Better usability for survey participants: Tips for designing mobile surveys and surveys!

Online surveys and mobile surveys

In the past decade, the methods of quantitative market research have changed dramatically. Where once pen & paper were the tools of the interviewers, today online surveys dominate. Initially, online questionnaires, which were filled out on a PC with a large screen, predominated. This was clear and easy to fill out. In the meantime, more and more people are using mobile devices, i.e. smartphones or tablet PCs. And surveys are now increasingly being developed for mobile devices. After all, the people behind these devices can be reached at any time, and the devices are almost always ready for use. And mobile devices now account for more than half of Internet traffic. So it stands to reason that market research is becoming increasingly mobile!

Tips for mobile market research:
How to optimize surveys for smartphones and tablets

Tip 1: Focus

Focus your survey and do not mix too many topics and questions. People used to like to do this because they wanted to gain as much information as possible with just one survey. This definitely no longer works with mobile surveys! So don't ask too many questions, because the next tram or call in the waiting room will definitely come soon. The survey would have to be interrupted, and who knows whether it will actually end at some point! People's attention spans are continually decreasing.

Tip 2: Clear question types

Use only or predominantly question types that display well and clearly on mobile devices. For example, prefer drop-down menus rather than a list of radio buttons for a choice question. For example, use emoticons rather than written text in a rating scale.

Tip 3: No irrelevant questions

Use sophisticatedQuestion logicsand jump labels. For example, if a question is irrelevant based on previous response behavior, avoid displaying that question. This will help respondents get through the mobile questionnaire faster and increase the likelihood of completing it to the end.

Tip 4: As few free text answers as possible

Use as few open text questions as possible, and only when absolutely necessary, because entering free text on mobile devices can be very tedious. You also run the risk that the data from a nearly completed questionnaire will not be sent at the end because survey participants do not feel like filling out the free text portion at the end of the mobile questionnaire and then simply close it.

Tip 5: Short questions

Ask short, concise questions. Get to the point quickly. Because the cognitive grasp of long, convoluted and awkwardly formulated question sentences, for example in public spaces where distractions are high and concentration is low, is quickly impaired. The same applies to the answers. These should also be concise and precise.

Tip 6: Pay attention to loading times

Pay attention to the loading times of your mobile questionnaire! Too large images and the embedding of videos or the use of slow servers can have a detrimental effect on the response rate. After all, free Wi-Fi access is not yet available in every corner of the world.

Tip 7: Interactive survey mode

To improve the usability of the mobile questionnaire, you should ensure that survey participants do not have to swipe around on the display after answering a question to get to the next question. It is therefore best to use the automatic forwarding that QuestionPro offers when a question has been answered. Here you can find an example: Interactive survey mode

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KEYWORDS OF THIS BLOG POST

Survey | Smartphone | Tablet PC | Mobile | survey