Hi Tim,

Thanks - fair points. You're right about the comments - I'm sure no amount of
testing will quickly give you as much insight as a well-placed comment.

Cheers,

E

--- In webanalytics@yahoogroups.com, Tim Leighton-Boyce <tim.lboyce@...> wrote:
>
> I second what Jo has said.
>
> I strongly recommend that you do a test.
>
> It's very important that the survey is very short (eg 3 or 4 questions) and
> that a free text comment field is prominent.
>
> My expectation, based on experience across several sites, is that you will
> start to gain valuable insights very quickly indeed. Unlike clickstream data
> the insights from those comments can come very quickly indeed. There is no
> requirement for a long sample period (although trends over time do also
> become important of course).
>
> The comments box is a rare opportunity to hear the voice of the visitor --
> the 'why'.
>
> Yes: it's skewed data. It's not quantitative stuff. But it's such a valuable
> source of insight. For example, time and again, comments have pointed us at
> problems which could subsequently be confirmed by deep dives into obscure
> numbers. But without the comments as clues we would never have thought to
> look.
>
> Tim
>
> 2009/7/13 <jodarby@...>
>
> >
> >
> > Hi Emer,
> >
> > You're right. There are certain traits that can be attributed to people
> > that complete these surveys, which mean that you do miss out a certain
> > proportion of your population. However, the consensus seems to be some
> > information is better than no information at all.
> >
> > I never used to complete those surveys either until our website started
> > using them. The idea behind holding the survey is to gauge opinion that
> > will enable the website designer to improve or enhance the user
> > experience. Some users will receive a different experience based on
> > screen resolution, browser type, connection speed or previously held
> > expectations.
> >
> > I can understand why you ("selfishly") don't complete these surveys, but
> > they are designed to be a quick as possible and while they help us to
> > design better sites, they should help you to see better sites. It also
> > allows visitors to give feedback. Those that do usually provide useful
> > criticism on which we can react.
> >
> > This is by no means the only method of gauging website popularity, but
> > it is one of the few pieces of primary qualitative information
> > available, for a relatively low price.
> >
> > Ta
> >
> > Jo
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------
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> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
> >
> >
>
>
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>