User is Always Right, The: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for the Web

information about actual behavior is most valuable, because it’s the most accurate.

Surveys are excellent for obtaining a large sample of responses on self-reported goals, behaviors, and attitudes.

the order of the questions is important, not only because you want to make users feel comfortable, but also because the sequence of questions can create bias.

And now we come to the often-asked question: How many survey results is enough? Rather than hiding behind the tempting answer of “It depends,” I’ll offer this rule of thumb: a minimum of 100 survey completions per segment.

When I write a survey, I use the following list as a starting point for the order in which I ask questions: • Current goals, usage, and behavior, including channel usage • History with the site and company • Use of or importance of existing features and content • Satisfaction with existing features and content • Overall reaction to new concept(s) •

use the following familiar categories: • Goals • Behaviors • Attitudes • Demographics

when you sum up all the interviews, you’ll have a master list of user goals, behaviors, and attitudes you’re heard from users.

talk with as wide a range of different types of users as possible. Qualitative research is more about breadth than depth when it comes to selecting interviewees.