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Mobile Survey Design Checklist: Design mobile-optimized surveys

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Did you know there are 6.84 billion smartphones globally? This number of smartphone users is predicted to reach 7.1 billion. These versatile devices enable people to shop, check bank accounts, make restaurant reservations, connect with others, and enjoy various multimedia content. 

As our reliance on mobile phones for many aspects of daily life increases, their use is expected to grow steadily. The ubiquitous use of mobile phones presents numerous advantages for conducting surveys too. 

Mobile surveys offer speed, reliability, and convenience, setting them apart from other platforms like computers, which are not as accessible to many people. This is why it is ideal to optimize your surveys for mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. 

In this blog, we have shared a mobile survey design checklist to help ensure your mobile survey is well-designed, user-friendly, and effective in gathering the desired information.

What is a Mobile Survey?

A mobile survey is one completed by respondents using a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet. Before launching your survey, optimize it for mobile users to ensure a positive user experience. Mobile-optimized surveys will adapt to a smaller screen and be built for touch-screen devices. In mobile-optimized surveys, the text is bigger for better visibility, and the action-click buttons are easier to use.

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Checklist for Mobile-Optimized Surveys

To keep it easy to understand, we have categorized it into different phases:

Phase 1: Planning Phase

1. Define Objectives

Clearly define the purpose of the survey & determine the key information you want to gather.

2. Identify Target Audience

Define the demographic and geographic characteristics of your respondents & ensure the survey is accessible to the target audience (language, cultural considerations).

3. Select Survey Platform

Choose a mobile-friendly survey tool or platform & ensure the platform supports the required question types and logic.

Phase 2: Survey Content

1. Question Design

    • Keep questions clear, concise, and relevant.
    • Use simple language and avoid jargon.
    • Include a mix of question types (multiple-choice, rating scales, open-ended).
    • Limit the number of questions to avoid respondent fatigue.
    • Avoid leading or biased questions.

2. Question Sequence

    • Start with easy and engaging questions.
    • Group related questions together.
    • Place sensitive or demographic questions at the end.

3. Answer Options

    • Provide balanced and mutually exclusive answer choices.
    • Include an “Other” option when necessary.
    • Use consistent scales for rating questions.

4. Survey Logic

    • Implement skip logic to show relevant questions based on previous answers.
    • Use branching to guide respondents through different paths based on their responses.

Phase 3: Technical Considerations

1. Mobile Optimization

    • Ensure the survey is fully responsive on different mobile devices.
    • Test the survey on multiple devices and operating systems.
    • Optimize load times and minimize the use of heavy images or videos.

2. User Interface

    • Use a clean and intuitive design.
    • Ensure buttons and touch targets are appropriately sized.
    • Provide clear instructions and progress indicators.

3. Accessibility

    • Ensure the survey is accessible to people with disabilities.
    • Follow WCAG guidelines for mobile accessibility.

Phase 4: Pre-Launch

1. Pilot Testing

    • Conduct a pilot test with a small group representative of your target audience.
    • Gather feedback on the survey’s length, clarity, and functionality.
    • Make necessary adjustments based on the feedback.

2. Technical Testing

    • Test the survey on various mobile devices and browsers.
    • Check for technical issues like broken links, incomplete logic, or display problems.

3. Review and Approval

    • Review the survey content for accuracy and completeness.
    • Get approval from stakeholders if necessary.

Phase 5: Launch Phase

1. Distribution Plan

    • Choose appropriate channels for survey distribution (SMS, email, social media).
    • Personalize survey invitations if possible.
    • Ensure the timing of distribution aligns with respondent availability.

2. Monitoring

    • Track survey completion rates and response times.
    • Monitor for any technical issues or respondent complaints.

Phase 6: Post-Launch

1. Data Collection

    • Ensure data is securely collected and stored.
    • Regularly back up collected data.

2. Data Analysis

    • Clean the data to remove incomplete or inconsistent responses.
    • Analyze the data to draw meaningful insights.

3. Reporting

    • Compile a report summarizing the survey results.
    • Share key findings with stakeholders.

4. Follow-Up

    • Thank respondents for their participation.
    • Consider sharing a summary of the results with respondents if appropriate.

5. Evaluation

    • Evaluate the survey process and identify areas for improvement.
    • Document lessons learned for future surveys.

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How to use Mobile Surveys? Popular Use Cases for Mobile Surveys

Live crowd response 

Is your CEO giving a controversial speech at an event? Are you launching a fantastic new product? Poll your audience to quickly gauge how the messages are being received, and then utilize that information to organize follow-up press efforts or influencer engagements.

Political Polling

Gauge public opinion on political issues, candidates, or policies through accessible mobile surveys. Conduct exit polls to predict election outcomes and understand voter behavior, providing valuable insights for political strategies and decisions.

Event Feedback

Collect attendee feedback during or immediately after events to gauge satisfaction and gather suggestions. Mobile surveys enable real-time feedback, helping event organizers improve future events and address any issues promptly.

Customer Feedback

Collect immediate post-purchase or post-service feedback to understand customer satisfaction and areas for improvement. Mobile surveys provide a convenient way for customers to share their experiences, helping businesses enhance products and services based on real-time insights.

Market Research

Gather consumer insights on preferences, behaviors, and trends through quick and accessible surveys. Mobile surveys help in testing new product concepts and marketing campaigns, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions and stay competitive.

Employee Engagement

Assess employee satisfaction, morale, and workplace environment through regular mobile surveys. This helps organizations identify issues, improve workplace culture, and enhance overall employee engagement and productivity.

Healthcare

Gather patient feedback on healthcare services and monitor symptoms and treatment adherence. Mobile surveys facilitate continuous patient engagement, helping healthcare providers improve care quality and patient outcomes.

Education

Conduct student satisfaction surveys to gather feedback on courses, teaching methods, and campus services. Mobile surveys provide a quick way for students to share their opinions, helping educational institutions enhance the learning experience.

Retail

Measure customer satisfaction with in-store or online shopping experiences. Mobile surveys help retailers understand shopping habits and preferences, allowing for better service, targeted marketing, and improved customer retention.

Travel and Hospitality

Gather feedback from guests on their travel or stay experience. Mobile surveys enable quick responses on amenities, services, and overall satisfaction, helping businesses in the travel and hospitality industry enhance guest experiences.

Nonprofit and NGO

Collect feedback from beneficiaries and stakeholders on programs and services. Mobile surveys help nonprofits and NGOs assess the impact of their initiatives, gather insights for improvement, and ensure their efforts align with community needs.

Mobile surveys allow for quick, convenient, and real-time data collection, making them invaluable tools for various sectors and purposes.

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Best Practices for Mobile Survey

1. Use mobile-friendly survey software

Mobile optimization implies that the programme recognizes the device and screen size utilized and modifies the survey layout accordingly. Because not every survey software is suited for mobile data gathering, make sure you choose the finest software available.

2. Keep it brief

Shorter surveys are usually preferable, but consumers who use mobile devices have less patience for extensive, time-consuming questionnaires than those who use desktops. Limit both the number of questions and the number of words per question. If you can’t obtain all of your information in one survey, divide it into several.

3. Avoid using the Grid

Large, matrix-type questions have long been a hallmark of marketing research. However, studies have demonstrated that they are not the ideal instruments for improving data quality and respondent experience. If they are difficult to answer on a computer, they will be incredibly difficult to finish on a smaller screen. Simply avoid using matrix queries. Separate them into discrete questions and replies.

4. Avoid asking open-ended inquiries

One disadvantage of Internet research is the inability to examine respondents’ open-ended questions. Respondents to internet polls sometimes provide minimal, even cryptic, text responses. If respondents are hesitant to answer open-ended questions on their computers, you can guarantee they will be much more hesitant to answer open-ended questions on phones. 

5. Maintain the vertical position

Because smartphones cannot scroll vertically, arrange your comments in columns rather than rows.

6. Images and videos should be avoided

When creating a smartphone survey, consider the amount of screen real estate available as well as download times. Both of them are in limited supply, so use them wisely. Even a typical visual, like a logo may be too much for a mobile survey.

7. How many questions are there on each page? 

We used to limit the number of questions per page to one. Now, in a well-designed smartphone survey, you may include many questions on the page — as long as the responder does not have to scroll. Aiming for two or three questions per screen is probably optimal. 

7. Avoid using progress bars

While progress bars are useful for online surveys, they simply do not fit on a small screen. (If you make your survey brief, your responders will not see the progress bar at all.)

8. Avoid using drop-down menus. 

Drop down menus are difficult for mobile users to operate without selecting one of the alternatives mistakenly. Again, make it simple for your mobile response by placing your (few) selections in a column.

9. Test, test, and test some more

Test your survey on a computer, tablet, and mobile phone to confirm that it works properly. To ensure that the program recognizes the device, test it with both iPhone and Android phones. Check that all of the questions and response categories can be viewed without having to scroll, that the questions download fast, and that the replies can be selected.

Advantages of using mobile surveys

1. Excellent sample representation

One of the primary benefits of conducting surveys via mobile devices is the opportunity to contact a wide range of people. When compared to other platforms, the phone provides access to representative samples of various ages, conditions, and socioeconomic levels. Access to computer use is a genuine barrier to communicating with all users. For starters, not everyone has access to a computer, and even if they have, they must set aside time to do the questionnaire. It is usually simpler to find that moment between tasks while using a mobile device.

2. Quicker Results

Who takes even five minutes away from their phone these days? In fact, mobile phones are the major source of internet for many individuals, in addition to the day-to-day capabilities on which we rely. So, if marketers want to contact consumers quicker and get insights faster, the trick is to reach individuals in their wallets. With mobile surveys, consumers may complete the survey whenever they choose, without having to wait for a computer to be available. Data may be gathered early, which expedites decision-making.

3. Precision in the Present

Creating mobile-only research provides for quick findings that are precisely timed with real-time activity. Interaction through mobile allows firms to send out surveys at certain times when customers are most likely to be engaged. A survey on pizza consumption, for example, may be sent out late on a Friday afternoon, research on cleaning product usage could be sent out on a Sunday mid-morning, or a study on multimedia consumption in the family could be launched on a Saturday evening.

4. Shorter sentences produce better results.

Cell phone surveys are shorter and more to the point. Brevity increases the willingness of the sample to finish the study, allowing for higher quality data gathering. In fact, research has shown that tests lasting roughly seven minutes produce the highest quality results. To that aim, insights teams must collaborate to create surveys that capture the most important information in the shortest amount of time.

5. Access to Additional Information

Mobile phones enable the combination of stated findings with extra user data that is more easily available thanks to technological advancements. For example, while writing a review, customers may scan a purchase receipt with their phone camera to submit the last purchase data or pinpoint their location. Users can choose to share this information when it is most relevant and convenient for them.

Conclusion

It is critical to adapt a survey for mobile devices so that survey participants can read, interpret, and navigate the survey easily.

People may find it difficult to utilize a survey if it is not adapted for mobile devices, and as a result, they may likely close the survey without answering. This compromises your response rate and has a negative influence on your feedback project.

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