Question banks

Saving frequently used questions for future use can speed up your research and ensure consistency across projects. Question banks let you do just that, offering a place where you and your collaborators can save questions and access questions saved by others.

View and edit banked questions

You can access all your banked questions (as well as those saved by others in your Dscout account) from the Question banks settings page. Here, you can add, edit, and clone questions.

To view and edit your banked questions:

1. In the sidebar navigation, click your Dscout account name. A drop-down opens displaying the accounts you belong to.
2. Click the Settings icon beside the account where you want to view the question bank. The Account management page is displayed.
   
   
3. Select the Question banks tab. The list of banked questions across your projects is displayed.
   
   
4. Click the question you want to edit.
5. Make the necessary changes. You can edit things like the question title, prompt, save location, and more.
6. Click Save.

To locate specific questions, use the search bar or the filter options at the top of the page to narrow down your view.

Bank a question

You can add new questions to your question bank from the Question banks settings page itself or while building a screener or mission.

To bank a question from the Question banks settings page:

1. In the sidebar navigation, click your Dscout account name. A drop-down opens displaying the accounts you belong to.
2. Click the Settings icon beside the account where you want to view the question bank. The Account management page is displayed.
   
   
3. Select the Question banks tab. The list of banked questions across your projects is displayed.
4. Click + Add new question.
   
   
5. Select what type of question you want to add. The settings for the selected question type is displayed.
6. Enter a Title.
7. (If applicable) Select a Save to location. You can either save the question to a specific workspace or make it available to everyone in your Dscout account. If your account doesn’t have workspaces, the question will automatically be saved at the account level. For more information on workspaces, see Creating and navigating Dscout workspaces.
   
   
8. Complete the required fields and settings for your question.
9. Click Save.

Now, your question is added to your question bank and will be visible to your collaborators. To edit the question, simply click it in the question list, make your changes, and click Save.

If you’re building a screener or mission and decide you want to save one of your questions to your question bank, you can do that directly from the builder.

To bank a question while building a screener or mission:

1. In the builder, add the question you want to save to your mission.
2. Click the ellipses at the top right of the question.
3. Click Save question. The Save as new question dialog appears.
   
   
4. Enter a Title.
5. (If applicable) Select a Save to location. You can either save the question to a specific workspace or make it available to everyone in your Dscout account. If your account doesn’t have workspaces, the question will automatically be saved at the account level.
   
   
6. Click Save question.

Now, your question is added to your question bank. You can view it from the Question banks settings page or add it to other screeners or missions using the steps below.

Add a banked question to a mission or screener

Once you’ve added a question (or a few!) to your question bank, you can add them to your missions or screeners directly from the builder. However, you’ll only be able to add questions that are supported by your screener or mission type. For example, you’ll only be able to add saved Task questions to usability tests.

To add a banked question to a mission or screener:

1. In the builder, click +Add (or +Add a screener question) in the sidebar or beneath your last question. Or, click the + icon between existing questions.
2. Click Add from question bank. The Question bank dialog appears, displaying all of your saved questions (as well as a few sample questions courtesy of Dscout).
   
   
3. Select a question(s).
4. Click Add question to mission/screener.
   
   

Now, your selected question(s) are added to your mission or screener exactly as you’d previously saved them.

Clone a banked question

If you have several questions that involve a similar prompt or settings, you can create saved versions of each iteration quickly by cloning a question you already have saved. Then, you can make the adjustments needed right in your question bank rather than recreating and saving each question individually.

To clone a banked question:

1. In the sidebar navigation, click your Dscout account name. A drop-down opens displaying the accounts you belong to.
2. Click the Settings icon beside the account where you want to view the question bank. The Account management page is displayed.
   
   
3. Select the Question banks tab. The list of banked questions across your projects is displayed.
   
   
4. Find the question you want to clone.
5. Click the Clone icon.
   
   

Now, a copy of the question is created and you’re able to edit the settings as needed. When you’re done, click Save to save this new version of the question.

Delete a banked question

You can delete unneeded questions from your question bank from the Question banks settings itself or while building a screener or mission.

To delete a banked question from the Question banks settings page:

1. In the sidebar navigation, click your Dscout account name. A drop-down opens displaying the accounts you belong to.
2. Click the Settings icon beside the account where you want to view the question bank. The Account management page is displayed.
   
   
3. Select the Question banks tab. The list of banked questions across your projects is displayed.
   
   
4. Find the question you want to delete.
5. Click the Delete icon. A confirmation modal is displayed.
   
   
6. Select Yes, I want to delete this question and click Delete question to confirm.

To delete a banked question while building a screener or mission:

1. In the builder, click +Add (or +Add a screener question) in the sidebar or beneath your last question.
2. Click Add from question bank. The Question bank dialog appears.
   
   
3. Click the ellipses at the top right of the question.
4. Select Delete. A confirmation modal is displayed.
   
   
5. Select Yes, I want to delete this question and click Delete question to confirm.

Now, the question is no longer saved in the question bank. However, the question will still be present in any screeners or missions where it’s already in use, so be sure to delete the question from those too if necessary.