Survey research brief
Build a survey that represents the right population, measures one concept at a time, and reports its limits honestly.
UX research and audits · 45 min · Advanced · 38 questions
Measurement design
Which decision should the survey support?
Which quantity should the survey estimate?
Which groups should the survey compare?
Who should the survey represent?
Which list or channel can reach that population?
How will people be invited?
Who is eligible to respond?
Who is unlikely to be reached?
Survey questions
What exactly should the survey measure?
Which recall period can respondents answer accurately?
Is each survey question specific enough?
Does each survey question avoid leading language?
Can the target respondent answer each question?
Does each survey question ask about one concept?
Could question order bias later answers?
Response scales
What does each response-scale point mean?
Does the scale need a midpoint?
Does the question need a Don't know option?
Is a forced choice appropriate?
Where would an open response add useful evidence?
Survey access
Which devices must the survey support?
How will the survey work with screen readers?
How will the survey work by keyboard?
Which languages must the survey support?
Which reading level should the survey use?
Can respondents save progress?
How will respondents give consent?
Data quality
What should a pilot test reveal?
Which questions should we test by asking people to explain how they understood them?
How many responses should a soft launch collect?
How will duplicate responses be identified?
Which completion speeds indicate low-quality responses?
How will bot responses be identified?
Analysis and limits
Will results need weighting?
How large must a subgroup be before reporting it?
How will uncertainty be reported?
How might people who did not respond differ from those who did?
Which conclusions can the survey not support?
How to use this brief
Use this brief as a bank of questions for the conversation. Choose what is relevant, mark covered questions as you go, and skip anything that has already been answered.
Use this brief when...
Use when you need to build a survey that represents the right population, measures one concept at a time, and reports its limits honestly.
Best used as: Research plan
- Category
- UX research and audits
- Discussion time
- 45 minutes
- Depth
- Advanced
- Last updated
- Jul 21, 2026
- Scope
- Design briefs
- Best used as
- Research plan
- Design roles
- UX researcherProduct designer
- Audience
- UX and UI designersProduct designersProduct managersDesign leads
- Platforms
- ResearchWebMobile
- Company type
- B2BB2CEnterprise
- Product stage
- DiscoveryGrowthMature product
- Tags
- ux-research-and-auditssurvey-researchresearch-and-evaluationquantitative-surveyattitude-measurement