Troubleshooting & FAQ
"Too many requests. Please slow down."
A network sent too many actions in a short window (rate limiting). It clears within about a minute. This usually only happens with many participants on the same office/campus network at once, or automated testing. Normal use never hits it.
A participant sees "You've already taken part"
That browser already completed the study (marked for ~180 days). It's device-level, so a private/incognito window or a different device lets them start fresh. For strict one-response-per-person, use unique invite links (when available) rather than one shared link.
A participant couldn't finish / lost their progress
Progress is saved only when each step is submitted, so closing the tab mid-screener or mid-sort loses it on a card sort (the browser warns first), and they'd start over.
On a Findability study they would not: each answer is saved as it is given, so reopening the link puts them back where they were with everything they had already answered intact.
I need to talk to a person
Open Graham (the lion, bottom right) and click Message the team. Type your question and send it; it goes straight to support and we reply to your account email. Graham also offers this automatically if he gets stuck or you've asked a lot in one day.
The report says "Graham didn't write this report"
A facts-only basic version was shown instead. The banner tells you why. If Graham ran out of time or hit a problem, click Try Graham again in the banner; that usually works, and it's most common on large studies. If Graham couldn't be reached, there's no retry button because trying again won't help, and we've already been alerted. Your previously saved report, if you had one, is never replaced by the basic version.
I can't download my report (PDF/Word/PowerPoint/Excel)
Downloads are a paid feature. On the Free plan reports are view-only. Upgrade to Individual or higher to export as PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.
My study link shows "closed" or "not available"
The study isn't Live. Check its status on the Launch step. Drafts, paused, and closed studies don't accept participants. Open it from the Launch step, Use your audience on a draft, or Go live again on a paused study.
"This study type is temporarily unavailable"
Occasionally we take one study type out of service for a short while to work on it. While that is happening you can't create a new study of that type or open an existing one to edit it.
Nothing stops collecting. Any study of yours that is already live keeps running: participant links still work, people already taking part finish normally, their responses are still recorded, and a panel order in the field keeps filling. Your study is exactly as you left it and will open again shortly.
I can't change the sort type
Sort type locks once your study has responses, to protect the data already collected (a live study with no responses yet can still change). To use a different type, create a new study.
I can't add more studies / hit a limit
You've reached your plan's study or participant limit. See Plans & billing; upgrading raises the limits.
Charts didn't appear in my Word/PowerPoint export
A chart occasionally fails to capture; the export completes without it rather than failing. Try exporting again.
Common questions
- Open vs closed sort? Open = participants make their own groups (discover structure). Closed = they use your categories (validate structure). Hybrid = both.
- How many participants do I need? It depends on goals, but card sorts often reach useful agreement around 15 to 30 participants. The overview's agreement levels tell you when groupings are stabilizing.
- Can participants do it on a phone? Yes, the sort works on mobile browsers.
- Where are Team, Billing, and Sign out on my phone? On a small screen the dashboard links collapse into a menu. Tap the ☰ icon in the top right of the header to open it.
- Are cards shown in the same order to everyone? No. Card order is randomized per participant to reduce bias. Your categories, however, appear in the order you set.