News and Announcements

Qualtrics to update features and user interface on March 31st, 2021

Posted: 2021-03-17 15:00:00   Expiration: 2021-06-04 23:00:00

Disclaimer: This news item was originally posted on 2021-03-17 15:00:00. Its content may no longer be timely or accurate.

Qualtrics has announced that a number of improvements are coming March 31st, 2021, to the Survey Editor, project creation, platform navigation, and line/bar charts.

What is the change?

Following Qualtrics' commitment to what they call “experience-first” design, they will be making a number of improvements to the XM Platform. These changes will be part of a multi-year effort across the platform to make sure their product is easy to use, consistent, predictable, and inclusive. The first improvements will roll out at the end of March, with updates to the Survey Editor, project creation, platform navigation, and line/bar charts in dashboards. All existing functionality of these features will remain with the updates, aside from a minor change to the Catalog (project creation). These improvements will be seen by all users. All users will be automatically opted-in to the project creation, platform navigation, and chart updates on March 31st. They will also be given the option to opt-in to the new Survey Builder experience at this time. After a month, all users will be opted-in by default to the Survey Builder.

What action do I need to take?

No action is needed. You will receive details and a tour of the new features within the XM Platform upon their release.

What if I have questions?

If you have a question about the Survey Builder updates, please visit the New Survey Builder Basic Overview support page. Support pages for the Catalog will be available closer to launch. It’s also always worth checking the XM Community to see if any other users have had the same question about this change.

If you’d rather speak to a specialist, Qualtrics Support Team is always ready to assist. To contact them, please follow these steps: UW-Madison Qualtrics - Log-In to Qualtrics Support


Please see below for specific details regarding these updates:

Survey Builder (opt-in beginning 3/31/2021)

Survey Editor will now be called Survey Builder. While some elements will be moved, all existing capabilities will remain in the platform. These updates will make the survey building experience easier to navigate and more intuitive, especially for our first time users. 

To ensure users have enough time to get familiar with the changes, there will be a two-month roll out of the new Survey Builder:

  1. End of March: Users will be kept in the current experience with the option to opt-in to the new experience through an in-product banner at the top of Survey Builder.
  2. End of April: Survey Builder will default to the new experience for all Users. Users will have the option to turn the old experience back on (opt-out) through an in-product banner at the top of the Survey Builder.
  3. End of May: Users will no longer have the option to opt-out of the new experience.

The following updates will be made to the Survey Builder experience:

  1. Brief overview video (1:41)
  2. Survey Builder support page
  3. New survey builder navigation to match the new global navigation
  4. New Question Builder UI which includes:
    • All question types
    • Simplified UI for question configuration
      • Single entry point for features
      • Configuration panel on the left
      • Top level configurations visible without scrolling
      • Updated “Edit multiple” UI
    • Simplified UI for block configuration
      • Consistent pattern used for block and question configuration
  5. Drag and drop functionality to move questions and blocks
  6. New survey configuration UI that combines survey options and tools where applicable
  7. Improved clarity on when project is auto-saved, is in draft mode or is published
  8. Updated section of Survey Builder will now be accessible

Catalog (live 3/31/2021)

Formerly known as the “Create New” projects and actions UI, most functionality from the old “Create New” UI is still available. However, the “Recents/Favorites” sidebar is being changed. Recents are still available as a collection near the top of the Catalog’s front page, while favorites is being deprecated at this time as Recents is servicing much of the same purpose in allowing users who have frequently used offerings quick access to them. This update will help users more easily discover all of the functionality available to them.

This update will be made globally available to all users at the end of March.

The following updates will be made to the experience:

  1. Catalog replaces the Create New UI for projects and actions, and is activated when users attempt to “Create new project” or “Create new action” from the projects or actions lists, respectively.
  2. In addition, Catalog can be accessed from the new global navigation (if it is already enabled for that brand).
  3. Depending on how it is accessed, Catalog will show either projects or actions that a user can start, including “from scratch” options, templates, and guided projects and programs (a.k.a. XM Solutions).
  4. Projects have been re-organized to be grouped by offering type (e.g, projects from scratch, programs, guided projects, and project templates). This works in conjunction with quick filters by product line (e.g, CoreXM, CustomerXM, EmployeeXM, etc.) to aid in browsing and quickly finding relevant content.
  5. Each offering in the Catalog will show a details pane when selected, giving a quick overview of what that offering contains and how it is best used in order to help users make the decision of whether it is right for them.

Navigation (live 3/31/2021)

The top bar product navigation experience is being updated to be more intuitive, consistent across the platform and scalable with the product experience. All former functionality will still be available but repositioned.

This update will be made globally available to all users at the end of March.

The following updates will be made to the experience:

  1. The new navigation will have a single location to access all navigable elements in the new menu.
  2. Notifications will be accessible across all experiences in the product, as well as the user’s account and access to Qualtrics support.
  3. For all dashboard customers, configuring dashboard settings will now be located with all other dashboard actions, providing a more unified experience.
  4. Action Planning and Insights will also be accessed through the dashboard actions section, providing more consistency with other dashboard experiences.
  5. For EX dashboards, customers will now be able to select their dashboard language in their user account settings, providing a single place to control account language.
  6. Theming for EX dashboards has been improved to ensure an accessible experience no matter your brand color, and to ensure customers can still brand dashboards with their logo.

Simple Chart - Line and Bar Chart (live 3/31/2021)

Line and bar chart variants of the Simple Chart are receiving an updated visual design and additional features that enhance data display and exploration. We’re updating these charts to ensure clear, consistent, and modern information design, setup for upcoming data visualization features, and to ensure accessibility compliance to WCAG 2.0 AA.

This update will be made globally available to all users at the end of March.

-- UW-Madison Qualtrics Brand Administrators