Best practices for creating a survey

You can use surveys to gather information from users. Before you create a survey, review these best practices.

The following tips can help you create surveys that are easy to use and maintain:

  • Group questions in a logical way so that users stay focused and can provide answers quickly.

  • Use question pages where possible because they are reusable.

  • Limit the total number of questions in the survey because the quality of answers tends to decline as the length of a survey increases.

    You can also split up a survey into smaller surveys that are called in succession.

  • Limit the number of questions on each question page because many questions can lead to scrolling at run time.

  • Use concise questions.

  • Ensure that the format of the question matches the type of question that you are asking.

    For example, a question that asks users to rate their customer satisfaction cannot be answered with a single check box.

  • Proofread your survey for grammatical errors, duplicate questions, and any acronyms or terms that are not explained.

  • Test your survey by asking potential users for feedback on clarity, length, and ease of use.