Blog Archive
- March 6, 2012: Three reasons why your response from your panels may not be what you want
- What might turn an honest, happy respondent into a despondent cheat?...
- February 29, 2012: Survey seminar: resources and slides
- Thanks to everyone who attended my Virtual Seminar "Designing effective surveys" on 28th February 2012.If you missed it, you can:purchase the recording from User Interface Engineeringview the slides on SlideShare (or at the end of this post)Resources that I mention...
- December 12, 2011: Presentation on the survey process
- A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I'd finally worked out a survey process: how to do a survey in 6 steps. It's been evolving in a series of workshops, and the most recent one was at the J.Boye...
- December 8, 2011: Survey book of the month, December 2011
- Many of us will be doing a lot of gift-giving this month, so I've chosen a book that would be just right for someone who enjoys something thought-provoking and a bit out of the usual:Through the language glass: why the...
- November 28, 2011: How to do a survey in six steps
- Question: What's the difference between a questionnaire and a survey?Answer: A questionnaire is a series of questions and answers on a topic; a survey is the overall process of obtaining useful information using a questionnaire. Question: OK then, what are...
- November 1, 2011: Survey book of the month, October 2011
- Which is better: an open question or a closed one? Should you include a "don't know" option in your closed questions? Is there a "right" order for asking questions? If topics like these concern you, then you'll want to read...
- October 17, 2011: Introduction to usability testing for survey research
- It's always fascinating to encounter a profession with overlapping interests to our own in UX. The one I've been learning this year is survey methodology, and was delighted to find out that they're really into UX as well.The short version...
- August 31, 2011: Survey book of the month, August 2011
- If you love looking at wonderful information design, you'll enjoy this book of the month:Looking back: a century of Dutch statistics by CBS Statistics NetherlandsIt's in English and it's free as a .pdf download, or you can pay a small...
- August 24, 2011: Does your survey need a prenotice?
- Do you enjoy hunting around on the web for surveys to fill in? I do, but that's because I'm researching this book and I believe that it's rather unusual behavior. Most people need to be asked to complete a survey,...
- August 15, 2011: Better survey invitations and reminders
- Question: What's the difference between a survey and a questionnaire?Answer: A survey is a process; a questionnaire is the series of questions and answers in the middle of that process.It's easy to focus on the questionnaire to the exclusion of...
- August 8, 2011: Survey book of the month, July 2011
- OK, I know it's August. But July got away from me, and with my new month's resolution of writing more book and blogging more, I simply had to tell you about other things that happened earlier in July before getting...
- August 3, 2011: Using EEG in a usability test of a survey
- We all know that people will give up on surveys if they are too long or too boring. But exactly how long is too long? Exactly how boring is too boring?One of my most fascinating clients is Kantar, the market...
- August 1, 2011: Ten tips for a better survey, UX Bristol
- Bristol is a lively city, the effective capital of the south west of the UK. Its wealth originally came from trade - rather unfortunately, considerably from the slave trade - but these days it's mostly about aerospace, electronics and creative...
- June 30, 2011: Survey book of the month, June 2011
- It's been a crazy busy month, with wonderful, challenging work to do - but no time to make progress on The Book. I was determined not to let a month go by without a book selection, so I was extra...
- May 31, 2011: Survey book of the month, May 2011
- OK, this month it gets serious. My pick is: Survey Errors and Survey Costs by Robert M. Groves (1989, reprinted 2004)....
- May 30, 2011: Survey that could be better; Radisson
- Have you ever had a survey that was sort of OK, but tripped you up with a few questions here and there? My friend and colleague Gerry Gaffney of Information and Design tweeted about a survey he had a few...
- April 30, 2011: Survey book of the month, April 2011
- All of us need to look out at our competitors, right? So I've been buying a selection of the various books on surveys that are aimed at the general market. Rather to my surprise, I'm making one of them my...
- April 7, 2011: SUS Svensk: System Usability Scale in Swedish
- Recently, I wrote about SUS: a good enough usability questionnaire, the scale devised by John Brookes.Bengt Göransson commented that he uses it as part of his 'tool box', pointing out that it is important to use it alongside other methods...
- March 30, 2011: Survey book of the month, March 2011
- Surveys are all about getting numeric data, and then reporting on it. What points do you want to make with those numbers? I'll assume that you are aiming to be honest, respecting your data and your audience.One fun way of...
- March 8, 2011: Do incentives help to improve response rate?
- Why do people fill in surveys? Did you answer: "Because they're hoping to win the prize in the draw that's offered?" No? I thought not. And of course, you're right, but there is some evidence that incentives can work. I'm...
- February 28, 2011: Survey book of the month, February 2011
- This month, I've been working on my chapter on survey questions and revisiting my libary of books about questions. My favorite, easily, is:"The Psychology of Survey Response" by Roger Tourangeau, Lance J. Rips and Kenneth Rasinski (2000) Cambridge University Press.Let...
- February 27, 2011: 2010 in 46 surveys: too many
- I take a lot of screenshots: web sites in general, forms specifically, and of course surveys. Those specific to a project go into particular folders; the rest are filed by year. Today I was hunting through for inspiration for...
- February 6, 2011: Surveys in the news: Valentine's day
- It was a familiar type of email, and one that I'd usually just delete, but in the interests of this book I opened it. "Valentine's Day Romance Survey Results" from Fresh Flowers and Gifts in Australia. The same material is...
- February 3, 2011: SUS: a good enough usability questionnaire
- One challenge of survey design is whether to:use an existing questionnaire, or roll-your-own, or do some sort of hybrid.One of the best-known usability questionnaires is SUS. Is it good enough? I'm going to start by mentioning the advantages and...
- January 27, 2011: Survey book of the month, January 2011
- You're looking for a book on surveys, and my one isn't yet out. What do to? I thought I'd help by sharing some of my favorites over the next few months. These will be the titles that I find myself...
- January 11, 2011: Writing and looking for stories
- So, what's been happening with the surveys book for the last three months? A lot!Wrote the first chunk of the book, on rating scales (sneak preview: I come out in favour of 5 points).Went to Australia for a holiday...
- October 8, 2010: A month of gathering ideas
- September 2010 flew by: the excitement of announcing this book;off to HCI2010 at the University of Abertay in Dundee, where I led a workshop on survey designback to England and right down to Cornwall for a few days holiday...
- September 1, 2010: Getting started
- Writing a new book - a daunting but very exciting prospect. I am a co-author of two previous books, and I've learned that it's crucial to get lots of involvement from other people. This time, I'm on my own -...
