While a lot of thought is normally put into the question involved in a survey, the design of it can sometimes be an afterthought. However, if you are looking to create a great survey, the design is extremely important and can have a major influence on whether or not your project is a success! The below survey design tips will help you collect the high-quality data that you need for your project.
How to Collect Your Data
The way in which you are collecting your data can heavily influence the design of it. While phone surveys and in-person interviews will require a heavy emphasis on the interview’s words, online surveys tend to rely more on the question wording and design.
When creating online surveys, you can’t react off of body language to help convey your question’s meaning, so the phrasing, colour choice and layout all play crucial parts in influencing your final data. We would recommend that you check out a site such as GoCanvas.com as this system allows you to create online surveys in the form of an app, which could help keep important data on one useful platform. Here, you can design and build your own mobile app and can edit them at any time without being bogged down in programming and coding.
Choosing a Survey Question Format
Not all surveys are created in the same format. You can choose whether to opt for quantitative survey questions or qualitative survey questions. A quantitative survey will allow respondents to choose from a narrow assortment of available responses. Qualitative surveys, on the other hand, allow people to answer questions in their own words. Both surveys can serve different goals, but will also both have their own limitations. It is important to weigh up the pros and cons of both and make a decision based on which you think will give you a more successful survey.
How to Word Your Survey Questions
Now that you have the questions for your survey, it is important to word them correctly so that it doesn’t sound overcomplicated but still explains your meaning well. People can be easily put off from answering questions if they are filled with technical words and inaccurate terminology. We would also recommend that you don’t ask two questions at once as this could lead to inaccurate information being provided.
How to Order Your Questions
Once you have worded your question correctly, you will then need to work out in what order it is best to place them. Surveys should always have a logical flow and you don’t want to confuse people by jumping around from topic to topic. This can even lead to respondents abandoning surveys altogether! Test out your survey once you feel you have a good question order in place and then make any appropriate changes based on how they answer.
Visual Design
Finally, with your survey, you will want to make sure that you are consistent with the design and layout. For example, the font size and colour should be consistent throughout so as not to confuse your respondents.
