Multi-Image Selection: Let Respondents Choose Pictures

How do I ask a question with pictures instead of words?

Use a Multi-Image Selection question. Respondents pick from a grid of image tiles, each with its own label. A setting on the question controls how many may be picked: set the maximum to 1 for a single choice, or higher for several, and set a minimum to enforce "choose at least two". It works on web and mobile.

Multi-Image Selection asks a question with pictures instead of words. Respondents pick from a grid of image tiles, each with its own label, and you decide how many of them may be chosen.

It is the right question type whenever the thing being chosen is visual — packaging, layouts, menu items, damage, uniform options — and it is useful anywhere your respondents do not all read the same language comfortably.

One choice or several

There is one question type for both. How many may be picked is a setting on the question, not a different question type:

• Set the maximum to 1 and it behaves as a single-choice image picker — choosing a second tile replaces the first.
• Set a higher maximum, or none, and respondents can pick several.
• Set a minimum as well and "choose at least two" is enforced when they try to move on, rather than discovered when you analyse the results.

Add a tile for each choice the question needs. On a phone, a grid that runs to several screens is usually a sign the question wants splitting rather than lengthening.

Setting one up

1. Add Multi-Image Selection from the question palette in the form builder.
2. Add a choice for each option, upload its image and give it a label. The label is what appears in your exports and charts, so make it something you will recognise later — "Blue packaging", not "Option 2".
3. Set the minimum and maximum number of selections.
4. Preview the form to check the tiles read clearly at the size they actually render, especially on a phone.

In reports and exports

Answers are recorded as the labels the respondent chose, so a Multi-Image Selection question charts and exports like any other multiple-choice question: a bar chart of how often each option was picked, and the chosen labels in your CSV, Excel, PDF and JSON exports.

Where it works

Everywhere. Unlike the Business Card Scanner and the Voice Note, Multi-Image Selection is answerable on the web, on a kiosk-locked tablet and in the mobile app alike.

See Question Types & Form Components Reference for the full list of question types, and Using the Form Builder for how to assemble a form.