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10+ E-Commerce Quiz Design Best Practices to Maximize User Experience

Updated: Jul 5

An e-commerce quiz personalizes the shopping experience and guides customers toward purchases with product recommendations based on their preferences. 


A personalized quiz has helped many brands engage customers, boost conversions, and achieve a solid ROI. Thigh Society, a clothing company selling non-chafing shorts, boosted its conversion rate by more than 250% within 12 months of adding a quiz to its site.


Creating an effective product quiz has never been easier. Follow these best practices to design a quiz that website users find, understand, and choose to complete.


E-commerce quiz best practices

Maximize the user experience and collect zero-party data with these e-commerce quiz best practices.


1. Keep the quiz short

Keep the e-commerce quiz short to increase the completion rate. Six to eight questions is optimal for most categories. 


Cellcosmet’s Regimen Finder asks seven questions before providing product recommendations, while One Seed Perfumes asks just four.


This is a screenshot of a question in the Cellcosmet product quiz about how the quiz taker would describe their skin. On the left is a brand image featuring the Cellcosmet logo to boost brand awareness. On the right, there are four answer options. The quiz taker must select one.

However, some categories — where users are receptive to longer consultations, like medical-grade products or consumables — require longer e-commerce quizzes. Customers willingly answer more questions because the stakes are higher and trust recommendations after an in-depth consultation.


Vitapack’s supplement quiz, for example, starts with top level questions about your health concerns (e.g. poor sleep), before asking more specific questions about their potential causes (e.g. screen time, exercise) to recommend optimal products.


2. Personalize, personalize, personalize

Personalize the quiz by asking for their name and addressing them directly using phrases like “Nice to meet you [Name]” and “Here are your results [Name].”


SKOON, a South African skincare brand, starts its quiz by asking for a user’s name, while TeamDog, a dog food, treats, and supplements brand, asks for the name of the user’s dog. This instantly makes the quiz more relevant to the user.


The image shows the first question of the Team Dog product quiz, where they ask the dog’s name. This information is then used throughout the rest of the quiz, on the quiz result page, and in follow-up communications to make the messaging feel more personal.

Similarly, Function of Beauty's haircare quiz asks for the user's name and writes it on their unique shampoo bottle, creating not just a personal online experience but a customized product they can keep.

The image shows the first question of the Function of Beauty product quiz, where they ask for the customer’s name. This information is then used throughout the rest of the quiz, on the quiz result page, and in follow-up communications to make the messaging feel more personal. The name is also printed on the bottle.

Next, personalize the quiz using branching logic. Reference previous answers, show different slides, and ask questions based on user responses. Finally, personalize the results page using dynamic headings and display calculations specific to each user. Use meta-fields to highlight ingredients or why you’re recommending a product.


3. Make the questions easily understandable

Product recommendation quiz questions should be direct and specific. While incorporating brand personality is important, ensure all questions are easy to understand. Users won’t complete the quiz if questions are too tricky. 


Plum Design’s quiz helps users find their perfect blend of tea. Its questions are clear and concise, using just four to seven words.


This is a screenshot of a question in the Plum Design product quiz about the quiz taker’s favorite flavors. There are seven answer options. Each one includes a photo of the flavor with an accompanying description. The quiz taker must select all that apply.

Here are other ways to ensure users understand what you’re asking them:

  • If working with a quiz design partner — like Visual Quiz Builder — leverage their knowledge and experience when writing quiz questions.

  • Before launch, ask a test group to take the quiz and confirm the questions are easy to understand and answer.

  • Once live, use A/B testing to assess which version of a question performs best. Use your quiz analytics to find and edit underperforming questions.


4. Provide guiding information

Offer additional information to help users complete the quiz when needed. This can be done with pop-ups within questions or content slides.


Skincare brand Mario Badescu offers tips on assessing skin type, while Semaine Health, a hormonal wellness brand, explains why questions are relevant. For example, they ask for a user’s age because hormones change with age.


The image shows a ‘How are hormones affected by age?’ pop-up that appears on the Mario Badescu product quiz when the quiz taker reaches the question ‘How old are you?’. The pop-up provides further clarity on the relevance of the quiz question, helping to build trust, guide responses, and showcase the brand’s expertise.

5. Don’t give too many answer options

Users may be overwhelmed by too many answer options. Long answer lists can also cause the page to scroll, particularly on mobile devices, impacting user experience.

When choosing answer options, avoid repetitive or overly similar choices. Ensure each answer is distinctive and use images to illustrate complex ideas. Visual options and sliders can be very helpful with communicating answer options in a more intuitive and visually appealing way. 


This is a screenshot of a question in the Plum Deluxe product quiz about how familiar the quiz taker is with tea. On the right is a brand image featuring three Plum Deluxe tea blends, on the left are three answer options. The quiz taker must select one.

6. Keep it in on brand

The best e-commerce quiz designs align seamlessly with a website’s look and branding for a more memorable user experience. Apply the same colors, fonts, and visual elements used on other pages.


Poseidon, an online bike store, does this particularly well in its e-commerce quiz, as does rug store Double. These on-brand visuals help improve user comprehension, highlight featured products, and reinforce brand identity.


This is a screenshot of a question in the double product quiz about the quiz taker’s home aesthetic. There are five answer options. Each one includes a photo of the described aesthetic. The quiz taker must select up to three answers.

When working on quiz branding, incorporate your brand voice for a greater impact and customer experience. Function of Beauty’s quiz uses succinct and conversational language. It also includes fun fragrance names, like Pearfection and Takes Two to Mango.


Similarly, Thigh Society uses colloquialisms and reassuring comments like “Well, that works out perfectly” to sound more playful and informal.


This is a screenshot of a customer engagement page in the Thigh Society product quiz. To build consumer trust and increase brand likability, they use colloquialisms and reassuring comments like ‘Well, that works out perfectly’ to sound more playful and informal.

7. Build anticipation with a holding page

After completing the quiz, customers wait a few seconds for their product recommendations to appear. Use this time to build anticipation with a strong holding page.  


CUUP’s quiz holding page says, “We’re calculating your perfect fit.” Visuals change and fun facts about bras and bra sizing appear on the page. They added these branded and customized loading messages to their quiz results loading page with Visual Quiz Builder.


This is a screenshot of the holding page at the end of the Cuup product quiz. It includes a fun fact to keep customers engaged while demonstrating the brand’s industry knowledge.

8. Design with mobile in mind

Two-thirds of online shopping orders were made on smartphones in 2024, ensuring your e-commerce quiz is mobile friendly is critical. Without a seamless mobile experience, you could miss out on significant sales.


Face Club offers the same features and functionality across different device layouts to provide a seamless user experience on both desktop and mobile.  


This is a screenshot of a question in the Face Club product quiz about the quiz taker’s primary skin condition. The desktop version is to the left and the mobile version to the right. There are six answer options. Each one includes a photo of the skin condition with an accompanying description. The quiz taker must select one answer.

9. Place the quiz prominently on your site

Your website should feature your quiz start button prominently, grabbing users’ attention with a clear call to action and bold design. Stix Golf’s prompt to “Find my Fit” is a menu option at the top of their homepage. When users click this link, they’re taken directly to the quiz start page.


This is a screenshot of the Stix website homepage. The second tab of the navigation, ‘Find my fit,’ links directly to the product quiz to encourage website visitors to take part.

The quiz format is important, too. Embedded quizzes within a store’s header or footer look great and allow users to navigate back and forth. Avoid partial screen pop-up quizzes unless launching a short, simple quiz. This style can hide content on mobile devices, creating a poor user experience.


10. Incentivize participation

Offer a discount or free sample upon quiz completion to encourage users to take the e-commerce quiz. 


Mario Badescu’s quiz results page offers users free samples of every product in their suggested skincare regimen, while Nudea’s e-commerce quiz offers 15% off. To create an even better user experience, automatically apply the discount at checkout to reduce friction.


This is a screenshot of the Nudea product quiz holding page. It provides a 15% discount code to quiz takers.

11. Personalize marketing with zero-party data

E-commerce quizzes collect zero-party data that fuel your marketing efforts. 


Use this data to segment users, then personalize follow-up email and SMS marketing with integrated apps like Klaviyo or Omnisend. Face Club, for example, segment customers by skin type and skin concern to create personalized email flows for them. 


The image shows the Face Club email sequence for customers with oily skin. When a quiz taker specifies that they have oily skin (they select this answer option in the quiz), they are automatically added to this mailing list, thanks to an integration between the quiz platform VQB and the email platform Klaviyo. Three days later, the first quiz follow-up email is triggered. Four days after that, a second email is triggered, and three days after that, a third is triggered. All three emails are tailored specifically to customers with oily skin, offering advice on how to tackle oiliness and what ingredients to prioritize in their routine.

Build your custom e-commerce quiz

Following e-commerce quiz design best practices ensures a high quiz completion rate and great customer experience, leading to higher conversions.


Put these best practices into action with Visual Quiz Builder. Select the questions, answer options, and product recommendations, then edit the look and feel to align with your branding. Use rich zero-party data to segment quiz takers and retarget them with personalized marketing emails.


Start building your quiz today. Sign up for a free 14-day trial with Visual Quiz Builder.




Quiz Design FAQs


How to design a good quiz?

Ease of use is one of the most important elements of a strong quiz design. Customers must be able to navigate the quiz quickly and smoothly on any desktop or mobile device. A clean layout and a reader-friendly font help customers understand the quiz at a glance. 


The quiz should also move customers down the sales funnel. It should provide personalized recommendations and convert customers.


How do you structure a quiz?

Understanding effective quiz structure will help you craft a strong design and compelling questions. 


  • A warm, simple welcome page should introduce the customer to the quiz. It can state the expected completion time and the benefits for the customer.

  • The quiz should then include five to eight questions that help clarify the customer’s needs and goals. Start with easy questions, requesting basic details (e.g., name, age, skin type), and gradually become more specific. This keeps customers engaged while collecting important information. 

  • A holding page at the end of the quiz should request the quiz taker’s email address and/or offer promotions.

  • A detailed result page should recommend relevant products and include clear CTAs.


What are the key features of effective e-commerce quizzes?

Here are four key features of the best e-commerce quizzes:


  • Short: A product quiz should be concise. Customers want to complete the quiz and receive their recommendations as quickly as possible. Aim for five to eight questions only.

  • Coherent questions: Keep all questions easy to understand, even when dealing with more complex issues (e.g., specially formulated skincare products). If questions are too complicated, customers are less likely to answer them.

  • Assistance with answering questions: Provide customers with additional details to help them answer correctly. For example, pop-up information boxes may contextualize questions.

  • Mobile-friendly design: As browsing on smartphones is commonplace, mobile-friendly quizzes are crucial. Make your quiz easy to open and use on screens of all sizes.


How can a quiz design build trust?

Product quizzes can build trust through personalization. Using dynamic headings that incorporate the customer’s name makes the quiz more relevant to the individual. Customers may also feel more valued by your brand.


Another way to build trust is by incorporating the customer’s previous responses into the quiz and asking questions based on their answers. This reinforces that your brand is listening to the customer and is committed to providing them with relevant products. 


Result pages should reference customers by name and display their personal results, with an explanation of why certain products have been recommended.


How can a quiz design build brand recognition?

The best product quiz designs incorporate branding to blend seamlessly with the rest of the website, featuring the same colors, text style, and imagery. 


Quizzes should include the same brand voice found across your website and marketing materials. New customers will be able to get a feel for your business and values as they progress through your quiz. If they feel comfortable with your brand by the time they reach the end, they may be more likely to convert.


How can a quiz drive conversions?

Various quiz design elements can help drive conversions. A strong holding page keeps users engaged while their results are being calculated. They may only be on screen for a few seconds, but holding pages should include eye-catching visuals and text (e.g., facts about your products). 


After the holding page, the user will reach the result page. This will be decisive in their decision to convert or leave the site. Present relevant products with clear descriptions and benefits, and add an ‘add to cart’ option to encourage conversion.


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