Being in this business for many, many years, I’ve written hundreds of questionnaires – short, long, simple, complex, domestic and global for lots of different respondent segments. And, after looking at the client’s RFP, having discussions with the client and looking at any information provided, I was now ready to attack step #1: Write the questions as though I was the respondent attempting to answer them.
Only I was wrong in thinking that I was starting at step #1, as I reflect back since the time when online surveys displaced phone surveys.
I also wasn’t alone here because the industry, throughout the years, has also viewed the survey experience as the beginning of the research journey. And, it certainly is not.
I’m a panelist for a number of panel companies. I’d like to tell you who they are but off the top of my head I can’t because I don’t distinguish one from another. However, what each of them have in common is that they frustrate me to no end.
This is the respondent experience – inclusive of times that precede the survey experience. Because before a respondent can answer survey questions, they must get themselves in a position to answer those questions. That is the real step #1 of their research journey.
The respondent experience is a lonely one
You’re minding your own business, waiting for an invitation to do research to land in your inbox. Well, actually, you’re not really waiting for anything to arrive. You’re giving it no thought. When it arrives, it arrives. In essence, it’s a lonely one-way street. Eventually, it does make an appearance and that’s when the fun starts.
Things usually start with a number of demographic questions with one’s immediate reaction being, “Haven’t I answered these before?”
Of course you have. Yet you’re asked the same questions over and over again, creating frustration from the start.
“…we have to accept the fact that today’s respondent experience leaves a lot to be desired”
At times, you’re navigating through things but when you start to think you’re making progress, you can be redirected to another opportunity where everything starts all over again, creating more frustration.
When you toss in instructions that may not make any sense, and the realization that the amount of time things are taking are far beyond what you were told it would take – we’re talking frustration, frustration, frustration.
And remember, all of this is occurring BEFORE you’ve begun the survey. Think about this for a second. Frustration on top of frustration on top of frustration and the most important thing to the client hasn’t even started yet – their survey!
The interesting thing about data that’s about to be analyzed is that it’s just numbers. Meaning, the actual stories behind those numbers is a complete mystery to the research company and the client. Maybe that’s why the respondent experience is usually swept under the rug. You can’t definitively prove there was a problem with respect to the respondent experience, so why bring it up? It’s that ‘hear no evil, speak no evil’ mentality that gets this industry in trouble and doesn’t create the greatest sense of confidence in what’s being produced.
How do we create a greater respondent experience?
Well, for starters, market research can take a page or three from the online gaming industry, expected to reach $375B in 2027. The difference between gamers and panelists is that the former doesn’t need to be told to access their favorite app, they just do it, while the latter only gets involved when they’re told to. The similarity between gamers and panelists is that many gamers are also panelists who have agreed to complete online surveys.
Why not try to apply their gaming behavior to the completion of surveys? The trick is to create a two-way street where panelists can participate in research activities whenever they want but can also receive invites in their inbox when it makes sense. It’s possible but we have to accept the fact that today’s respondent experience leaves a lot to be desired. That’s the real starting point!
