Surveys

By administering surveys you can begin to understand the preferences of a broad base of users about an existing or potential product. While the survey cannot match the focus group in its ability to plumb for in-depth responses and rationale, it can use larger samples to generalize to an entire population.

For example, the Nielsen ratings, one of the most famous ongoing surveys, are used to make multimillion-dollar business decisions for a national population based on the preferences of about 1500 people. Surveys can be used at any time in the lifecycle but are most often used in the early stages to better understand the potential user. An important aspect of surveys is that their language must be crystal clear and understood in the same way by all readers, a task impossible to perform without multiple tested iterations and adequate

preparation time. Again, asking people about what they do or have done is no substitute for observing them do it in a usability test.