Hey Reader,

I hope your week is getting off to a great start! I'm going on vacation tomorrow for a week, and I'm super pumped about it. Taking vacation can be difficult sometimes as a consultant/freelancer, and the timing of this one isn't particularly great (I started 2 new projects this week 😂).

Work/life balance is really important to me and my family so I always try to squeeze in a few vacations each year, but the lead-up to it is always stressful!

✨ Boost your response rate with inclusive, respectful survey questions

I'm giving a free Maven Lightning Lesson in a few hours on how to create better surveys. One of the topics I'll cover is how to write questions that make respondents feel included + encourage them to complete the survey. Here's a sneak peak...

I try to always allow respondents to skip questions that ask for potentially sensitive information -- either by making their response optional, or by giving a "Prefer not to say" option. These are typically demographic questions, such as those that ask about age, gender, race/ethnicity, location, or marital status. Not everyone feels comfortable disclosing these things, and I am still interested in the respondents' answers to the other survey questions even if they don't want to share demographics.

When asking about race/ethnicity in particular, I also allow respondent to select all of the options that describe them, rather than just one. Race and ethnicity are complex, and predefined lists where respondents can only select one option will often fail to capture everyone's identity.

I also allow respondents to write in their own answer if none of the provided options fits them very well. For example, someone may describe their gender in a way that I did not think to include in my list of options, and I would much rather have them describe themselves accurately than choose something that doesn't feel right to them.

Finally, I may contextualize why I'm collecting this data in the first place. A short note like "We collect this data to ensure our product is inclusive and representative" can go a long way towards building trust and encouraging participation.

👉 Writing inclusive, respectful survey questions isn't just a "nice" thing to do -- it can help you collect data faster by increasing the response rate on your surveys. If a respondent encounters a question that makes them uncomfortable, or they struggle to find an answer option that fits them, they may drop out of your survey entirely -- a lose-lose situation that can be prevented simply by putting a bit more thought into how you structure your questions.

🎟️ Events

February 4 (today!): Better data, faster: Transform your customer surveys I'll show you how to maximize your next survey's potential with my expert tips for better survey design and analysis, so you can start getting more useful, trustworthy data from your customers immediately. Get free ticket

February 5: Present like a pro Take your presentation skills to the next level! Join Kristina and Femke as they dive into the essential elements of impactful presentations to help you present with confidence, clarity, and purpose. Get ticket

February 5: Preventing & reversing burnout This webinar will help entrepreneurs and small business owners recognize the early signs of burnout, implement proactive strategies to prevent it, and discover tools to recover and thrive. Get free ticket

February 12: The future of UXR - Navigating trends & tech in 2025 From how AI will continue to impact our field to shifting career opportunities and the ever-changing balance between remote and in-person work, this session will dive into what lies ahead for UX researchers. Get free ticket

February 13: Design better email campaigns This free workshop hosted by Joe Formica sounds great for anyone working in marketing UX, or who has a product of their own that they're trying to sell. Get free ticket

February 17: A tactical workflow: Customer research analysis with AI Caitlin pulls back the curtain on her AI workflows—showing you how she's written better prompts, trained custom GPTs, and saved hours on analysis. I signed up for this! Get free ticket

At 156,000 likes and counting, this must be the most famous ReOps tweet ever 😂.

🎒 Tools & Resources

Community - The Reach Club A community for creatives who work solo but thrive with some company. Get access to flexible coworking sessions, virtual and in-person events, and a network of talented professionals whenever you need it. Join community

Podcast episode - Connecting research impact to business outcomes with Devin Harold This episode explores the evolving role of researchers as translators of customer needs and strategic consultants for the business. Learn strategies to track and showcase research impact on business outcomes and discover practical frameworks to effectively communicate the value of research to stakeholders. Listen from Optimal Path

Course - Product strategy for designers Learn how to make sense of ambiguous product challenges, make design decisions based in strong rationale, build confidence through communication, storytelling and design principles. Check it out

Article - Thinking in triplicate "To the extent that the business takes place in software, designing the software is designing the business. Designers either need to participate in defining the business model or they will simply be its tool." This oldie-but-goodie from Erika Hall is also a talk (with video embedded in the article). Read on Medium

I like Ruby's simple illustration of the distinction between tactical and strategic research recommendations. I find that my research reports tend to include a bit of both, but evaluative research (such as usability testing) often produces more tactical recommendations, and generative or foundational research (often with user interviews or diary studies) tends to produce more strategic recommendations.

Okay, that's all for now, Reader -- hope you have a great week! ​ -- Elizabeth @ Research For All ​ Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here

Elizabeth Creighton​
​LinkedIn​
​Website​
​
Questions? Comments? Compliments? Complaints? Hit 'reply' -- I'd love to hear them.
​
Looking for more research stuff? Download my free research plan template or join my User Interview Skills course at 20% off.
​
Logo designed by the inimitable Tom Creighton.
​
​Unsubscribe | Preferences | Archive | Cedar Ave, Hamilton, ON L8M 3A5

👾 The Bonus Level

Your reward for scrolling down this far is this classic tweet that I can't help but think about a lot given the current state of the world. Congrats!