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5 min

7 tips on running a global software survey

Learn 7 tips to run a global software survey

GrapeData
Feb 23, 2023
IT/Software

Introduction

A global software survey is a survey that companies conduct on a global scale and is meant to gauge opinions about software. Companies often use the results of this type of survey to determine how they should improve their product or service.

A global software survey is important because it helps businesses understand what the users want and need. It also allows them to make informed decisions about what changes they need to make in order for their business to succeed.

There are many use cases for a global software survey. One example is that it can help companies find out if there are any bugs in their products or services. Another example is that it can tell them whether customers like certain features or not, which will help them decide if they should keep those features in future updates or remove them completely.

When you're looking for feedback on how to improve your business, the first place people will turn is their customers. But what about users who are located in different countries? Depending on how your audience is distributed across borders and nations, running a global software survey can be a daunting task. The good news: It's not impossible! Here are seven tips for making sure you run an effective global software survey:

1. Know your audience for a global software survey

You should design your global software survey to elicit responses from the right people, in the right language, and with the right questions.

  • The first step is deciding who will take part in your study. You can do this by looking at who has access to online resources and by identifying those who have an interest in your product or service. For example, if you're developing a fund transfer app for people living in Africa, then it might make sense to target mobile phone users who are also interested in using mobile money services like Muruku.
  • Next up, know what kind of language works best for each demographic group. In addition, make sure that all participants understand what you ask of them before you answer any questions! If possible, use simple phrases; otherwise, you risk losing some potential respondents due to their unfamiliarity with those expressions.
  • Before you start a global survey, it's important to understand the local market. Know your audience and the market you're targeting. You should also understand your customer, their behaviour, preferences, and expectations. When conducting surveys in different countries or regions of the world it is important for respondents to feel comfortable answering questions about themselves and their opinions on products or services that may be unfamiliar to them.
  • Surveys sent out internationally need careful planning so they can reach as many people as possible while still being relevant locally (and vice versa).

First, you need to understand the scope of your survey. This means knowing what questions you are asking, who you are asking them, and how you will gather the information from these people. Once you understand the scope of your survey, it's time to decide how exactly you're going to conduct it. You can either hire an external company or use an internal one for this step. If you decide to go with an external company, make sure they have experience in conducting global software surveys.

2. Keep it consistent

  • Use the same language and terminology in your survey as you do on your website, branding, and marketing materials. If you're using different words, this can lead to confusion among respondents who may not know what they're being asked.
  • Use the same questions where possible too. This will help keep things simple for respondents and make it easier for them to complete your survey without needing to think too much about it!
  • The language you use in your survey questions should be the same as the language most commonly spoken in that region. If you're running a survey in France, then it's best to use French instead of English or Spanish.

3. Make your global software survey flexible

If you're going to conduct a global software survey, make sure that your survey is flexible enough to accommodate different languages and cultures. A good software tool will allow you to customise questions for each culture or language. This is so that users can understand what they are being asked. This means using the right terminology in question prompts and making sure the answers don't require too much interpretation (for example: "yes" vs "no"). Use a survey tool that's in-language for your audience.

If you're running a global software survey, it's important to make sure that your survey is in the language of your audience. You can use tools like Google Forms to create an online survey in multiple languages. However, if you don't have experience with translating surveys into different languages, it might be worth reaching out to someone who does have this expertise. Or, you could hire a localisation expert who can help with the translation process.

In order to ensure that you're getting an accurate representation of users' opinions, it's important to work with a partner who understands how to translate your survey into different languages. This is especially true if you're conducting research in multiple markets at once.

The right partner can save you money and time by making sure that every question is properly translated. This is so that it makes sense when viewed through the lens of each target audience member's native language and cultural background. In addition, working with experts will help ensure that there aren't any mistakes made during this process, which could lead to skewed results. It will also provide you with guidance as needed throughout other aspects of preparing for launch day (e.g., setting up distribution channels).

4. Pick the right time to run your survey

When you're running a global software survey, the best time to run it is when your audience is most likely to be available. This can vary depending on their location and circumstances. For example:

  • Time of day: If you're targeting employees at work, then it's best to run your survey during normal business hours in their region. If your target audience is home users or customers who work in other industries (i.e., retail), then you may want to consider running the survey during off-peak hours.

5. Keep questions short and simple

Use plain language that is easy to understand. Additionally, avoid using words that might be difficult to translate into other languages. For example, if you want to ask "What do you like most about our product?" instead of "What is your favourite feature of this product?" You should also avoid slang or colloquial terms because they can be misunderstood by non-native speakers.

6. Use visuals where possible, especially when writing global software questions

When writing global software questions for users from different cultures and languages, we recommend using visuals where possible. For example, if you're asking about how much time a user spends on their phone each day, an image of a phone with an hourglass icon could be used to indicate that they should select "1-2 hours," "3-4 hours," etc.

This can help simplify your question and make it easier for users to understand what's being asked of them, especially if English isn't their first language.

Visuals can help make the survey easier to understand and help respondents answer questions correctly. They also can help respondents understand the question better than they would if it were just text on a page or screen.

7. Be aware of the limitations of surveys and be open to other sources of data

Surveys are a useful source of data, but they're not the only ones. You should expect to use multiple sources in your research.

Surveys aren't always representative of the whole population. They can be biassed if people don't answer honestly, or if they don't know how to answer questions. In addition, surveys often ask about only one thing at a time. So, you won't get a full picture of what people think about your product unless you combine survey responses from many different questions into one document.

Surveys are useful for getting specific, concrete data on how people use technology. But they're also limited in what they can tell you about the user experience since they only cover one aspect at a time. And it's important to remember that surveys aren't always representative of the whole population; they can be biassed if the wrong sample is taken.

Some tips for planning ahead for a global software survey

If you're going to run a global software survey, you should plan ahead so that your project runs smoothly.

Some common pitfalls in a global software survey include:

- Not gathering the right data from your customers, which can lead to an incomplete picture of what they really want and need.

- Focusing on one area of the world while ignoring others. If you're only collecting information from North American respondents, what are you missing out on?

- Not understanding how to properly interpret the results you get back from your survey. You might think that a certain feature is what people want. However, in reality, they may be just saying that because it's an option, they could actually prefer something else entirely.

In order to avoid pitfalls, it's important to consider the following points:

  • What are your goals? A global survey is only useful if its goal aligns with what you want out of it.
  • Who are we targeting? If your target audience isn't defined well enough (or if there isn't one), then you won't know which languages or countries need translation into English before sending out our surveys. 
  • Have a clear purpose when writing the survey questions.
  • Include multiple-choice, open-ended, and ranking questions.
  • Use “wording that matters” to elicit the most useful feedback from your survey participants.
  • Consider using an online survey tool to make it easy for respondents to complete your survey.
  • Make sure the survey is accessible to your target audience.
  • Consider using a global software survey service that can localise your questions, if necessary.
  • Conduct a survey on a website that can be accessed from anywhere.
  • Make sure you have an accessible and easy-to-use survey tool.
  • Ensure you have the right people in your target audience to answer the questions.

Conclusion

A global software survey is an important tool for software companies. It allows them to collect data from their customers across all geographies. This data can then be analysed in order to provide insight into what features and improvements are most important for the customer base.

Learn more about user behaviour in this LinkedIn post.

The benefits of a global software survey include:

- Improved customer satisfaction

- Better understanding of your customers and their needs

- Increased revenue by meeting those needs

We hope this article has given you some tips on how to run a global software survey. The most important thing is to think about your audience and make sure that your questions are appropriate for them. If you want to get the most accurate results possible, then it's worth investing in expert help from someone who knows the rules for localising and translating surveys into different languages.

A global software survey is a way of assessing how people feel about software that has been developed. It's important for developers to understand how different cultures will react to their products. This is because it can help them improve their user experience and make the product more accessible to a wider audience. There are many uses cases for global software surveys, including:

-Finding out what kind of features people want from your product;

-Discovering what kinds of devices people use;

-Learning what kinds of features are most important for users in each region;

Curious to learn more about software surveys? We've got just the right post for you. Check out: A comprehensive guide on how to run a glob/al software survey.

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