Speaker 1: Hello all. Welcome to this webinar titled The Art of Question Design, Crafting Effective Surveys for Maximum Response. So I'm Rini Shirley from Zoho Survey and I'll be your presenter today. We are thrilled to have each one of you join us from different corners of the globe, united by a common curiosity. How do we ask the right questions in the right way? All right. So let's start by acknowledging a simple yet powerful reality. Surveys are the unsung heroes of a data-driven age. They help us gather customer insights, measure employee satisfaction, collect vital feedback, and refine our business strategy. But here's a question. How many times have all we've been put off by a survey that's too long, confusing, or just irrelevant? That is exactly why we're here today, to understand how to ask questions better. In this session, we'll explore different question types. But this isn't about asking questions. We'll learn the psychology behind how questions are framed and how this framing can encourage honest and thoughtful responses. We'll also get into some hands-on tips to ensure your survey questions are effective and engaging. So whether you are new to the field of survey design or looking to refine your skills, there's something here for you today. First, what makes a survey truly tick? The questions, of course. There is the familiar territory of common question types. These are the ones you see all the time, the straightforward types. Then it gets even more interesting. There are some unique types of questions that can unlock deeper and more nuanced insights. This way, you get to know a range of question types, both common and uncommon, so that you can craft surveys that don't just ask, but truly engage and reveal. Under common question types, the most frequently used for surveys is multiple choice questions. These questions are easy for customers to answer and straightforward for you to analyze. These are handy when you want to narrow the range of responses. Then to understand customer sentiments more deeply, we use rating scale questions. They ask respondents to rate something on a predefined scale, like 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. This scale might measure satisfaction, frequency, loyalty, or quality. They are highly versatile and offer quantifiable data. Then for a richer and more thorough feedback, open-ended questions are key. Asking something like what improvements would you suggest for a product allow customers to give detail and specific feedback. They're great for deep dives into complex topics, though they do require more effort to answer and to analyze. We then have ranking questions. They are particularly useful for prioritizing certain aspects you would like to assess. For instance, let's take business strategies. You might ask business clients to rank the importance of various service features. This helps you understand what aspects of your service or product are most valued. Also, understanding where your audience comes from is crucial. And that's where demographic questions come in. These could include queries about age, industry or business size. Such information is essential for tailoring your marketing strategies and understanding your customer base better. Moving on, we have dichotomous questions. They offer clear binary insights. Simple yes or no question like have you used our online platform provide quick and straightforward data. This is useful for initial market analysis or filtering responses. Furthermore, matrix questions are great for comparative analysis across multiple factors. Here assessing employee opinions on different aspects of your workplace using the same response scale provides a comprehensive view of your business. But be cautious of overuse to prevent survey fatigue. Now we're going to explore some slightly less common survey question types. These unique types can unlock deeper insights and offer a fresh perspective on data collection. So let's begin with continuous sum questions. Consider this, you have 100 points to allocate across several business characteristics, such as product quality, innovation, customer service, etc. This is similar to budgeting except for priorities. This method is excellent for determining the importance that respondents place on various items. For example, if clients choose product quality over customer service, this indicates where their genuine value lies. Let's discuss a more formal type of question, the signature one. This type may appear out of place in a survey. Yet, it has a specific purpose, including a signature can improve the survey seriousness, it may cause respondents to think more thoroughly about their responses, because they are placing the signature on their ideas. It's especially important in situations where consent is required, such as market research involving sensitive data. Next up, we have an interactive and versatile format, the file upload questions. This request enables firms to acquire many data types, including images, documents, and even videos. For instance, a client posting a photo of a well used product can demonstrate real world usage and durability. It offers visual insights that can be extremely beneficial for product development and user understanding. Furthermore, let's talk about type that's more about guiding than asking the heading description. They're not asking anything, but play a crucial role in setting the context of your service. How you phrase these can impact how respondents perceive and answer the following questions. It's subtle, but significant in steering the entire narrative of your survey. Lastly, let's add a visual element with picture choice questions. Imagine being asked to choose between images of different product designs. It's engaging, it's visual, and often it's more intuitive than text. This format can be particularly effective when you're looking for feedback on design elements, branding, or even when trying to understand some aesthetic preferences. And this can be a goldmine for creative industries. Awesome. So we have set the stage with different types of question formats. Let's shift the focus to a more nuanced aspect of surveys. The psychology behind question design. It's fascinating how the way we frame questions, the order in which they are presented, and even the choice of words can significantly influence the responses we receive. And that is what we learn about in this segment. If a survey asks, don't you agree smartphones are distracting? Your immediate response would be a big yes. But here's the twist. This question subtly nudges you towards a particular answer, because of this little thing called confirmation bias. It's a mental shortcut where we favor information that aligns with our beliefs. Besides confirmation bias, there are several others at play in surveys. We have the anchoring bias. It's like throwing an anchor that sets your judgment point. For instance, if a survey question asks, how satisfied are you with your current job? On a scale of one to 10, considering the average is seven, your answer might hover around that seven, influenced by this anchor. Then there is availability heuristic. This one's about how easily something comes to mind. Say a survey asks about the most pressing world issues right after a major climate change summit. Chances are, you'll think of environmental factors first, even if you normally would worry about other topics. And then don't forget the bandwagon effect. It's human nature to want to fit in. If a survey implies that most people support policy X, you might lean towards agreeing, just to go with the crowd. So in framing survey questions, we need to sidestep these biases. This means avoiding leading language and not anchoring responses with specific examples, or popular opinions. It's a balancing act, actually. That being said, we all know words are powerful. And in surveys, there can be the difference between clarity and confusion. So for example, we are exploring public opinion on a new park. Asking, do you support the costly construction of a new park versus do you support the development of new community park can give you vastly different responses. The first question emphasizes cost, potentially tilting options negatively, while the second focuses on community benefit. This is why we emphasize on clear, neutral and concise wording. A goal is to reach the respondents true opinions. Next we have response formats. They shape the information we gather. They're like the containers for a survey responses. Each format has a specific role. Imagine a survey asking about favorite ice cream flavors. If it's a multiple choice question with only four options, what happens if your favorite is mint chocolate chip? And it's not listed here, right? That's a limitation. On the flip side, open ended questions lets you write an essay on mint chocolate chip, which is long and unnecessary. So what can we do? The optimal solution in this case, is to provide common flavor options and give an other text box to let users write in any unique flavor they like. It's all about matching the format to your service purpose. Okay, now ever noticed how your answer to a question might change based on previous questions? That is context at play. For example, if a survey first asks about your experience with traffic congestion, and then about your opinion on public transportation, your feeling from the first question might influence this answer of the second question. You might lean more towards supporting public transport impacted by traffic problems. To outsmart these framing effects, we need to be strategic. While designing surveys, each questions should stand alone, clear and unbiased. All right, now we've understood how people think and feel when they're responding to questions. Let's transition into the practical side of things. It's great to know the why behind respondent behaviors, but equally crucial is the how. How do we apply this understanding to create better surveys? Here are some actionable steps that you can implement right away to craft clear and engaging questions. The first step is to keep questions simple and clear. Because we want everyone, regardless of their background, to easily understand what we're asking. So let's avoid technical jargon and complex phrases. For instance, instead of asking, what is your level of agreement with the proposition that a service fulfills your requisite? Let's simplify it to how satisfied are you with the service on a scale of one to five. Remember, simplicity is key to getting the most accurate responses. Our goal is to gather honest and unbiased feedback. So it's crucial that our questions don't hint at what we think the right answer should be. For example, instead of asking something suggestive like, a new product is great, don't you think? We should frame it neutrally. What are your thoughts on a new product? This approach encourages genuine feedback without imposing our own biases. It's all about giving respondents the freedom to express their true opinions. Open ended questions are a fantastic tool for gathering detailed feedback. But they can also be time consuming and overwhelming for respondents if overused. We should limit open ended questions to areas where we need depth. The goal is to engage our audience, not exhaust them. As a general guideline, if your survey is primarily quantitative, aim for around 10 to 20% of open ended questions. If it's qualitative, you might have more questions, but always consider respondent fatigue and your capacity to analyze the data before you include them in your surveys. Skip logic in surveys guides respondents to the questions that matter the most. For instance, imagine you're running a survey about a mobile app. You can start with a question like, do you use a mobile app? The answer is yes, the survey takes them to questions about the user experience. But if they say no, it skips those and might ask why haven't they used it? Or what could encourage them to try? This way, each respondent gets a personalized survey journey, keeping it relevant and engaging. Moving on, double barrel questions are those that ask about two things at once, which can confuse respondents and skew results. For instance, are you satisfied with the product quality and price is problematic because someone might be happy with the quality, but not the price. It's better to split this into two questions. One about product quality and the other about price. This way, we give clear, distinct feedback on each aspect, which is far more valuable for our analysis. When dealing with sensitive topics, ensuring anonymity is key to getting honest feedback. We should always reassure our respondents that the privacy is protected. This reassurance encourages openness and honesty, which is crucial for gathering meaningful data on sensitive issues.

Speaker 2: Lastly, keeping a survey short and engaging is crucial.

Speaker 1: People are more likely to complete shorter surveys, so we must respect their time. Let's start a survey with an assurance like this survey will take just three minutes of your time, but your insights are incredibly valuable to us. Keeping it concise and straightforward increases the chance of completion and ensures that we get a good response rate. It's all about making the survey experience as pleasant and hassle-free as possible for our respondents. All right, everyone. So that's about it. You've understood the art of crafting effective survey questions. It's been a deep dive into making our surveys, not just tools for gathering data, but channels for meaningful conversations. As we wrap up, I want to extend an invitation. Here are our contact details. You can follow us on social media to never miss regular updates, insights, and tips. And if you have any specific questions or need a tailored demo, please drop us an email. Our team is dedicated to providing the support you need to make your survey successful. Thank you, each and every one of you, for bringing your energy to this session. Here's to making every survey effective and engaging. Until next time, happy surveying. Thank you.