Common Survey Mistakes
Avoid the mistakes that ruin survey data and lead to bad product decisions
Your Progress
Section 5 of 5Bad Surveys Kill Good Products
You can design the perfect product and still fail if your surveys produce bad data. Most survey mistakes are subtle—leading questions, vague scales, asking about hypotheticals. They seem fine until you realize you just built the wrong feature based on garbage data. Learn to spot these mistakes in your own surveys and in competitor research.
Spot the Mistakes
Product Feedback Survey
- 1. Don't you think our new feature is great?
- 2. How satisfied are you?
- 3. Would you recommend us to friends?
- 4. Rate the speed and reliability.
What\'s wrong with this survey? (Select all that apply)
The 8 Deadly Survey Sins
1. 📏 Too Long
More than 10 questions kills completion rate and data quality. Every extra question costs you.
2. 🎯 Leading Questions
"Don\'t you think..." or "Wouldn\'t you agree..." suggests the answer. Stay neutral.
3. 🔮 Hypothetical Questions
"Would you pay $X?" People lie about future behavior. Ask about past actions instead.
4. ❓ Vague Questions
"How was your experience?" Too broad. Be specific: "How satisfied with checkout?"
5. 🔀 Double-Barreled
Asking two things at once: "Rate speed and reliability." Separate these.
6. 🎲 Poor Options
Missing options or unclear scales. Always include "Other" and label scale points clearly.
7. 👥 Wrong Audience
Sending to everyone instead of segmenting. Target specific user groups for better data.
8. 📊 Not Testing
Sending without testing on 3+ people first. Catch confusing questions early.
Pre-Launch Checklist
Use this checklist before sending any survey:
Survey Readiness Score
Length
Questions
Design
Testing
Distribution
The Most Expensive Mistake
Building features based on bad survey data. A flawed survey says "users want X." You spend 3 months building X. It launches and nobody uses it. Why? The survey had leading questions, or asked about hypotheticals, or went to the wrong audience.
Prevention: Test survey on 3 people. Check for all mistakes above. Get 100+ responses minimum. Cross-reference with interviews and analytics before committing to big decisions.
Key Takeaways
- •Keep surveys under 10 questions. Avoid leading questions, hypotheticals, and double-barreled questions.
- •Be specific ("How satisfied with checkout?") not vague ("How was your experience?").
- •Always test on 3+ people before sending. Catch confusing questions early.
- •Never build major features based solely on survey data. Cross-reference with interviews and analytics.