Typed questions
Text, number, single or multiple choice, date, GPS point, photo, instruction note: each question gets the right XLSForm type, with its input constraints.
📋 The Opti Gemba XLSForm generator
Describe your survey,
the AI builds the questionnaire.
Sections, question types, choice lists, skip logic, multilingual: a complete XLSForm questionnaire, ready for KoboToolbox and ODK and for field collection in Opti Gemba. Try it here, right now, with no account.
Opti Gemba · XLSForm generator
Free demo: describe your survey, the AI generates a real questionnaire
🎉 Your questionnaire is ready Sign in for free to collect it, edit it and export it to KoboToolbox and ODK.
Public demo: do not enter personal or sensitive data here.
✓ Try it now, no account ✓ Works with KoboToolbox and ODK ✓ Field collection, even offline
A real XLSForm, not a draft
The generator does not list question ideas. It writes a structured, typed and logical questionnaire, the way a MEAL specialist would.
Skip logic
Conditional questions appear only when they should: the relevant column is filled automatically and consolidated by a dedicated checking pass.
Multilingual
Ask for a questionnaire in French and Arabic, or any other combination: one label column per language, ready for multilingual collection.
Clean choice lists
Answer options are generated with plain variable names and clear labels, and reused from one question to the next where that makes sense.
Calculated indicators
Scores, totals, ratios: the calculate fields are resolved in a dedicated pass, with formulas that reference the right variables in the questionnaire.
Informed consent
When your survey addresses people, the questionnaire opens with a consent module and the following sections depend on it, in line with good practice in the sector.
Already have a questionnaire in Word or PDF?
Convert it to XLSForm: drop your document in and Opti Gemba transcribes it question by question, inventing nothing and rewording nothing. Groups and skip instructions are preserved.
Drop your questionnaire here or click to choose a file
.docx, .pdf or .txt · 4 MB max on the demo
or paste the text of your questionnaire
How it works
From the idea of a survey to a form ready to collect, in three steps.
Describe your survey
In one or two sentences: the subject, the population, what you want to measure, the languages. The way you would explain it to a colleague.
Watch it being built
The AI proposes an outline of sections then generates them one by one, live: questions, choices, constraints, skip logic, calculated indicators.
Edit, send, collect
In the app: a spreadsheet style editor, an interactive preview, then direct upload to your KoboToolbox account, XLSForm export for ODK, or collection inside Opti Gemba.
The questionnaire is only the beginning
Opti Gemba carries on from there: field collection, data analysis and the report, in the same tool.
Field collection, even offline
Enumerator Mode works on mobile with no connection: enumerators fill in the forms, photos and GPS included, and the data uploads as soon as the network comes back.
Already on KoboToolbox? Stay there
Opti' connects directly to your KoboToolbox account: the questionnaire goes up to Kobo in one click, the answers come back for analysis, and live tracking fills your dashboards as collection goes on. No more files to pass around.
Focus groups and interviews
Everything that does not fit a questionnaire has its place: record the conversation, photograph your handwritten sheets, or paste your notes. The audio is transcribed, the sheets are transcribed, and the AI draws a structured summary from them. You declare the language of the exchange from 230, including Wolof, Fula, Bambara, Hausa, Lingala, Kinyarwanda, Amharic, Somali and Tamazight, so the transcription no longer has to guess it. Recording works offline, and the transcription runs when the network comes back.
Analysis dashboards
The answers feed dashboards: charts, cross tabulations, filters by disaggregation. The AI helps you read the results.
Reports ready to share
Illustrated narrative reports generated from your data, exportable as a presentation for your teams and your donors.
Opti Gemba is part of Opti'
One account, four tools that work together.
Opti Gemba
XLSForm questionnaires, field collection (even offline), analysis dashboards and reports: the tool you are testing on this page.
OptiBot
The AI assistant specialised in humanitarian work and MEAL: indicators, logical frameworks, donor reports, concept notes.
Opti Academy
Tailor made courses generated by AI, on MEAL subjects and on everything else.
Opti' for Excel
The Excel add-in that brings the assistant into your workbooks, with a private AI option that runs on your own machine.
Start for free
Create your account in 30 seconds with a magic link sent by email, no card. That gives you the Demo plan of Opti', where your questionnaire is waiting, ready to edit, export and collect with.
Want to try first? The free generator is at the top of the page. Need several projects and collections? The Starter and Pro plans are set out in the app.
Frequently asked questions
What is an XLSForm?
XLSForm is the standard for describing survey forms used by the major field data collection platforms: KoboToolbox, ODK, SurveyCTO. An XLSForm is an Excel workbook with three sheets (survey, choices, settings) describing the questions, the choice lists, the constraints and the skip logic. Opti Gemba generates it for you: you describe the survey, the AI writes the XLSForm.
Is the generated questionnaire compatible with KoboToolbox and ODK?
Yes. The questionnaire exports to the standard XLSForm format (.xlsx), which imports directly into KoboToolbox, ODK and the other XLSForm compatible tools. You can also collect the data without leaving Opti Gemba: the tool includes its own field collection, offline included.
How does the AI build the questionnaire?
The AI starts by proposing an outline of thematic sections suited to your survey, then generates each section: typed questions (text, number, single or multiple choice, date, GPS, photo, and more), choice lists, input constraints. Two final passes consolidate the skip logic and the calculated indicators. You watch it all being built live, section by section.
Can I edit the questionnaire after it is generated?
Yes. In the app (free account), the questionnaire opens in a full spreadsheet style editor: edit any cell, undo, preview the form interactively, and build it together with the AI (ask for an addition or a change and it applies it in the table).
Can I convert an existing Word or PDF questionnaire into an XLSForm?
Yes: drop your Word or PDF document (or paste the text) into the conversion area, and Opti Gemba transcribes it into an XLSForm question by question, inventing nothing and rewording nothing. The sections of the document become groups, explicit skip instructions are rebuilt, and the result is then edited like any other questionnaire.
Can the questionnaire be multilingual?
Yes. State the languages you want in your request (French and Arabic, for instance): the questionnaire is generated with one label column per language, ready for multilingual collection in KoboToolbox, ODK or Opti Gemba.
How does field data collection work?
Three options. You can connect your KoboToolbox account: the questionnaire is deployed there in one click and the answers come back into Opti' for analysis, with live tracking if you want it. You can export the XLSForm to another platform (ODK, SurveyCTO). Or you can collect directly in Opti Gemba: Enumerator Mode works on mobile, even offline, with photos and GPS location, and the data flows into your analysis dashboards as soon as the connection returns.
Can it handle focus groups and interviews?
Yes. An Opti Gemba assignment also takes qualitative collection: an audio recording of the exchange, a photo of handwritten interview sheets, or simply pasting your notes. The audio is transcribed, the sheets are transcribed as they stand (illegible passages are flagged, never filled in at random), and the AI then writes a structured summary: themes, points of agreement and disagreement, needs expressed, verbatim quotes. You state the language of the exchange from 230, including most African collection languages, so the transcription does not have to guess it. Recording works offline: nothing is lost if the network is down, and the transcription starts when the connection returns.
How much does it cost?
The trial on this page is free and needs no account: one complete generation so you can judge for yourself. Creating an account is free and needs no card (the Demo plan), which is enough to collect your questionnaire, edit it and export it. The Starter and Pro plans unlock heavy use: several projects, assignments and collections.
Your next survey deserves a real questionnaire
Describe it to the generator: the demo is just above, and it is free.