What is MaxDiff analysis in market research?

MaxDiff analysis, also called maximum difference scaling, measures how strongly an audience prefers one item over another by asking respondents to pick the most and least important option from a small set, repeated over several sets. Research teams use it to turn a long list of features, messages or benefits into a single ranked scale of importance.

How does maximum difference scaling work?

Each respondent sees a small subset of the full item list and makes two choices on every screen, the most important item and the least important item. An experimental design controls which items share a screen and how often each one appears, so every item is judged against the others a comparable number of times.

What is the difference between MaxDiff and a ranking question?

A ranking question asks for the whole list to be ordered in one go, while MaxDiff asks only for the best and worst item in a small set and repeats that across screens. The smaller judgement is answered more consistently, and it returns a score for every item rather than a position, so the distance between two items stays visible.

How many items can you include in a MaxDiff survey?

Between eight and thirty items works well, with four or five items shown on each screen. A 16 item list shown four at a time over 16 screens gives every item four appearances per respondent and keeps the question to a few minutes.

How do you interpret MaxDiff results?

Every item carries a counting score, the number of times it was chosen as most important minus the number of times it was chosen as least important, divided by the number of times it was shown, which places each item between minus one and plus one. A score above zero means the item was preferred more often than it was rejected, a score near zero means opinion is split, and a negative score means the audience actively deprioritised it.

When should a team use MaxDiff for feature prioritization?

MaxDiff suits the moment when there are more candidate features than the roadmap can carry and the decision needs a defensible order rather than a list of things customers approve of. Because every screen forces both a choice and a rejection, the result separates features that matter from features that simply rate well.

How long does it take to set up a MaxDiff question in Flickly?

Setup takes a few minutes. Items are added to the item bank, items per screen and screens per respondent are selected, and Flickly generates the experimental design and the scoring, so no design matrix or analysis script has to be prepared in advance.

MaxDiffAnalysis

Test MaxDiff on Flickly

What a MaxDiff analysis measures

Rating scale

Every item lands between 4.1 and 4.7 out of 5.

MaxDiff

The same items separate into a clear order.

A MaxDiff analysis measures how strongly an audience prefers one item over another. Respondents see a small set of items and name the one that matters most and the one that matters least, repeated over several screens until every item has been weighed. The answers turn a long list into a single ranked scale of importance.

Every screen forces a trade-off, so nothing can be called important by default.

Flickly balances the design, so every item is judged a comparable number of times.

One scale covers the whole list, showing both the order and the gaps between items.

Maxdiff vs Ranking vs Rating: What to use and when

	Rating scale	Ranking question	MaxDiff
What you ask	Score each item on a 1 to 5 scale	Put the whole list in order	Pick the most and least important item in a small set
What comes back	An average rating per item	A position per item	A score per item between minus one and plus one
Separation	Weak, most items cluster near the top	An order, but no distance between items	An order and the distance between items
Effort per answer	Low, and easy to answer without thinking	High once the list runs past six items	Low, two clicks per screen
Best for	Tracking a handful of attributes over time	Short lists of five or six items	Turning 8 to 30 items into a priority order

How a MaxDiff survey works, step by step

A MaxDiff survey breaks one large comparison into many small ones. Flickly builds the experimental design, fields the question to your audience, and scores the answers, so a long list of features arrives as a ranked set of preference scores.

Step 1

Items grouped into sets

Flickly draws balanced sets from your item list.
Step 2

Two choices per screen

Every screen asks for one most and one least.
Step 3

Repeated sets, reliable scores

How to create a MaxDiff question in Flickly

Both views below are taken from a live MaxDiff survey in Flickly that tested 16 washing machine features with real respondents.

Adding your items

Set items per screen and screens per respondent.

MaxDiff Question 13 of 15

Design ready

Question text

When choosing a washing machine, which of these is MOST important to you, and which is LEAST important?

Item bank 16 items

1Value for money

2Removes tough stains effectively

3Gentle on clothes / protects fabric

4Saves electricity (high, 5-star energy rating)

5Drum stays hygienic / self-cleans to prevent smell

11 more itemsAdd item

Items per screen4

Screens per respondent16

Most labelMost Important

Least labelLeast Important

What respondents see

The task below is live. Pick one least and one most.

Screen 1 of 16

Both choices are required

When choosing a washing machine, which of these is MOST important to you, and which is LEAST important?

Least Most

Front-load design

Value for money

Uses less water per wash

Runs quietly with little vibration

How to analyze MaxDiff results in Flickly

Flickly reports MaxDiff results as a preference score chart that ranks every item in the study, with most important picks running right from the centre and least important picks running left.

MaxDiff item scoreboard Washing Machine Category Deep Dive

Filter: age 45 to 54 n = 59

Item

LeastMost

Score

1 Removes tough stains effectively

+0.314

2 Saves electricity (high, 5-star energy rating)

+0.309

3 Inverter motor for better durability and efficiency

+0.199

4 Offers different wash programs for different fabrics

+0.178

5 Good warranty and an easy-to-reach service network

+0.144

6 Drum stays hygienic / self-cleans to prevent smell

+0.119

7 Gentle on clothes / protects fabric

+0.102

8 Value for money

+0.093

9 Spins fast so clothes dry quicker

−0.042

10 Has a fast wash option (finishes in about 30 minutes)

−0.097

11 Runs quietly with little vibration

−0.110

12 Uses less water per wash

−0.127

13 Large capacity (8 kg or more)

−0.195

14 Comes from a brand I trust

−0.208

15 Compact size that fits small spaces

−0.305

16 Front-load design

−0.373

Turning scores into a prioritized list

Score above zeroPreferred more often than rejected.

Score close to zeroOpinion is split. Cut by segment.

Score below zeroActively rejected in the trade-off.

Frequently asked questions

Start your first MaxDiff survey on Flickly

Add your items, publish, and watch the scores build.

Create a MaxDiff survey