Let’s face it—most of us have clicked into an online survey with good intentions to complete it, only to find ourselves trapped in a maze of typos, endless questions, and bizarre logic. When creating an online survey for your research projects, it’s necessary to put yourself in the participants’ shoes. Creating a great survey doesn’t have to feel like rocket science (or a root canal). This guide will help you get it right and make online surveys fun and engaging.
Do…
Keep It Short and Focused
Respect participants’ time. Aim to keep your online survey concise and relevant to the topic. If it’s too long, respondents may abandon it halfway through. Ideally, surveys should take no more than 5-10 minutes to complete, depending on the complexity. To avoid drop-outs, be honest about the survey length at the start so participants see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Use Clear and Simple Language
Use unbiased, clear language to avoid confusion and leave little room for personal interpretation and incorrect data insertion. Ditch the corporate buzzwords and tech jargon. If your questions need deciphering, it’s time for a rewrite. If the survey is about a technical subject, consider providing brief explanations or definitions for terms that may be unclear.
Use Logical Question Flow
Organize questions in a logical sequence. Group similar topics together and avoid jumping between unrelated subjects. Consider using skip buttons or routing so that respondents only see relevant questions based on previous answers. If I say that I’ve never heard of a certain brand, I don’t want to be asked about its strengths and weaknesses afterward.
Run a Pre-Launch Checkup
Test the survey like your reputation depends on it—because it does! Whether it’s typos, wrong routing, or broken buttons, fix it before the world sees it. Consider running a pilot test with a small group to get feedback or exporting dummy data to check your routing logic.
Think Mobile First
Many participants will access your survey via mobile devices—this is the case for 37-40% of participants in our surveys. Ensure that your survey is mobile-friendly and works across different screen sizes and browsers. There is nothing worse than an image being too small to view properly or an answer option list not quite fitting onto your screen, leading to frustration and likely inaccurate data.
Consider Gamification
Gamification in online surveys can significantly enhance user engagement and response rates by incorporating game-like elements such as small progress-related rewards like fun badges at completion, timed challenges, and interactive tasks. However, it’s important to strike the right balance. While gamification can make surveys more enjoyable, it should not overshadow the core purpose of gathering accurate data. Overuse of flashy elements or irrelevant rewards can distract participants, leading to biased responses or survey fatigue. Therefore, gamification should be used thoughtfully, aligning with the survey’s goals and maintaining a focus on clarity and simplicity.
Don’t…
Make Participation Compulsory
Make participation voluntary and offer an option to opt out if they wish. Especially when sending out customer surveys, you want to ensure that customers do not feel overwhelmed and pressured and can opt out of any further communications about the current survey. This will increase trust and improve response quality. Ensure respondents can skip questions if they don’t feel comfortable answering or add “Don’t Know/Prefer not to answer” options where applicable.
Confuse Participants with Too Many or Wrong Answer Options
For multiple-choice questions, avoid providing an excessive number of options. This can overwhelm participants and decrease the quality of responses. If you’re offering a “Likert scale” (e.g., Strongly disagree to Strongly agree), don’t overcomplicate it with too many options—five should be sufficient in most cases. Keep your answer option wording consistent with the question wording, and make sure scales are explained to avoid cultural bias/differences—make it clear whether 1 is the higher or lower end of the scale (typically lower).
Ignore Ethics and Consent
Transparency isn’t just nice—it’s non-negotiable. Spell out what you’re collecting and why, or risk your survey heading straight to the junk folder. Also, bear in mind that while demographic questions (e.g., age, gender) can be useful, asking too many can make the survey feel invasive. Keep them to a minimum and only ask for information that is necessary. Never share personal information or responses with third parties without explicit permission. Always comply with data privacy laws, such as GDPR or CCPA, and inform participants about their rights (e.g., right to withdraw, how their data will be used).
Forget to Check for Accessibility
Ensure that your survey is accessible to people with disabilities, including those who use screen readers or other assistive technologies. Include alternative text for images, use high-contrast color schemes (1 in 12 men globally are colorblind vs. 1 in 200 women), and avoid using captchas that might be hard for people with disabilities to navigate.
Rely on One Survey Type or Format
Avoid using only one format for every question (e.g., all multiple choice or all rating scales). Variety can help keep participants engaged and collect more accurate data. For example, mix question types like multiple choice, typed text answers, ranking, and rating scales, where appropriate.
Forget Data Quality Checks
When talking about online surveys, we can’t ignore the reality of invalid, low-quality data, especially due to AI. Include checks like progress indicators, mandatory questions, or “attention check” questions (e.g., selecting a specified shape in a list of shapes) to ensure respondents are paying attention. To catch fraudulent participants, you can also include time stamps, flat-lining detection, and other automated tools. On the other hand, be cautious about automatically discarding responses based on suspicious patterns; a careful manual data check should always be conducted to understand the full context.
This guide could probably go on for another 10 paragraphs, but I should take my own advice at this point and leave you with a clear, concise summary of points to watch out for. Creating a stellar online survey doesn’t have to be a shot in the dark. Stick to these tips, and you’ll be gathering insights like a pro—no typos, tears, or confusion required!
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