This document outlines best practices to help users create surveys that are clear, concise, personalized, and optimized for high-quality responses.

General Guidelines

• Survey Length and Timing

  • Keep Surveys Concise: Surveys should ideally take less than 2 minutes to complete, except when conducting market research or other in-depth studies that require more time.

  • Optional Sections: Include optional sections for respondents who are willing to provide additional information or answer extra questions.

• Language and Tone

  • Neutral and Clear Language: Use clear, neutral language and avoid leading questions. For example, instead of asking, “We aim to provide you a 5-star experience. How many stars would you give?” ask directly, “How would you rate your experience?”

Questionnaire Design

• Question Types and Formats

  • Scale Question

    • Avoid Visual Bias: Avoid using visual cues (such as colors) or verbal labels (like “detractors,” “passives,” or “promoters”) in scale questions.

    • Balance the Scale: Make sure scales include a neutral midpoint and have evenly spaced response options.

    • Consistency: Use a consistent scale format throughout the survey, as UX research shows respondents often stop paying attention to scale anchors after seeing two different formats.

  • Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)

    • Limit Choices: Limit multiple-choice questions to five options or fewer to minimize cognitive overload.

    • Provide Alternatives: Add an “Other (please specify)” option where applicable.

  • Text Entry Questions

    • Use Sparingly: Limit the amount of required text entry to reduce the risk of survey abandonment.

    • Placement: Place open-ended questions at the end of the survey, for example: “Is there anything else you’d like to share?”

    • Optional: Never make open ended questions mandatory.

    • Limit Quantity: Use sparingly to avoid respondent fatigue.

  • Matrix Questions

    • Moderation: Limit the use of matrix questions to prevent the survey from becoming monotonous.

    • Clarity: Ensure rows and columns are clearly labeled and relevant.

  • Rank Order Questions

    • Limit Choices: Keep ranking questions to five items or fewer to maintain respondent engagement.

• Avoid Common Pitfalls

  • Leading Questions: Avoid phrasing questions in a way that suggests or biases a specific answer.

    Let us understand this with the help of an examples:

    Example: “Don’t you agree that our product is excellent?”

    Improved Version: “How would you rate our product?”

  • Double-Barreled Questions: Avoid double-barreled questions, ask about only one thing at a time to ensure accurate responses.

    Let us understand it with the help of these examples:

    Example: “How would you rate the knowledge and professionalism of the agent?”

    Improved: Separate into two questions: “How would you rate the agent’s knowledge?” and “How would you rate the agent’s professionalism?”

  • Unrealistic or Hypothetical Questions: Avoid asking respondents to predict future behavior or evaluate technical aspects they may not understand.

    Let us understand it with the help of an example:

    Example: “Would adding a Help button improve your experience?”

    Improved: Ask about current needs or satisfaction.

  • Irrelevant Questions: Avoid including questions that are outside your control or unrelated to the respondent’s experience.

    Let us undertstand it with the help of an example:

    Example: A grocery store asking, “How was your parking experience?” when parking is managed by a third party.

Personalization and Customization

• Placeholder Text: Use placeholder text to personalize questions and make them more relevant to the respondent.

  Let us understand this with the help of an example:

  Example: How satisfied are you with the service provided by [Agent’s Name]?

• Question Logics: Use Display Logic and Skip Logic to create dynamic surveys that are concise and show only the most relevant questions to each respondent.

Progress Indicators

• Use Progress Bars Judiciously: Include a progress bar for medium-length surveys to help manage expectations. Avoid using them in very short surveys (where they add little value) or very long ones (where they may discourage completion).

Ethical and Compliance Considerations

• Data Privacy

  Note: Before sending unsolicited electronic marketing communications, customers should consult their legal team to understand and comply with applicable legal obligations. This document provides best practice guidelines and is not intended to serve as legal advice or be relied upon as such.

  Customers are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations in their country of origin, as well as those in the countries where their survey recipients are located. This includes ensuring that any contact lists uploaded to the Sprinklr platform adhere to local legal requirements, such as obtaining opt-in consent from participants where required.

  Some key data protection & privacy considerations:

  • Transparency: Consider informing participants about the survey’s purpose, whether responses are anonymous, how their data will be used, and their privacy rights.

    Example: Your organisation’s privacy notice should be linked in the survey footer.

  • Consent: Explicit consent must be obtained from participants before sending surveys if required by law. Surveys should only be sent when there is a documented record of this consent. Participants have the right to withdraw consent at any time, and their preferences must be respected promptly.

    In certain regions and situations, surveys may be sent without prior consent provided participants have the option to opt out of future communications. An unsubscribe link should be included in the survey footer. For details on how to set up unsubscribe options, please refer to the following article.

  • Regional Legislation:

    • GDPR (EU/UK): If targeting UK or European customers, think about compliance with GDPR and e-privacy and marketing regulations, including obtaining consent for unsolicited marketing and providing the option to withdraw consent at any time.

    • CCPA (California): When processing data of U.S. residents in California, comply with CCPA/CPRA by ensuring transparency about data collection, not selling or sharing data and allowing opt-out options.

    • Other Regional Laws: Always consider and be aware of other local laws, such as Brazil’s LGPD or Canada's PIPEDA or CAN-SPAM Act the U.S. and work through their requirements and the applicability of other relevant laws with your own legal teams.

  • Data Minimization: Collect only the information necessary for the survey’s purpose, avoiding personal data unless essential. Customize survey fields to minimize personal data collection, and whenever possible, design surveys to be anonymous to address privacy concerns.

  • Retention: Retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the survey’s purpose. Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) to discuss options for configuring data retention within the product.

Acceptable Use of Sprinklr’s Platform

Sprinklr requires all customers to comply with its Acceptable Use Policy. Please always refer to the requirements that you are contractually committed to, here.

Privacy and Security at Sprinklr

For more information about Sprinklr’s commitment to privacy and security, please visit our Trust Center, accessible here.