How to blow your survey out of the water

1. SURVEYS
Maite Dalila Rodriguez
UX Designer
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Twitter @maitedalila

2. Every person that completes your
survey is equivalent to UX gold

3. @maitedalila
BEFORE YOU START
What issues and topics do you need to explore?
Will a survey help me for this problem?
How will the survey help answer the problem?
How will I reach the target users?
Who are the right participants?
How should you conduct the interview? In person? By phone? Online?
How will you capture the data?

4. @maitedalila
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
How are users currently attempting to solve the problem? (How are
users approaching the problem and what other tools are they using)
What frustrates them about their current process?
What other activities go hand-in-hand with this problem?

5. @maitedalila
WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND OUT
Ask behaviors, not feelings.
Find out what they know about the subject.
What they think about it?
What do they need to do before and after performing each task?
What information and feedback do they need to perform the task?
What do they find easy / difficult?
Where do they tend to make errors?
What other people do they need to interact with to accomplish the task?

6. @maitedalila
TOPICS
Person’s Background
Occupation
Their use of technology
Their goals
Their pain points
Their motivation

7. @maitedalila
CHECKLIST
1. Are all the questions relevant to the specific problem?
2. Do you keep the language simple and direct? (Spell check!)
3. Are you asking only one question at a time?
4. Did you cover all possible answer choices?
5. Is there an “other” or “prefer not to answer option”
6. Is there any unnecessary questions? (Keep it short!)
7. Are there any biased/leading questions?
8. Are the rating scales specific and thought out?
9. Avoid short responses

8. Your survey is very low on
a user’s priority list.
Let’s be honest, its probably not even on the list

9. @maitedalila
CONVINCE THEM TO TAKE THE SURVEY
Participant thoughts:
“What is this?”
“Mmm.. Why would I take this survey?”
“Ugh… How long is this going to take?”
“So, what do I get out of it?”

10. @maitedalila
CONVINCE THEM TO TAKE THE SURVEY
Make it conversational.
Keep it short.
Let them know how long it will take.
Expiration date.
Give them the bigger picture.
Make it look pretty.

11. @maitedalila
KEEP IT CONVERSATIONAL
Humanize things a little bit.
Respond with an affirmative word
after they answer.
EX. Great, Thanks , Brilliant etc…
*** You are asking human beings not
just collecting random data from an
unknown source.
1

12. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE
Nice to meet you! What sex are you?

13. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

14. @maitedalila
LET THEM KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE
Be honest and open.
Build Trust.
***Gently guide them through an
enjoyable experience instead of
throwing them in the deep end and
robbing them blind (of their time).
2

15. @maitedalila
KEEP IT SHORT
Rule of thumb, no more than 15
questions.
3

16. @maitedalila
EXPIRATION DATE
Let people know when you created it
so they do not feel its outdated.
Create a deadline so it gives a sense
of urgency when it needs to be
completed by
4

17. @maitedalila
BIGGER PICTURE
Give them information why you are
conducting this survey.
Keep it short and sweet.
*** Small step for man, big step for
humanity.
5

18. @maitedalila
MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY6
Font matters.
Color matters.
Images matter.
Many studies show that font, color
and imagery have a direct affect to
your mood.
This way they are more willing to give
you a rich response.

19. Let them know they have the
chance to be brutally honest.
Who doesn’t like to speak their mind?
if all else fails….

20. No one does anything for
free.

21. @maitedalila
WITTY COPY EXAMPLE
If you can spare a few minutes (no longer we promise) to fill in our survey,
we’d love you even more than we already do. Which is quite a lot really.
Whether you were overcome with joy or blinded by rage with your order, we
want to hear all about it.
For metaphorically rubbing our back, we’ll tenderly massage yours by
entering you into our monthly prize draw to win a 50 GBP Firebox gift
voucher for sharing your thoughts with us here:
http://www.firebox.com/admin/purchasesurvey?id=9b2c9a89-cc96-46a9-
bfcd-bb6fce327326

22. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

23. @maitedalila
SOURCING PARTICIPANTS
Online recruitment service
Placing a banner on your website.
Sending email invitation to
subscribers / users.
Social media channels (Twitter,
Linkedin, Facebook)
Forums / Blogs

24. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

25. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

26. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

27. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

28. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE

29. end on a happy note

30. @maitedalila
EXAMPLE COPY
Thank you.
How simple was that. You completed
the challenge with flying colors and
there is only one way to show you
how grateful we are.

31. @maitedalila
INCENTIVE EXAMPLE - NO MONEY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI

32. @maitedalila
EXERCISE
List 3- 5 the issues and topics do you
need to explore.
Write a question for each one with all
the possible answers.
Write a catchy sentence (no more
than 140 characters) to get people to
click on your survey

33. @maitedalila
SUGGESTED READING
5 Tips for Creating a Great Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/blog/en/blog/2011/07/13/create-a-great-survey/
How to Ask About User Satisfaction in a Survey
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/11/how-to-ask-about-user-satisfaction-in-a-
survey.php
7 Customer Survey Examples [With Critiques] http:// http://blog.clientheartbeat.com/customer-
survey-examples/

34. @maitedalila
SUGGESTED READING
How To Write Fun and Engaging Survey Questions
http://thewordchef.com/2013/01/how-to-write-fun-and-engaging-survey-questions/
15 useful user feedback questions for online surveys
http://www.uxforthemasses.com/online-survey-questions/

35. @maitedalila
SUGGESTED READING
Getting real survey answers out of smart, busy people
https://medium.com/@mia/getting-real-survey-answers-out-of-smart-busy-
people-778f5a98e4c6
Are You Asking the Right Survey Questions?
http://www.uxforthemasses.com/online-survey-questions/