Survey Design Best Practices: How to Create a Good One to Maximize Results

When people answer surveys, what they do not realize is that it took so much work and effort to complete. But did you know a great survey that reveals clear results starts with proper planning?

Creating a survey might seem like a straightforward task since you've got questions and you want answers. But that is not the case.

Anyone who has crafted a survey will tell you it is more complicated than listing down a few questions. Survey design is an art. Whatever your goal is, a well-designed survey can be your ticket to information. That said, a poorly designed survey can lead you down a rabbit hole of confusion.

Knowing good survey design techniques gets responses that yield meaningful results. Everyone's attention spans are shrinking fast so creating a survey that stands out is no small feat.

Table of contents:

●  Define Your Goals Crystal Clear

●  Know Your Audience Like the Back of Your Hand

●  Mix Up Your Question Types

●  Keep It Short

●  Test, Test, and Test Again

●  Avoid Leading Questions

●  Make Your Survey Flow Like a Good Conversation

●  Use Visual Design

●  Plan for Analysis from the Start

Define Your Goals Crystal Clear

Before you dive headfirst into crafting questions, zero in on your survey's purpose. What's the big picture here?

Nail it down and write it somewhere you can't miss. This goal will be your guide throughout the survey design process.

After this, break it down into smaller objectives to help you stay on track. Remember that a wandering survey is like a ship without a compass so you might end up somewhere interesting but it probably won't be where you meant to go. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Know Your Audience Like the Back of Your Hand

You wouldn't talk to your grandma the same way you chat with your best friend. Well the same goes for survey design.

Tailoring your survey to your target audience is needed to help you choose the right language.

It’s also very important to study your audience's demographics or even know what their interests are. When you do this, you can easily craft questions that resonate. Understanding your audience also means you can anticipate potential biases which will allow you to word questions carefully.

Mix Up Your Question Types

Variety can make way for an engaging survey design so throw in a mix of multiple-choice or rating scales and even open-ended questions.

Remember to not just mix things up for the sake of it. Balance is so important though since too many open-ended questions might exhaust your respondents. In the same way, an endless string of multiple-choice questions could bore them.

Keep It Short

Everyone is busy these days and the last thing people want is to get stuck in a survey that feels so long.

With these tips in mind you must keep your survey short enough that respondents can complete it in one sitting.

Ask yourself, "Is this question absolutely necessary to meet my objectives?" If the answer's no, out it goes.

A well-designed short survey often yields better quality data than a lengthy one where respondents get bored and start answering randomly just to finish. Quality over quantity.

Test, Test, and Test Again

Before you release your survey to the world, you must do a test run. Grab a small group of people who represent your target audience and let them take your survey.

Watch these people answer the question. Observe if they are having a hard time or not.

Avoid Leading Questions

Leading questions are the equivalent of putting words in someone's mouth since these sneaky little devils can skew your results. This guides respondents toward a particular answer. Spotting this is easy since all you need to do is to find questions that suggest the right answer.

For example, instead of asking people how much they enjoy your customer service, try asking how would they rate your customer service. There’s a clear difference there since the first one assumes the service was amazing. The second lets the respondents decide for themselves. It's a subtle shift but it can make a difference in your survey results. After all you're not trying to confirm your own beliefs but trying to know the truth.

Make Your Survey Flow Like a Good Conversation

You wouldn't start a conversation by asking about their deepest fears, right? Surveys must first ease into it with some lighter topics.

Good survey design starts with easy non-threatening questions to warm up your respondents, then as they get more comfortable, go to the heavier questions.

Keep in mind that you must also create a logical flow that makes sense to your participants.

You may also group the related questions together. Even using transition statements to guide respondents from one section to another can help.

A pro tip is to save any sensitive questions for the end since by then, respondents are more invested in completing the survey.

Use Visual Design

God survey design is also about how questions are presented. Creating a user-friendly experience that guides respondents smoothly through your survey is integral.

Start with a clean layout to prevent overwhelming your respondent. If you want your respondents to be impressed you must also use consistent formatting like using the same font or color scheme throughout. This will make your survey look more professional.

Do not be intimidated to use visual elements like progress bars to give respondents a sense of how far they've come which can boost completion rates.

But here's the catch - don't go overboard with fancy graphics or animations. They might look cool but they can distract from the main goal.

Plan for Analysis from the Start

A rookie mistake in survey design is creating a survey without thinking about how you're going to analyze the results.

Sure you might end up with something tasty it would not be nice. When you're designing your survey, keep one eye on the analysis phase. Think about how you’ll draw meaningful conclusions.

Good Survey Design Is A Skill

The idea of creating a survey that people enjoy might sound about as likely as finding a unicorn in your backyard. But with these tips in your toolkit, it’s definitely possible.

Creating a stellar survey isn't rocket science. There are some rules to follow but there's also plenty of room for creativity so don't be afraid to experiment. You can even learn from your mistakes.

Every survey you create is a chance to get better at this craft. So if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed, tools like SurveyPluto can be a real lifesaver.