome page: group the primary outcome measure with its instructions, but avoid placing too many secondary outcomes below it.
• Demographics page: split long demographic sections if the survey is phone-heavy or includes sensitive optional questions.

If participants are paid or receive credit, make completion expectations clear in consent language and end screens. A progress bar is helpful when the study has several pages, but it can be misleading if most of the work is on one very long page. For compensation workflows, see Survey Incentives and Completion Codes.

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