Matrix Questions: When Side-by-Side Comparisons Make Sense

If you've ever used a Likert scale in a survey, you're already familiar with the basic concept behind matrix questions - they're essentially multiple Likert-style questions arranged in a grid format, allowing respondents to rate several items using the same set of response options.

We'll be honest: matrix questions aren't something we'd recommend reaching for by default. They can feel overwhelming on mobile devices, tend to encourage "straight-lining" where respondents simply click down a single column without really considering each row, and generally create a more tedious survey experience that can hurt your completion rates.

That said, there are situations where a matrix genuinely makes sense. When you're running employee experience surveys that need to assess satisfaction across multiple team processes using identical criteria, or when your customer experience research requires direct comparisons between several product features, having everything laid out in a grid can actually reduce cognitive load and make the comparison more meaningful. The key is keeping your matrix small, ideally no more than five or six rows, and ensuring that the items being compared are genuinely related enough that evaluating them together feels natural rather than arbitrary.

If you do use matrix questions, don't forget to include an open comment field at the end. While the grid gives you structured data across multiple dimensions, it's the follow-up question asking "Is there anything else you'd like to share about these areas?" that often reveals the insights your quantitative data can't capture.

With AI-powered analysis tools like Asklet, you can even have those open-ended responses automatically summarised and connected back to the patterns in your matrix responses, helping you understand not just which areas scored low but why respondents felt that way.

Whether you're creating a free survey for a small team or building out comprehensive feedback programs, the principle remains the same: use matrix questions sparingly, keep them focused, and always leave room for the human context that numbers alone can't provide.