Hey Reader,

It's finally starting to feel like fall here in the Toronto area 🍂. I busted out my "first hint of fall" coat today, a few weeks later than usual. What's it like where you are? I know not everyone lives in a place where it would be feeling like fall right now -- or ever!

✨ How I build flexibility into my surveys to collect more accurate data

I've been doing a lot of survey projects lately, which is pretty unusual for me -- normally I get maybe 2 or 3 a year. I absolutely love writing surveys, though, because it's sort of like a fun, nerdy puzzle to figure out how to get the questions to make sense and flow together well.

One thing I've learned over the past 12 years or so of writing large-scale surveys is how easy it is to accidentally write questions that a) your respondents are required to answer, but b) don't include an answer option that's appropriate for them. Here's an example:

On first glance, that may look like a fine question -- those are some pretty reasonable financial goals. But a closer look should make it apparent that not everyone will find an option in that list that fits their situation.

Here's what happens when you include questions like this in your survey:

1. You unknowingly collect inaccurate data. Respondents will need to pick something in order to continue with the survey, and if none of the options apply to their situation, they'll pick something "close enough" -- or worse, something random. You'll be collecting bad data without even being aware that it's happening.
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2. Your respondents will drop off. Do this more than once in your survey and your response rate might tank because respondents roll their eyes and feel like whoever wrote the survey doesn't really know what they're talking about.

Okay, so how can we improve? Here's another version of the same question that has a more robust set of answer options:

Here's what changed...

• Informed by research. The answer options came from interviews I did that helped me understand my client's users' most common types of financial goals. I also learned that some of them don't have financial goals at all. This allowed me to create a list that would include options that would apply to most respondents.
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• Accommodates those who don't want to share. Maybe not everyone is comfortable sharing their financial goal, but we still want them to take the rest of the survey. This version of the question gives them an option that fits their needs.
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• Gives flexibility. An "other" or "something else" option with a textbox helps capture things you didn't think to include as answer options -- often we "don't know what we don't know", and when it comes to surveys, ignorance is not bliss. Sometimes these can be the most interesting answers, too!
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As a general rule, I like to include "Prefer not to say" and "Something else" options on most or all of my survey questions -- including demographic questions like gender and race, where we want to make sure our questions can accommodate a wide range of possible answers. Give it a try in your next survey!

🎟️ Events

October 8: UX research moderation best practices The time you have with study participants is precious and short, so it is up to study moderators to maximize the amount of data collected during the interview. Dan will walk you through his top tips! Get ticket

October 14: UXinsight call for submissions Ok, the event itself isn't until next year, but this looks like a great conference to submit to, especially for newer speakers. They give a travel stipend of up to $1,700 USD and cover your hotel in the Netherlands in exchange for a 10-30min talk. Check it out

October 16: The path to successful negotiations In this livestream, Gerta will guide you in crafting your personal negotiation strategy now so that you're not leaving money on the table later. I loooove this topic so I'll be there! Get ticket

October 16: Prompt like a pro with Posty AI in Notably If you're a Notably user like me (or just curious about it), this workshop will give advanced prompt-writing skills and a clear understanding of how Post AI gives you more control and accuracy in Notably. Get free ticket

October 17: Disco conf Born from the belief that the best products are built on user insights, Disco Conf is a 1-day online global user research conference created by Maze. Get free ticket

October 22: People of Research lightning talks This event packs 4 super-fast talks from fascinating researchers and designers into just 1 hour 15min. Sounds like a pretty worthwhile excuse to take a little time away from your work day. Get free ticket

October 24: Denver product summit Join Denver’s top software leaders for a 1-day conference on digital product development. With 6 talks and 2 panels, it's going to be an action-packed day! Get ticket

I'm with Femke...I'm a Quickbooks user (my accountant forces me to be one 🙄) and I'm glad I haven't seen this notification yet because I don't know what I'd do either.

🎒 Tools & Resources

Course - User interview skills for designers & PMs My course is back for the final cohort of the year, and you get 20% off as a reader of this newsletter :) Come join me for 3 weeks of learning, practice, and feedback! Get 20% off

Report - The state of research for non-researchers Most readers of this newsletter are non-researchers who do research. This report details how people like you learn about, get comfortable with, and get support on different research activities. Read report from User Interviews

Podcast episode - The importance of cultural context with Ruby Pryor Ruby's career has taken her from the bustling streets of Melbourne to the vibrant cities of Southeast Asia. In this episode, Ruby shares fascinating anecdotes from her years of experience that illustrate the subtle yet profound ways culture influences user experience. Listen from Beyond UX Design

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Okay, that's all for now, Reader -- hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you again soon. ​ -- Elizabeth @ Research For All

Elizabeth Creighton​
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