Usability testing of surveys is essential yet often overlooked. We often spend time to ensure our questions are created properly and are understood well, but we forget the crucial step of ensuring that interviewers and respondents can record responses easily and accurately. This is especially critical for surveys conducted via the web or mobile applications. Technology is constantly changing, allowing for innovation and advancements in the way we conduct surveys in these modes. We are not always going to know what the best design is or what the best approach should be. And when surveys are self-administered, it is even more crucial to conduct usability testing on them—there is no interviewer present to correct or assist respondents who have difficulty recording responses.

Much of our focus in this book is on usability testing of web- and application-based surveys, which we refer to as web-based surveys. This includes self-administered web and mobile surveys as well as interviewer-administered surveys conducted on computers or mobile devices. The methods and approaches we discuss can be also be applied to paper surveys, but our focus is predominantly on web-based surveys.

The goal of this book is to blend usability theory and survey research best practices in an effort to provide a method for developing better surveys. Although this is NOT a book about designing surveys, we cannot help but discuss certain aspects of design and how design affects usability. In fact, good survey design is an integral part of the user-centered experience. However the focus of this book is on the mechanics of usability testing, which is used to evaluate surveys.

Throughout this book, we provide case studies that demonstrate the ideal way to conduct usability testing and analysis. However, we recognize that many organizations are moving to an agile product development process for surveys, where survey applications are developed incrementally and tested iteratively with only a few participants. This process values working solutions over detailed documentation. Where applicable, we present considerations that can be applied when developing and testing surveys in an agile environment.