Advice to Vendors and their Followup Surveys
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Every now and then I receive a survey from a vendor/institution/etc. asking me if I would please fill out a survey for them. On occasion, I'm in a benevolent mood and follow their link. My advice to the people who pay for the survey (and by proxy, to those who create them): If you ask a question, allow for the user to not answer - either explicitly, such as a radio button with "no answer" or "not applicable" or allow blanks or whatever it takes to let the user continue and not disclose whatever it is they don't want to disclose.
Two reasons why this is useful:1. For you, it reduces the number of junk-answers where a selection or ranking is given that has no relevance to the user's experience with the product. If you actually intended to do a good job then you don't want surreptitious answers.
2. People just close the window and the survey's left incomplete (if any data were saved) or undone (a commission lost?).There's alsothe possibility the survey's true purpose is to find out what fraction of users that start actually finish, and where the decide their disgusted enough to quit.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Every now and then I receive a survey from a vendor/institution/etc. asking me if I would please fill out a survey for them. On occasion, I'm in a benevolent mood and follow their link. My advice to the people who pay for the survey (and by proxy, to those who create them): If you ask a question, allow for the user to not answer - either explicitly, such as a radio button with "no answer" or "not applicable" or allow blanks or whatever it takes to let the user continue and not disclose whatever it is they don't want to disclose.
Two reasons why this is useful:1. For you, it reduces the number of junk-answers where a selection or ranking is given that has no relevance to the user's experience with the product. If you actually intended to do a good job then you don't want surreptitious answers.
2. People just close the window and the survey's left incomplete (if any data were saved) or undone (a commission lost?).There's alsothe possibility the survey's true purpose is to find out what fraction of users that start actually finish, and where the decide their disgusted enough to quit.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
I've stopped taking surveys... for anyone (particularly political ones). I feel like they try to lead me to say that either option A or option B is the right choice... In reality, they are so far off the mark, neither option is any good and I will not reinforce their behavior regardless of they choice they want to make. People (and businesses) need to display their values to me, not take a survey (followed by creating talking points to attract my business). If I don't know their values, I don't do business with them.
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I've stopped taking surveys... for anyone (particularly political ones). I feel like they try to lead me to say that either option A or option B is the right choice... In reality, they are so far off the mark, neither option is any good and I will not reinforce their behavior regardless of they choice they want to make. People (and businesses) need to display their values to me, not take a survey (followed by creating talking points to attract my business). If I don't know their values, I don't do business with them.
Pualee wrote:
I feel like they try to lead me to say that either option A or option B is the right choice...
That's a way of controlling the outcome. Either option may only involve a tiny fraction of the pinions actually held, but, by corralling the opinions into a narrow area, they can give large percentage's, that reflect nothing about reality. Politics: would you have it any other way ?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Pualee wrote:
I feel like they try to lead me to say that either option A or option B is the right choice...
That's a way of controlling the outcome. Either option may only involve a tiny fraction of the pinions actually held, but, by corralling the opinions into a narrow area, they can give large percentage's, that reflect nothing about reality. Politics: would you have it any other way ?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
W∴ Balboos wrote:
Politics: would you have it any other way
A: Yes. [ ] B: Yes.FTFY!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Every now and then I receive a survey from a vendor/institution/etc. asking me if I would please fill out a survey for them. On occasion, I'm in a benevolent mood and follow their link. My advice to the people who pay for the survey (and by proxy, to those who create them): If you ask a question, allow for the user to not answer - either explicitly, such as a radio button with "no answer" or "not applicable" or allow blanks or whatever it takes to let the user continue and not disclose whatever it is they don't want to disclose.
Two reasons why this is useful:1. For you, it reduces the number of junk-answers where a selection or ranking is given that has no relevance to the user's experience with the product. If you actually intended to do a good job then you don't want surreptitious answers.
2. People just close the window and the survey's left incomplete (if any data were saved) or undone (a commission lost?).There's alsothe possibility the survey's true purpose is to find out what fraction of users that start actually finish, and where the decide their disgusted enough to quit.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
I'd go one step further, you may need to have two non answers, "Not applicable" as well as "Don't want to answer".
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
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I'd go one step further, you may need to have two non answers, "Not applicable" as well as "Don't want to answer".
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
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fnark fnark fnark!! Apparently I give three of them!! :laugh: :laugh:
Quad skating his way through the world since the early 80's... Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
