I received a survey from the BBC today. Probably like millions of other people.
Like everyone else, I don’t respond to every survey in my inbox, but I actually wanted to participate in this one.
The survey was long, so (again, like everyone else) I instinctively allocated a reasonable amount of time to complete it by answering the questions where I had a clear opinion, and skipping those where I didn’t.
To my surprise, I wasn’t allowed to submit it like that.
❌ All the questions were mandatory.
❌ No skipping allowed.
In other words, I was forced to have an opinion about everything the BBC asked.
This is a very common mistake companies make when designing surveys: they assume that customers are as invested in the questionnaire as the team that designed it.
Spoiler alert: they’re not.
If you force people to answer every question, even when they don’t have a real opinion, you are forcing them to give random answers.
👎Random responses contaminate your data.
👎Contaminated data will ruin your analysis.
👎The whole project ends up (or should end up) in the bin, along with the budget you spent on it.
Instead:
✅ Make sure you don’t force respondents. You can’t force real feedback.
✅ Prioritise the quality of responses, not the quantity.
✅ Only make a question mandatory if it’s critical to the logic of the survey.
It’s a hard lesson that many companies, including, sadly, today, the BBC, still haven’t learned.
#CustomerExperience #CX #Surveys #DataQuality #Research
