Begin with the end in mind
Keep the end goal in mind.
Remember, the goal of your project should guide your survey questions.
Keep it short
Survey fatigue is real, and it can lead to hasty answers or exiting the survey before completing all questions.
Try to keep the survey no longer than 15 - 20 questions in length, about 5 - 10 minutes.
This means identifying the data you need to collect and asking only the relevant questions—make them count.
Choose the right question type
PublicInput has many different types of questions.
Use the question type that gets the data/information needed. A slider question looks cool, but a single-choice question might get you more specific data.
Closed-ended question types will lead to more quantitative data (numbers).
Use open-ended comment questions sparingly.
With multiple-choice questions, make it clear what you want your community to do - pick one or many.
Vocabulary
Keep your writing at an 8th-grade level - keep it simple.
Spell out any acronyms.
Avoid absolute language.
always, never, ever
Images
Images can be used to help clarify either the question or the response options.
Many question types within PublicInput allow for images.
It is best practice to upload images of the same size for response option images.
Test It
Before sending the survey to your community, ask a few colleagues to test the project.
Share the login-free access link with them (only available in draft mode).
Questions to ask your colleagues:
Do the questions make sense to them?
Are there acronyms that need to be spelled out?
Are spelling and grammar correct?
Does the survey do what is expected?
Did they get stuck anywhere when taking the survey?
Go back to "Start Here."