Instant Census Blog

Mobile surveys and mobile-optimized surveys are hot topics in the research world. While optimized surveys for the mobile medium are a must, they do not always offer the best user experience. Research finds it actually takes longer to complete a survey via a mobile web browser due to a variety of factors. Unfortunately, an increasing number of respondents are accessing surveys on mobile devices despite the difficulties this medium presents.

So, what should be done to improve mobile surveys? What is it about the mobile experience that makes surveys more complicated to complete? What are some solutions to this increasing problem?

Mobile Surveys Take Longer To Complete

It’s estimated it takes 20% to 30% longer to complete a survey on a mobile device compared to other survey mediums. When studying the difference between short and long surveys, it takes 5.5 minutes to complete a short survey on a desktop and 8.4 minutes to complete the same survey on a mobile phone. Long surveys take approximately 15 minutes to complete on a desktop and 22 minutes to complete on a mobile phone.

What About Mobile Devices Make For A Poor Survey Experience?

Some blame scrolling as the biggest offender when completing a survey via a mobile browser, along with a few other reasons:

1. Slower transmission over cellular or WiFi networks

2. Difficulty of reading questions and selecting responses on a small device

3. Transmission time (between-page time) with the balance being within-page time differences

How Are These Problems Resolved?

Since mobile surveys are in-demand by respondents, they cannot be abandoned or ignored by researchers due to these problems - they simply must be improved.

Instant Census automated text message surveys offer researchers a unique mobile survey alternative that does not come along with the issues previously addressed. Since our surveys are sent strictly through SMS messaging, there is no need to connect to WiFi to open a mobile web browser. Similarly, users don’t have to download an app, scroll through pages of questions, select responses, or open multiple mobile web pages to answer questions. Respondents simply correspond with Instant Census as if they were holding a text message conversation with a real person.

Many of our survey participants respond to questions in seconds and complete surveys in just a few minutes. Instant Census has even seen a 50% response survey rate in 1.5 minutes of survey deployment, making it possible for respondents to complete surveys via mobile more quickly and conveniently than other methods allow.¹

Interested in using SMS surveys for your next study? Get in touch today!