GEO GUIDE
Survey Design: Few Questions, Well Chosen
Updated 2026-10-19 · this page makes no search or citation promises
The direct answer: every extra question costs completion rate. Four principles — each question maps to a decision, no leading questions, closed and open in balance, five minutes total. Red line: do not collect sensitive information unrelated to the purpose; if truly needed, say why and how it will be stored.
The direct answer: every extra question costs completion rate. Four principles — each question maps to a decision, no leading questions, closed and open in balance, five minutes total. Red line: do not collect sensitive information unrelated to the purpose; if truly needed, say why and how it will be stored.
The four principles
- Each question maps to a decision: list the decisions first, then derive the questions — cut anything with no decision behind it.
- No leading questions: “Our new feature is great, right?” is sales, not research.
- Closed and open in balance: roughly 4 closed per open — open answers are insight-rich but expensive to analyse.
- Five minutes total: beyond ten questions, completion rates drop noticeably.
Question types
- Rating (1-5 or NPS): for cross-period comparison, not deep cause-finding.
- Single/multiple choice: options exhaustive and mutually exclusive, with an “other” escape.
- Open questions: at most 1-2, placed at the end — high analysis cost.
Red lines
- No sensitive information unrelated to the purpose (income, ID numbers).
- No marketing inside the survey — once research trust is broken, response quality drops permanently.