Slider question

Slider question examples

A slider shines when the respondent thinks in positions rather than exact numbers. Nobody knows their workload is «63», but they know it is a bit over half.

• How confident are you that you will finish the course? (0 to 100%)
• How loaded were you this week? (0 = idle, 100 = overloaded)
• How much would you pay for this per month? (0 to 50, step 5)

When not to use a slider

If people know the exact value (age, headcount), typing it into a number field is faster than dragging. If the scale has named points like «disagree» and «agree», a Likert scale is clearer. And on a phone a very wide range with a step of 1 is fiddly: one pixel jumps several units. Pick a step that matches the precision you actually need.

Label the ends in the question or the description. «0 to 100» alone leaves people wondering whether 100 is good or bad; «0 = not at all, 100 = completely» removes the doubt. A unit such as % or $ next to the value does the same job for amounts.

Range, step, default value and the untouched slider

The block has a minimum, a maximum, a step, a unit and a default value. Out of the box the range is 0 to 100 with a step of 1. The current value is shown in large type above the track, with the minimum and maximum at the ends.

One detail matters for data quality. The handle starts at the default value, or at the middle if you set none, but nothing is saved until the respondent moves it. A required slider therefore blocks the Next button until it is touched, so a lazy tap on Next never records a fake «50».

Results show the mean, the median, the range from the 10th to the 90th percentile and a histogram. The percentile range is worth a look: a mean of 50 can hide two camps at 10 and 90, and the histogram shows that split at once.