Choosing The Right Assessment Types

This article explains the three core assessment types in Brilliant Assessments - Individual, Group/Team, and 360 - and helps you decide which one fits your use case. It also covers add-on features like Timed, Phased, and Assessor that can be layered onto any type.

The Three Core Assessment Types

Every assessment you build in Brilliant Assessments falls into one of three core types. The table below summarizes the key differences.

Individual Assessments

An individual assessment is the simplest type. One person completes the assessment and receives their own report. No cohort setup is required - just build your assessment, share the link, and each respondent gets personalized results.

Best for: Self-assessments, knowledge checks, personality profiles, compliance audits, or any scenario where one person answers and receives individual feedback.

How To Set Up Individual Assessments

Group/Team Assessments

A Group/Team assessment collects responses from multiple people about a shared subject - such as a team, department, project, or concept. Responses are aggregated into a cohort report that shows group-level results.

You can assign roles to respondents (e.g., Manager vs. Team Member) to compare perspectives within the group. If needed, you can also generate individual reports for each respondent in addition to the cohort report.

Best for: Team culture surveys, organizational assessments, project evaluations, or any scenario where multiple people assess the same thing and you want aggregated results.

How To Set Up Group/Team Cohorts (Step-by-step Guide)  |  Applying Best Practices for Group/Team Assessments

360 Assessments

A 360 assessment collects feedback from multiple raters about a specific person (the subject). This is the key difference from Group/Team - the subject is a person, whereas Group/Team cohort has a person as the cohort contact to receive the group report.

The cohort report brings together all rater perspectives, making it easy to identify gaps between how the subject sees themselves and how others see them. As with Group/Team, you can also generate individual reports for each respondent if needed.

Best for: Leadership development, performance reviews, manager feedback, or any scenario where you want multi-rater feedback on an individual.

Setting Up 360 Assessments  |  Applying Best Practices for 360 Assessments

Tracking Change Over Time (Iterations)

Iterations are not a separate assessment type - they are a feature you can layer onto any of the three core types to track progress over time.

Individual Iterations (Single Respondent Cohort)

The same person retakes the assessment at different points in time. The system matches responses by email address and generates reports showing how scores have changed between iterations. You enable this by turning on Enable Iterative Feedback in Cohort Settings.

Setting Up Iterations for Individual Feedback Reporting (Single Respondent Cohort)

Group/Team & 360 Iterations

The same cohort is reassessed as a group. You can initiate subsequent iterations manually or set them up on an automated schedule.

Setting Up Assessment Iterations

Add-on Features

These features can be combined with any core assessment type to extend functionality.

• Timed - Add a countdown timer to your assessment. Commonly used for exams, certifications, and knowledge checks where time limits are required. 
  How To Set Up Timed Assessment
• Phased - Split the assessment into two phases that can be completed by different people or at different times. Useful when one person fills in background information and another completes the main assessment. 
  Setting Up Phased Assessments
• Assessor - Add a human reviewer who scores or comments on responses before the final report is generated. The assessor reviews each submission, adds their evaluation, and then the report is produced. 
  Using Assessor Functionality

Quick Decision Guide

Use these questions to determine which assessment type you need:

• Does one person complete the assessment and get their own report? 
  Use an Individual assessment.
• Do multiple people answer about a team, project, or concept? 
  Use a Group/Team assessment.
• Do multiple people provide feedback on a specific person? 
  Use a 360 assessment.
• Do you need to track the same assessment over time? 
  Add Iterations to any of the above.
• Do you need a time limit? 
  Add Timed.
• Do you need someone to review responses before the report goes out? 
  Add Assessor.
• Do you need two people to complete the assessment at different stages? 
  Add Phased.

FAQs

Common questions about choosing an assessment type.

Next Steps

Ready to start building? Jump to the setup guide for your chosen assessment type:

• How To Set Up Individual Assessments
• How To Set Up Group/Team Cohorts (Step-by-step Guide)
• Setting Up 360 Assessments
• Cohorts Overview & Setup