Customer research
Check a customer survey for confusing questions
Read every question as a respondent who has never seen your product. Look for questions that ask two things, wording that suggests an answer, and choices that overlap or leave gaps. Record the problem and a rewrite for each, then test the revised survey with a few people.
A text to start with
I am drafting a customer survey for [audience] about [topic]. Here are the questions and answer options: [questions]. For each question, tell me whether it asks more than one thing, uses wording that leans toward an answer, or has choices that overlap or miss common situations. Suggest revised wording and options, and explain each change. Do not add new questions.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Survey question audit table
Survey purpose and audience: [ ] Decision the results will inform: [ ] Question number: [ ] Original question: [ ] Problem found: [double question / loaded wording / overlapping choices / missing choice / unclear term / other] Why it is a problem: [ ] Revised question: [ ] Response options after revision: [ ] Terms a respondent might read differently: [ ] Test participant's reading of the question: [ ] Status: [keep / revise / remove]
Problems that survive a first read
Double questions often hide behind the word and, as in "how easy and fast was checkout?" Loaded wording can sit in the setup sentence, so check the text before the question too. For ranges, confirm that no value falls into two options and that nobody is left without one. Look for answer lists that assume a situation, such as asking how often someone used a feature they may never have found. Scale points need labels that mean the same thing to every respondent.
Ask another agent to check the result
Check my revised survey for double-barreled questions, leading wording, and answer choices that overlap or leave someone out. Quote each problem, explain how a respondent could be misled, and propose a fix. Point out any question whose results would not inform the decision I named.
Test the revised wording
Ask two or three people from your audience to complete the revised survey while saying what each question means to them. Note where their reading differs from yours and reword again. Before sending, decide which results you can act on, so every question earns its place. Keep the original and revised versions together to explain later why a question changed.