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The hassle free way to develop online surveys

When you’re on the lookout for a fast and inexpensive way to find out more about your customers, clients or other important group, the internet is transforming the landscape of market research. Often requiring a different design approach to more traditional methods here are some of the guidelines to conducting effective online surveys:

1. What are you trying to discover?
   Well it’s a basic question, but not one to be overlooked. By reviewing the objectives and the actions that are likely to be taken as a result of the survey, you can design valid data collection mechanisms that will deliver the desired result.
   
   
2. What information do you need to warrant the need for the survey?
   Be clear about the information you want to collect, the charts and graphs that you want to produce and to whom and how you plan to output the information
   
   
3. Rank the items according to the value of the topic.
   Revisit the resultant list to ensure the topics are aligned to the objectives identified. Asking the wrong question, won’t solve the problem or issue.
   
   
4. Step back and ask yourself how easy or difficult it is to answer the questions.
   If the questions are too complex, you’ll experience high drop out rates. Online surveys need to be precise, clear and concise. If the questions are difficult, what other ways could you phrase the questions or gather the information?
   
   
5. How can you structure the questionnaire design to provide the robustness you need whilst retaining the interest of the respondent?
   Whether open-ended, multiple choice or constant sum (ratio scale) questions, varying the structure and questionnaire design will retain interest and validate the results. Introducing page breaks (to avoid scrolling), branching and logic to help respondents navigate through each section and automate the routes based upon previously answered questions will help reduce frustration and the time required to complete the survey.
   
   
6. Talk to the respondent
   Add introductory text to explain the project, completion notes and information about where to find the results of the survey when published (if the information is to be shared). Don’t forget to say thank you for taking the time to respond!
   
   
7. Independently review 
   Repeat each stage of the questionnaire. Are all the questions answered? Are the questions unbiased? Could you write the questions more effectively? When you’re satisfied with the result, get some-one to independently check it, before sending it out (or better still complete a short pilot with say 6 to 10 respondents).
   
   
8. Test the length
   The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete and remember; open ended questions count for three multiple choice ones.
   
   
9. Independently review 
   When you’re close to the design of a questionnaire you’ll be surprised at how others may interpret your questions. Find out what they were unsure about. What they didn’t understand and what could or should have been included that wasn’t.
   
   

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