> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.dscout.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.dscout.com/study-basics/question-types/activity-questions/task-questions.md). # Task questions

Study type	Availability
Usability tests	true
Intercept studies	true
AI moderated studies	true

Task questions ask participants to complete an action using a live website, prototype, or app. Maybe you want to see how easily users can find a specific page or how intuitive your newly designed search functionality is. With task questions, you can find out directly from your participants. ![](https://content.gitbook.com/content/IKfn7RcT4CW9XaIbqAdd/blobs/5ZJV1RO9auDqDc2GrtWj/37450804811284) When building a task question, you can add as much (or as little!) guidance as you want depending on what you’re trying to learn. You can also add task stimuli, such as a website, a Figma prototype, or an HTML file, that opens automatically for participants where you want them to complete the task. Task question usage varies depending on your study’s device type: | Desktop studies | Mobile studies | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |

(Usability tests and intercept studies) Up to 15 task questions with no duration limit.
(AI moderated studies) Up to 5 task questions with no duration limit.
Capture face, screen, and audio during task questions.

Up to 15 task questions with a total recording time of 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, recording ends—even if the participant hasn’t finished the study.
Capture face, screen, and audio with the in-app view, or screen and audio with the external view.

| For a side-by-side comparison of what's available on each device and recording option, see [Usability testing features by device](/usability-tests/what-are-usability-tests-in-dscout/usability-testing-features-by-device.md). {% hint style="info" %} Keep the duration of your test in mind when adding task questions. Participants can feel fatigued in just 15 minutes during unmoderated testing. {% endhint %} ### Task question settings The settings available on a task question depend on your study type. Select your study type below. {% tabs %} {% tab title="Usability tests and intercept studies" %} The three follow-up settings (**Self-reported completion**, **Single Ease Question (SEQ)**, and **SEQ Difficulty**) appear under **Power follow-ups** in the question settings.

Setting	Description
Task	The prompt or instructions participants see as part of this task. Here, enter guidance they should follow or any context they should know before beginning the task. For example, if they should complete the task using your company’s app, you should tell them that here. You can format your text in the following ways: `bold` = bold `_italic_` = italic `<https://examplelink.com>` = https://examplelink.com `[Sample link](https://examplelink.com)` = Sample link However, only include links here that are supplementary. To link participants to a specific page or prototype related to the task, add it under Task stimuli. Tip: For inspiration writing task questions, see Become a Task Writing Pro from Dscout’s People Nerds.
Task stimuli (optional)	A Figma prototype, website, or HTML file participants should use to complete this task. Stimuli open automatically when participants reach this task. (To stop displaying the stimuli after the task question, see Close task stimuli.) Note: If you're using a Figma Make prototype, first publish your prototype in Figma Make. Then, add the provided URL as a Website to your task question. Heat maps are not generated for Figma Make prototypes. For more details on configuring a Figma prototype in Dscout, see Add a Figma prototype to a study. To upload an HTML file, see Upload an HTML prototype to a study. Mask task URL is applied automatically to uploaded HTML files. Tip: Try managing your task stimuli at the study level rather than on a question-by-question basis. For more information, see Manage task stimuli.
Set success URL (optional, website only)	The URL participants should land on when successfully completing the task. Dscout will report success for this task during analysis based on whether participants visit the URL entered here. Tip: Use an asterisk () to create a wildcard URL if the place where participants land upon completion can vary. For example, `https://www.sneakers.com/running/` will consider any URL beginning with https://www.sneakers.com/running/ a success regardless of what else is in the URL. Note: In mobile studies, success URLs aren't available when the recording option is External view. To use one, choose In-app view**. For more information, see Device and recording options in a usability test.
Task flow (Figma prototype only)	Defines where participants should start and end the task in your Figma prototype. This is useful if you are using the same prototype for multiple tasks because it lets you override the default start screen set by Figma. Hover over the following and click Edit to make your selections: Starting screen: Where participants will be directed when the task begins. Success screen (optional): Where you expect participants to end upon successful completion. Dscout will report success for this task during analysis based on whether participants land on the screen chosen here.
Self-reported completion (optional)	Adds a follow-up question immediately after the task asking participants, Were you able to successfully complete this task? Participants choose one of four answers: Yes No - The task was too difficult No - I didn't understand the prompt No - I had technical issues In analysis, you’ll see the percentage of participants who answered Yes.
Single Ease Question (SEQ) (optional)	Adds a follow-up question immediately after the task asking participants how easy or difficult they found the task. When enabled, participants will see a scale question, Overall, how difficult or easy did you find this task?, with options ranging from 1 - Very difficult to 7 - Very easy. In analysis, you’ll see an effort rating distribution for this task.
SEQ Difficulty (optional)	Adds a follow-up question immediately after the Single Ease follow-up asking participants to explain why they found the task difficult. When enabled, participants who rate task difficulty 1, 2, 3, or 4 will see an open-ended typed response question, Why was this task difficult?
Close task stimuli (optional)	Hides the website or prototype from participants after this task. By default, task stimuli remain open after participants complete a task. This setting appears once the task has task stimuli. When enabled, the following behavior applies for each device and recording option: Desktop: After the task is complete, all non-Dscout tabs are closed. Mobile (in-app view): After the task is complete, the tab where the stimuli were accessible closes so participants can’t revisit them. Mobile (external view): A banner is displayed asking participants to exit the linked URL or prototype. Note: Close task stimuli is enabled by default on task questions added to multi-variate sets. For more information, see Multi-variate testing.
Privacy blur (optional)	Blurs the participant’s screen during the task. This protects participants’ personally identifiable information (PII) during studies. When enabled, participant audio is recorded during the task, but their screen will not be visible to you during analysis. For more information, see Privacy blur.
Skip logic (optional)	Route participants to a later question, question group, or the end of the study once they finish this question. Every participant who answers goes to the same place. For more information, see Skip logic.

{% endtab %} {% tab title="AI moderated studies" %}

Setting	Description
Task	The prompt or instructions participants see as part of this task. Here, enter guidance they should follow or any context they should know before beginning the task. For example, if they should complete the task using your company’s app, you should tell them that here. You can format your text in the following ways: `bold` = bold `_italic_` = italic `<https://examplelink.com>` = https://examplelink.com `[Sample link](https://examplelink.com)` = Sample link However, only include links here that are supplementary. To link participants to a specific page or prototype related to the task, add it under Task stimuli. Tip: For inspiration writing task questions, see Become a Task Writing Pro from Dscout’s People Nerds.
Task stimuli (optional)	A Figma prototype, website, or HTML file participants should use to complete this task. Stimuli open automatically when participants reach this task. Note: If you're using a Figma Make prototype, first publish your prototype in Figma Make. Then, add the provided URL as a Website to your task question. Heat maps are not generated for Figma Make prototypes. For more details on configuring a Figma prototype in Dscout, see Add a Figma prototype to a study. To upload an HTML file, see Upload an HTML prototype to a study. Tip: Try managing your task stimuli at the study level rather than on a question-by-question basis. For more information, see Manage task stimuli.
Starting screen / Success screen (Figma prototypes)	For a Figma prototype, set where the participant begins and, optionally, the screen that counts as success.
Self-reported completion	Adds a follow-up question immediately after the task asking participants, Were you able to successfully complete this task? Participants choose one of four answers: Yes No - The task was too difficult No - I didn't understand the prompt No - I had technical issues In analysis, you’ll see the percentage of participants who answered Yes. This setting is on by default.
Mask task URL	Hides the destination URL for task questions from participant view. For more information, see Mask task URL.
Privacy blur	Blurs the participant’s screen during the task. This protects participants’ personally identifiable information (PII) during studies. When enabled, participant audio is recorded during the task, but their screen will not be visible to you during analysis. For more information, see Privacy blur.
Follow-up questions	How many follow-ups the AI moderator asks based on the participant's spoken response: Only if response is short, 1 follow-up, or 2-3 follow-ups. You can also add optional Follow-up guidance. Note: Follow-up questions for Task questions are only based on the participant's spoken response. The AI moderator cannot see any action taken by the participant on their screen.
Visual intelligence	Captures expressions and screen behavior in participant responses. For more information, see Visual intelligence. Note: Visual intelligence and Privacy blur can't both be on for the same task question. Turn off Privacy blur to use Visual intelligence, or the other way around.

{% hint style="info" %} **Note:** Some standard Task settings aren't available in AI moderated studies: SEQ, SEQ difficulty, a website success URL, Close task stimuli, and skip logic. The AI moderator always reads the prompt verbatim. {% endhint %} {% endtab %} {% endtabs %} ### Add a task question to a study You’ll add task questions on your study's builder tab—the **Usability test**, **Study**, or **AI moderator** tab, depending on your study type. {% stepper %} {% step %} Navigate to your study's builder tab (the **Usability test**, **Study**, or **AI moderator** tab, depending on your study type). {% endstep %} {% step %} Click **+ Add** in the center of the builder or in the left sidebar. {% endstep %} {% step %} Select **Task**. In usability tests and intercept studies, you’ll find it under the **Usability** category.

{% endstep %} {% step %} Enter the **Task** prompt or instructions. {% endstep %} {% step %} (Optional) Click **Add** beside **Task stimuli** to add a website or prototype, or to upload an HTML file. The applicable fields will display. For help completing these fields, see [Task question settings](#task-question-settings).

{% endstep %} {% step %} Configure the question's settings in the right sidebar. For more information, see [Task question settings](#task-question-settings). {% endstep %} {% step %} Click **Done**. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} Now, you’ve successfully added a task question to your study. When participants reach this question, they’ll see the provided instructions for the task. And if you’ve included task stimuli, they open for participants automatically when they begin the task. #### Group and randomize task questions In usability tests and intercept studies, task questions work with Dscout's question-organization features: * [**Question groups**](/study-basics/question-types/question-settings-and-organization/question-groups.md) keep related questions together and can randomize the order they're presented in. * [**Multi-variate testing**](/study-basics/question-types/question-settings-and-organization/multi-variate-testing.md) presents different concepts or design variants to different participants. * [**Question banks**](/study-basics/question-types/question-settings-and-organization/question-banks.md) let you save a task question and reuse it across studies. ### Manage task stimuli Your study might use a number of task stimuli, some of which might apply to multiple task questions. While you can manage stimuli from within each task question, you can also manage them at the study level. Click the **Task stimuli** button at the top of the builder to access all stimuli included in your study:

Here, you can add, refresh, and delete stimuli as needed:

### Analyze a task question From the **Responses** tab of a study, you can access specific metrics for each task question in your study:

Here, you’ll find the following details: {% hint style="info" %} **Note:** In AI moderated studies, analysis includes self-reported completion and (for Figma prototypes) success via the success screen. SEQ ease ratings aren’t available, and click data requires the Chrome extension. {% endhint %}

Metric	Description
Success	Percentage of participants who reached your designated success URL or prototype success screen. (Only visible if a Success URL or Success screen is set when building your study.)
Self-reported completion	Percentage of participants who indicated they successfully completed the task. (Only visible if the Self-reported completion follow-up question is enabled when building your study.)
Average time on task	Average time participants spent on the task, measured from when they click Start task to when they click End task. Here, you can also hover over the box plot to see the following statistics: Min: The shortest amount of time it took for a participant to complete the task. Q1: The lower quartile of response times. 25% of participants took less time than this to complete the task. Median: The exact mid-point of response times for the task. Q3: The upper quartile of response times. 75% of participants took less time than this to complete the task. Max: The longest amount of time it took for a participant to complete the task. Mean: The average amount of time it took participants to complete the task. Outliers: Data points significantly above or below the rest of responses.
Average ease rating	Average of how participants rated the effort required by the task. (Only visible if the Single Ease Question (SEQ) follow-up is enabled when building your study.)

To view details from individual responses, navigate to the **Participants** view while on the **Responses** tab of your study. ### Frequently asked questions

Can I use the same Figma prototype for more than one task?

Yes. Add the prototype to your study once, then select it in each task question and use **Task flow** to set a different **Starting screen** for each task. If you try to add a prototype that's already in your study, you'll see this message: "This prototype has already been added to the study. To set different starting screens, select this prototype in a task question and edit the starting screen for your task." Select the existing prototype instead of adding it again. You can see every prototype in your study under **Task stimuli** at the top of the builder.

Can I measure task success on a Figma Make prototype?

Yes, with a success URL. First publish your prototype in Figma Make, then add the published URL as a **Website** (not as a Figma prototype) in your task question, and use **Set success URL** to define the page that counts as success. Dscout doesn't generate heat maps for Figma Make prototypes.

Can I set more than one success URL for a task?

Each task question has one success URL, but you can use an asterisk (\*) as a wildcard to cover several pages. For example, `https://www.sneakers.com/running/*` counts any page that starts with that address as a success if it's visited at any point during the task. You can use more than one asterisk in a URL, but not two in a row (`**`), and success URLs must start with `https://`. A trailing slash at the end of the URL is ignored, so `https://www.sneakers.com/cart` and `https://www.sneakers.com/cart/` are treated the same.

Do the Self-reported completion and SEQ follow-ups count toward the 15-task limit?

No. Only task questions count toward the limit. The follow-up questions that Dscout adds after a task don't use up any of your 15 tasks.

What happens to task data if participants don't use the Chrome extension?

In desktop usability tests and AI moderated studies where you invite your own participants, you can make the Chrome extension optional by choosing **Extension free**. Auto-recruited studies and intercept studies always require the extension, and mobile studies don't use it. Without the extension, Dscout can't capture click data or generate heat maps, and can't automatically report success from a success URL or success screen. Time on task, self-reported completion, and the SEQ follow-ups are still collected. For more information, see [Manage participant experience in a usability test](/usability-tests/create-a-usability-test/manage-participant-experience-in-a-usability-test.md), [Manage participant experience in an AI moderated study](/ai-moderated-studies/create-an-ai-moderated-study/manage-participant-experience-in-an-ai-moderated-study.md), and [Analyze heat maps and click data](/study-basics/testing-prototypes/analyze-heat-maps-and-click-data.md).

How is time on task calculated?

In usability tests and intercept studies, time on task is measured differently depending on the device: * **Desktop:** From when the participant selects **Start task** to when they select **End task**. If their recording is interrupted and they pause to fix it, that time is subtracted. * **Mobile (iOS and Android):** From when the participant begins the task to when they select **End task**. Time spent away from the app, such as responding to a notification, is not subtracted. On every device, time spent loading a prototype or website counts toward time on task, so a slow-loading prototype can make the time longer. In AI moderated studies, time on task is tracked automatically between the start and end of the task.

Can I change the task stimuli or success URL after launching my study?

No. Once a study is launched, you can't add, edit, or remove task stimuli or a success URL on a task question. Make sure they're set up the way you want before launching, and preview your study first. For more information, see [Test a usability test](/usability-tests/create-a-usability-test/test-a-usability-test.md).

Can I add photos or other images to a task question?

No. Task questions only support task stimuli: a website, a Figma prototype, or an HTML file. Regular stimuli, such as images, aren't available on task questions. To show an image, add a separate question that supports stimuli before the task. If you want to show different concepts to different participants, see [Multi-variate testing](/study-basics/question-types/question-settings-and-organization/multi-variate-testing.md).

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