Survey fatigue is a common problem for anyone who wants to collect data. That might make it hard to decipher any important information through survey analytics. The good news is you can design a survey to avoid fatigue among respondents. Surveys that help respondents avoid fatigue will definitely save their time. A good survey will also help engage the audience as any survey consulting firm will explain.
Here are tips on avoiding survey fatigue:
Understand type of fatigues: Any type of fatigue can affect your response rates and data negatively. The first type of fatigue is called survey response fatigue. In this case, people are generally tied of receiving any request for survey feedback because they keep receiving requests. In other words, people are basically tired of taking surveys regardless of the type of survey. This type of fatigue is signified by ever lower response rates for your surveys. The second type of fatigue is referred to as survey taking fatigue where respondents basically abandon or do not finish surveys because they are boring or too long to finish. This might happen when the surveys are too complicated such that it becomes hard for the respondent to figure out the answers. Some respondents deal with that by trying to look for simpler questions and avoiding the rest.
Avoid over surveying: While there is nothing wrong with many more people wanting to collect data, the large number of surveys flocking inboxes in modern times is overwhelming. If your respondents have been responding to surveys, don’t bore them with too many requests in a short amount of time as that may weigh them down and make them lose interest. Overwhelmed respondents might also stop responding to these emails and requests if they deem them to be not important. In some cases, you might be sending too many survey requests because different departments are doing survey analytics. Make sure to coordinate the departments.
Communicate the survey value: As survey consulting firms will tell you, respondents are likely to donate their time to make the survey a success if they understand its value, for instance how and what the results will be applied for. Headline why someone should take the survey, how long it would take to complete the survey, number of questions and what will happen to the submitted data.
Make it easy to answer questions, consider your respondents and ask the right questions: A difficult survey experience will spoil things. Use logic when structuring and designing surveys and you will be able to skip and avoid irrelevant sections and questions based on your expected responses from respondents. Consider that collecting too much data will make the survey analysis difficult for you and it will take longer to do the analysis. To best consider your respondents likely feelings and situations, put yourself in their shoes.
