Use this article to show the Tasks in an Activity in a random order, lock specific Tasks or groups of Tasks in a fixed position, and group Tasks so they stay together while the groups are randomized. This article is for Analysts and Moderators who build Activities in a Study. Randomizing Tasks helps remove order bias, for example when participants review a series of similar images or concepts.
⚠️ Before you start: Task randomization must be turned on before you can group Tasks or lock them in position. If an Activity is set to Do not randomize tasks, dragging one Task card onto another only changes the order of the Tasks, and the lock arrows don’t appear on the Task cards.
Turn on Task randomization
Task randomization is set in the Activity Behavior section of an Activity’s Activity Setup page, under Randomize Tasks. The Randomize Tasks setting has two options:
Do not randomize tasks (the default): participants see the Tasks in the order you arranged them.
Randomize tasks not locked into position: Recollective shows the Tasks to each participant in a random order, except for any Tasks or groups you have locked in position.
To turn on Task randomization for a new Activity:
While creating the Activity, scroll to the Activity Behavior section of the Activity Setup page.
Under Randomize Tasks, select Randomize tasks not locked into position.
Finish the rest of the Activity Setup and click Next: Add Tasks.
To turn on Task randomization for an existing Activity:
Open Activity Setup in either of these ways:
On the Activities page, click the drop-down arrow on the Activity card and select Activity Setup.
From inside the Activity, click Options in the upper right of the page and select Activity Setup.
Scroll to the Activity Behavior section.
Under Randomize Tasks, select Randomize tasks not locked into position.
Click Save.
Once Task randomization is on, two interchanging arrows appear below each Task card on the Activity’s Task list. You can now lock Tasks in position and drag Task cards onto each other to group them.
How participants see randomized Tasks
Randomized Task order only applies while participants are completing the Activity. Each participant’s responses appear in the Stream (the feed of participant responses for the Study) in the order that participant saw the Tasks. Everywhere else in Recollective, the Tasks appear in the order you arranged them.
Lock a Task in position
When Task randomization is on, you can lock a Task so it always appears in the same position while the other Tasks are randomized. For example, you can lock a Prompt Task (a Task that shows information without asking for a response) at the start of the Activity so participants read your instructions before they begin.
To lock a Task in position:
Make sure the Activity is set to Randomize tasks not locked into position (see Turn on Task randomization above).
On the Activity’s Task list, find the Task card and click the two interchanging arrows below it.
A padlock icon appears on the Task card. The Task now stays in that position for every participant.
If you don’t see the arrows below the Task cards, Task randomization is turned off for this Activity. Turn it on in Activity Setup first.
Group Tasks so they’re randomized together
Grouping Tasks keeps a set of Tasks together in a fixed order while the groups themselves are shown to participants in a random order. This is useful for concept testing, where each concept has several Tasks and you want to remove order bias between the concepts.
To group Tasks:
Make sure the Activity is set to Randomize tasks not locked into position (see Turn on Task randomization above).
On the Activity’s Task list, drag one Task card onto another Task card.
Enter a label for the group.
The new group card shows how many Tasks are in the group, plus a drop-down arrow with options such as Preview, Copy, and Rename.
If dragging one Task card onto another only swaps their order, Task randomization is turned off for this Activity. Turn it on in Activity Setup, then try again.
Randomize or lock the Tasks inside a group
To see the Tasks inside a group, click the group card. The Tasks inside a group are locked in position by default, so they keep their order. The same lock arrows are available inside the group, so you can unlock any Tasks you want randomized within the group.
Lock a group in position
You can lock a group card in position the same way you lock a Task: click the two interchanging arrows below the group card. The locked group stays in the same position for every participant while the other Tasks and groups are randomized. The Tasks inside a locked group can still be randomized within the group.
Limitations
Task randomization, grouping, and locking can’t be changed after an Activity receives participant responses. Before the first response, you can switch between Do not randomize tasks and Randomize tasks not locked into position at any time in Activity Setup. If you need a different grouping or randomization after participants have responded, create a new Activity, copy the Tasks into it (see Adding and Copying Tasks to a Standard or Journal Activity), and connect the two with Activity Sequencing.
Grouping Tasks and locking Tasks or groups both require Task randomization. With Do not randomize tasks selected, you can only reorder Tasks.
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