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What Is Branching Logic? Less Than 100 Words

Branching logic, also known as skip logic or branching eLearning scenarios, enables L&D professionals to control users’ individualized paths based on their previous answers in a learning course or survey. Branching logic customizes each user’s experience when completing a survey or learning course through relevant questions.

With branching logic, the user has a customized path that continues to branch out until they reach their final question. Depending on the survey or course, this final destination may be different for each user. 

Have you ever been presented with an irrelevant survey question? Imagine being asked the question, “Have you ever worked remotely?” Your answer is “No”, yet the next question asks, “Do you find it difficult to communicate with coworkers when working from home?”

Branching logic avoids irrelevant questions, such as the one in the example above. 

Ready to learn more about branching logic? Let’s dive into what branching logic is, three benefits it can bring to an organization, and tips for applying branching logic to your organization’s learning and surveying. 

What Is Branching Logic?

Branching logic, also known as skip logic or branching eLearning scenarios, creates a custom path based on a user’s response. Branching logic is commonly used throughout eLearning courses or when surveying users.

It may be helpful to think of branching logic as a choose your own adventure book. 

Based on a user’s response, branching logic presents their next questions accordingly. Branching logic enables L&D professionals to control each learning path based on users’ previous answers and customize their experience with relevant questions. 

To help define this term, imagine a tree

  • Start at the trunk — At the bottom is our trunk, which is the survey or eLearning course with standardized questions presented to each user. The trunk contains the initial questions that come one after another in a straight line.
  • Head down a branch — Depending on each users’ answer, they’re led down a branch with its own set of relevant questions. 
  • Each branch has more branches — Each answer the user selects leads them down another branch or question path. 

Essentially, the user has a customized learning path that continues to branch out until they reach their final question. Depending on the survey or course, this final destination, or end-of-the-line branch, will be different for each user. 

Read More: How To Effectively Use Branched Learning Scenarios 

3 Benefits Of Branching Logic

  • Personalized learning paths — Branching logic leads users down a path of questions that are personalized. Subsequent questions are presented to users in response to their previous answer, therefore creating individual learning paths for each user. 
  • Reduces completion time — With branching logic, users only answer relevant questions, which likely reduces the number of questions they must answer. This typically yields a faster completion time and reduces the number of users who drop out. 

Intuitive questioning — Branching logic makes users feel like their survey is custom to them through intuitive questioning. This generally makes more sense as users won’t be asked irrelevant questions that waste their time. For example, if a user answers “No” to “Are you a cashier?”, they won’t be asked questions about operating the POS system because it isn’t their responsibility.

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