Are you reading this on your mobile device? Or perhaps you're reading this on your Apple iPad as you're watching Game of Thrones on a Sunday night. You're not alone. Usage of mobile devices has grown incredibly over the past decade and when it comes to survey taking, it's the same story.
In a prior blog, we wrote about the 4 reasons behind the growth in mobile research. This pointed to more surveys being taken on mobile phones than any other device. More than desktop, more than laptop, more than tablet. As a result, survey designers (and web designers in general) need to design with mobile-first in mind. Just because a survey or webpage looks good on their shiny new Apple laptop doesn't mean it will look good on a Google phone.
In this blog post we cover the basics for you.
Mobile is not the new frontier in market research anymore. It is market research.
What is Device Agnostic in Surveys?
Device agnostic is the ability of the survey software to adjust the display and layout of a survey for each device. This includes automatic adjustments for PC, laptop, tablet, and mobile devices. For example, this could mean the survey software adjusts the layout of a grid to make it mobile friendly, adjusts the size of a comment box to fit on a screen, or even skip questions depending on what device the survey is being taken on.
Some of the most revolutionary device agnostic surveys is device recognition sensors. This assumes those who take a survey on a PC are more likely to remain engaged on a longer survey than those on a mobile device who prefer a much shorter survey experience. Here if a person takes the survey on a desktop they are asked all 10 questions but if they access the same survey on a mobile device, they are only asked the 3 core questions.
Why is Device Agnostic Important?
Device agnostic surveys are crucial in market research because of the growing number of respondents taking surveys via mobile devices. This is true for both B2B and B2C surveys. Respondents always have their mobile devices on them so it opens up opportunities for market research firms to reach them at all times of the day and every day of the week.
Regardless of whether the respondent is at work on their laptop, at home on their tablet, or on the run with their mobile device, the survey must be responsive to the device. Just like you wouldn't want to extend a grid rating scale of 1 to 10 on a small mobile screen, special considerations need to be taken into account for surveys.
Making your surveys device agnostic or working with survey tools that offer responsive design help with survey response rates, engagement, and reduce drop out rates.
How Do I Make my Surveys Device Agnostic?
In many cases, your survey software will offer options for you. This is done automatically and the best survey tools allow you to preview the survey on each device. This allows the survey designer to review the questions on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
However, if your survey platform is not device agnostic there are some simple tips you can follow. First things first, you should design for mobile as your first priority. This means you should expect half or more of your survey respondents to take your survey via mobile.
When designing for mobile you should consider shorter scales (1 to 5 instead of 1 to 10). Another tip is to make your font large so it is easier to read on a small screen. Eliminate scrolling. Show only 1 question per page so respondents do not have to scroll down their mobile screen to answer additional questions.
For a recap of 4 tips to make your surveys mobile friendly, watch this short video.
Contact Us
Drive Research is a mobile survey firm located in Syracuse NY. Interested in conducting a mobile survey with our company? Contact us at 315-303-2040 or contact us using this form.