I once received a survey from a project management SaaS I was using. The questions were poorly worded, asking me to rate features I had never used. The survey dragged on, with repetitive questions and no progress bar.
I was frustrated and — no surprise there — abandoned the survey halfway through. Unfortunately, this experience is not uncommon. Poorly designed surveys can leave respondents confused, bored, or unwilling to invest the time required to complete them.
Good surveys, on the other hand, are seldom forgettable. The best experience you can aim for as the creator of a survey is for the respondent to a) finish and submit the survey and b) think, “Well, that was tolerable.”
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Creating a proper survey starts with choosing the right platform. For example, if you're trying to survey your Facebook fans, your survey should probably live on Facebook. On the other hand, if you want to email your customers a survey, you'll want to make one using Google Forms.
Additionally, think about how you want to use the data. For example, if you're collecting a ton of data that you want to break out and analyze, you should create your survey using Microsoft Forms so you can download the results as a spreadsheet.
I want to survey my bakery customers about their favorite pastries and collect their email addresses for future promotions. I'll create my survey using Google Forms and email it to my customer list.
Focus on what‘s really important. What data do you need to make your argument, launch your campaign, or change a product? Extraneous "good to know" questions bog down surveys and dim their focus. Remember that your survey respondents don’t really care about what is interesting to you or your company — they care about how quickly they can finish the survey.
It's important to note that drop-offs happen more with longer surveys. So what would your manager prefer: A nice and thorough survey with only 15 completed responses, or a shorter, tighter survey with 200 responses? Probably the latter.
Surveys are getting shorter, and the ideal length for a survey is 11 questions.
If your survey is on the longer side, guide your respondents through the sections. Let them know what you‘re going to ask them. Give them cues when they’re almost done, something like (“In this last section, we're going to ask you …”).
If your survey tool allows it (Google Forms does), show them a progress bar to know how much of the survey is left. And always thank them for taking the time to provide feedback.
I‘ll keep my bakery survey focused on gathering data about customer pastry preferences and contact information. I’ll avoid adding any unnecessary questions to keep the survey short and minimize drop-offs. I'll also let respondents know upfront that the survey will only take a few minutes of their time.
Because of psychological bias, respondents tend to answer yes when asked a “yes” or “no” question (unless you ask if they've done something wrong).
Instead of asking directly, try to get at the answer in a more roundabout way. For example, give them a list of options and ask if they use or know any of the items listed. Only let respondents move on if they happen to choose the item(s) you are interested in.
Then, you can be sure the people who answer your question are more likely to be honest with their responses.
Instead of asking, “Do you like croissants?” in my bakery survey, I'll provide a list of pastries and ask respondents to choose their favorites. This will give me more accurate data on their preferences without the bias of a yes/no question.
Survey logic allows you to create different paths through the survey based on a respondent's answers. This helps make the survey more relevant and engaging for each individual. For example, if a respondent indicates they have used your product, you can show them more detailed questions about their experience.
If they haven't used your product, you can skip those questions and ask about their general needs or impressions instead. Most survey platforms offer logic features. Use them to tailor the survey flow, skipping irrelevant questions and diving deeper when appropriate based on previous answers. This not only provides a better experience but also yields more insightful data.
In my bakery survey, I‘ll use logic to show different questions based on the pastries respondents select as their favorites. For example, if someone chooses croissants, I’ll ask follow-up questions about their preferred type of croissant (butter, chocolate, almond, etc.). This will give me more detailed insights without burdening those who didn't select croissants.
There‘s also a first-choice bias in surveys, where people automatically click the first answer listed. It’s prevalent in “select all that apply” type questions — especially in customer satisfaction surveys where customers may be more inclined to quickly select the first positive or negative option they see, rather than carefully considering all the available choices.
Randomizing your options helps combat a survey taker‘s tendency to check the first option they’re given.
Most survey tools will allow you to anchor options such as “Don't know” or “None of the above” at the bottom of the list and exclude them from randomization.
When I ask my bakery customers to choose their favorite pastries, I‘ll randomize the order of the options. This way, croissants won’t always be listed first, ensuring I get a more accurate representation of preferences. I'll anchor “Other” at the bottom of the list.
Providing an incentive can increase response rates and show respondents that you value their time and input. The incentive should be relevant to your audience and proportional to the length and complexity of the survey. For example, you could offer a discount code, a chance to win a prize or a free resource related to the survey topic. Communicate any associated terms and conditions clearly.
To encourage participation in my bakery survey, I‘ll offer a 10% discount code to all respondents who complete the survey. I’ll mention this incentive in the survey invitation and on the welcome page of the survey itself. The discount code will be provided on the thank you page at the end of the survey.
Asking leading questions can influence your respondents to answer a certain way, which is particularly problematic when designing customer satisfaction surveys where the goal is to gather honest and unbiased feedback. If you publish your results where the question is visible, your readers may question the validity of your data.
Here's an extreme example to show you what I mean:
“Don't you think product X is amazing in the following ways? Yes, it is amazing because of x. It's amazing because of y. It's amazing because of z.”
“How would you rate product X on a scale of 1 to 5?”
And if you want to know what specifically they like, you can follow up with people who answer 4 or 5 on why they love it. Of course, you can do that with the people who answer the lower ratings, too. This gives you way more actionable data on what people love about your product and what you need to work on.
Here's an example of a leading question:
Here are two neutral questions that will yield unbiased feedback:
Instead of asking, “Aren't our croissants the best you've ever tasted?” I'll use a neutral tone and ask, “How would you rate the quality of our croissants on a scale of 1 to 5?” I can then follow up with those who gave high or low ratings to gather more specific feedback.
Your survey shouldn’t have more than a few matrices. These are for asking complicated questions — so only use them for important questions.
Additionally, each matrix should have no more than seven row or header options to prevent survey recipients from being visually overwhelmed.
An example of a manageable questionnaire is shown below:
This one, on the other hand, is intimidating:
I‘ll limit my bakery survey to one simple matrix question, asking respondents to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of the bakery (e.g., pastry quality, service, atmosphere) on a scale of 1 to 5. I’ll keep the number of rows and columns manageable to avoid overwhelming respondents.
You may live and breathe your product or industry, but you should not assume your survey respondent knows what you're talking about.
It never hurts to give examples and explain concepts or jargon to educate respondents who are less knowledgeable than you. Likewise, make sure you provide answer options that give your respondents an out if they don't know an answer.
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