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Last week while I was on the plane from Denver, I had a chance to
observe how not to do an end-user survey.
The airline distributed a four page survey, set in 8 point type.
Much of the design was intended to make the answers easy to scan
into a database. "Who designed this - the same people who did the
Florida ballot?" I heard someone behind me grumble.
Too sleepy and too bored to bother with the survey, I went back to
the washroom, travelling about three-quarters the length of the
plane. On my trip to the back, many people were frowning over the
first page. When I made my way back to my seat a few minutes later,
at least three out of five people had given up. I saw several people
push the survey away from them without even the first page finished.
Naturally, I didn't question everyone on the plane, but it seems a
reasonable deduction that the length and the design of the survey
defeated its purpose.
This deduction isn't earth-shattering. Nor is it anything that I
hadn't learned from text books. Still, I pass it on because it was a
rare opportunity to observe some truisms of the trade first hand.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"In inclement weather, the people are fey,
With three thousand year old stories as the night slips away,
Remembering, Fingol feels not far away,
The giant will rise with the moon."
-Stan Roger, "The Giant"
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