Why Surveys Work
Surveys are an effective tool for gathering data from a large audience. Consider surveys as the equivalent of snapping a quick picture of a large assembly. Surveys let you record the general trends and preferences among many people, therefore giving a sense of the “big picture” of your user base rather than concentrating on each individual’s particular narrative. A survey can help you find out how the broad user population views a new product feature or possible significant design redesign. Surveys allow you to measure comments—that is, knowledge of not just what users believe but also the frequency of that belief.
For instance, suppose you are creating meal plan software and wish to determine how much user customizing matters. You might design a poll asking, “How important is it for you to customize your meal plans?” and offer a 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important) scale. Should 80% of consumers react with a 4 or 5, you have good proof that customizing should be given top attention. Surveys may compile this kind of quantifiable information, enabling you to support your design choices with strong numbers.
Building an Effective Survey
Designing a survey is not as easy as gathering many questions. Your survey should be carefully organized, targeted, and user-friendly if you want significant and consistent answers. These are some fundamental guidelines for creating a successful survey:
Start with Clear Objectives
Clearly state what you hope to get out of your survey before crafting any questions. Are you seeking to know overall usage patterns, compile comments on a particular feature, or gauge user satisfaction? If you are gauging interest in a possible new app feature, for example, your survey should concentrate on questions about that function and steer clear of irrelevant questions that can skew the findings.
Use Simple, Direct Language
Steer clear of technical words, jargon, and anything that can perplex consumers. An excellent survey question should be quickly understandable and easy to comprehend. For instance, rather than asking, “Do you use the integrated API of our app for third-party app sync?” Said another way, “Do you use the option to connect our app with other apps you use?”
Ask One Question at a Time
Compound inquiries could have vague responses. For instance, “Do you find our app easy to use and helpful?” really asks two separate questions: helpfulness and simplicity of use. Users who find the software simple but not really useful could not know how to react. To get more accurate answers, break it instead into two independent questions.
Avoid Leading Questions
A leading question drives the respondent toward a specific response, therefore biasing the results. Rather than probing, “How much do you enjoy our new feature?” Ask a more impartial question, such as, “How satisfied are you with our new feature?” Leading questions could produce biased data, therefore compromising the validity of your survey results.
Keep It Short and Focused
Users have more chance to finish the survey the fewer questions you ask. Every question should directly advance your objectives for research, so, try not to add pointless ones. For people taking a 5–10 question survey, for instance, the completion rate usually is higher than that of a longer one—especially on mobile devices.
Test Before Launching
To find possible problems with question clarity, structure, or flow, run your survey among a small test group or a few team members. By helping you to pinpoint areas where people can become confused, this “soft launch” will enable you to make changes before publishing it to a bigger audience.
When to Use Surveys
When you have to find trends or preferences among a big user base, surveys are a great tool. They are especially useful for providing objective data that supports hypotheses, gauges interest, or guides architectural decisions. Here are some particular situations in which polls might offer insightful information:
Testing Demand for a New Feature
Assume you are thinking of including a social sharing feature in a photo editing tool but are not sure how much people will demand it. By directly asking consumers, “How interested would you be in sharing your edited photos on social media?” a survey can help to provide some answers. Should a significant portion of users show interest, you have evidence to support giving this product top priority.
Evaluating User Satisfaction
With your product, surveys can show general customer happiness that can operate as a standard for the next enhancements. A Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey, for example, asks participants to score, on a 0 to 10 range, how likely they are to suggest your product to others. If your score is low, the result could indicate problems worth looking at more closely using usability testing or interviews.
Tracking Usage Patterns
Surveys allow one to learn how people engage with particular functions. For a project management application, for instance, a poll might probe, “How often do you use the ‘Task Reminder’ feature?” Include choices like “Daily,” “Weekly,” “Occasionally,” or “Never.” Should a sizable fraction of users choose “Never,” you might wish to look into why they aren’t using the function and whether more prominent placement or upgrades are needed.
Collecting Demographic Information
A survey might gather demographic information, including age, region, or employment role, if you want your product customized for particular user groups. Products that must appeal to particular target markets notably benefit from this information since it helps you to better grasp your user base and match your design to their particular requirements.
Gauging Overall Product Sentiment
Occasionally all you want to know is if your users are typically annoyed or happy. By means of a brief survey comprising a question like “How satisfied are you with your experience using our app?” with responses ranging from “Very Satisfied” to “Very Unsatisfied,” you can clearly assess user sentiment and assist you in ascertaining if you are on the correct path or require notable changes.
Example: Using Surveys to Justify a Design Decision
Assume you are developing a mobile banking app and are debating eliminating the main menu’s “Transaction Search” capability to simplify the interface. You question your users in a poll before deciding what to do: “How often do you use the ‘Transaction Search’ feature?” among choices including “Daily,” “Weekly,” “Monthly,” and “Never.” Removing the feature will cause a lot of inconvenience for most of your users when the survey findings reveal that seventy percent of them use it daily or weekly. Rather than completely discounting the function, you can choose to rearrange or enhance it.
Clear, statistically supported insights from surveys give a methodical, scalable approach to gather user input over a large audience, therefore guiding sensible design decisions. Knowing how to construct and apply surveys will help you make better decisions that fit the demands and tastes of your consumers.
