MaxDiff vs. Traditional Ranking: When to Use Which
When people talk about “prioritizing” features, messages, or benefits, what they usually mean is figuring out what matters most and what matters least. It sounds straightforward, but the way you ask the question has a big impact on the answer you get.
Two common ways to do this are traditional ranking and MaxDiff. Both give you a list ordered by importance. But they work very differently, both for the people taking the survey and for the insights you get at the end.
Knowing the difference helps you avoid muddy results and choose the method that best fits the decision you’re trying to make.
Why Ranking Can Be Tricky
Ranking a list feels simple. Put the most important thing at the top and the least important at the bottom.
The challenge is in the middle of the list. Most people know their top few and bottom few choices right away. Everything else starts to feel pretty similar. When that happens, people guess, rush, or just go with what feels close enough.
You end up with results that give you direction to the highest and lowest, but the middle is muddled.
How MaxDiff Works
MaxDiff (short for Maximum Difference Scaling) is a different approach. Instead of asking people to sort a long list, it shows them small groups of items, usually four or five at a time. From each group, they pick the most important and the least important.
They do this a few times with different combinations. Each item shows up more than once, compared to different choices.
Because people are making simpler selections, the results are cleaner. You can see which things truly stand out and which ones consistently fall to the bottom.
MaxDiff questions are also easier for people to answer. Picking the best and worst from a short list takes less effort than ranking everything together.
When Traditional Ranking Still Works
Short lists (5-6 items max): If you've only got a handful of options, people can usually handle it.
Exploratory research: If you are early in the process and just need a quick read on what seems important, ranking is often enough.
Tight budget or timeline: If time or budget is tight, ranking is simpler to run.
When specific order matters: If you actually need to know something ranked 3rd vs. 4th (not just "more important"), ranking tells you that directly.
When MaxDiff Is Worth It
Longer lists (7+ items): MaxDiff starts to make more sense as lists get longer. Once you have seven or more items, ranking gets harder for people and the data gets weaker.
Big decisions: Product development, feature prioritization, messaging strategy. Anywhere the stakes are high and you need real differentiation.
The Bottom Line
You don't always need MaxDiff. But when you've got a long list of options or decisions worth getting right, MaxDiff delivers insights that basic ranking just can't. The trick is matching the method to what you're actually trying to figure out.
