Screener questions: Best practices

On this page:

• Guidelines for screener questions
• How to check that your screener is capturing the right users
• Screeners based on familiarity with a product
• Screeners based on the frequency of use
• Screeners based on industry or occupation
• Screeners that deal with your personal information

Guidelines for screener questions

 Always provide a "None of the above," “I don't know," or “Other" option

• This prevents users from picking an answer at random and accidentally ending up in your test.
• Poor example: Which of the following social networks do you have an account with?
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
• Better example: Which of the following social networks do you have an account with?
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Other

💡"Other" option applies to survey and interaction tests.

 

Provide clear and distinct answers that don't overlap each other.

• Poor example: How many salespeople do your team support?
  • 1-10
  • 10-30
  • 30 or more
• Better example: How many salespeople do your team support?
  • 1-10
  • 11-29
  • Over 30
  • I don't know

Avoid asking leading questions

• This prevents users from giving you the answer they think you want instead of the one that applies to them.
• Instruct users to select the option that most closely applies to them.
• Poor example: Do you like shopping online?
  • Of course, I do often
  • I never do it
• Better example: What are your thoughts on shopping online?
  • I like shopping online
  • I do not like shopping online
  • I'm indifferent about shopping online
  • I don't shop online

Avoid asking yes/no questions so people can't guess the "right" answer.

• Poor example: Do you work for Microsoft?
  • Yes
  • No
• Better example: Which of the following companies do you work for?
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Microsoft
  • Amazon
  • None of the above

Avoid double-barrelled questions so that you give people time to process and respond to one thing at a time.

• Poor example: How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with the pay and work benefits of your current job?
• Better example (this should be two questions):
  • How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with the pay of your current job?
  • How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with the work benefits of your current job?

How to check that your screener is capturing the right users

• Verify your contributor is right for the test in your first task.
• Example: “You indicated in the screener questions that you are currently shopping for a new car. Please describe what kind of car you are looking for, where you have looked so far, etc."
• Sometimes listening to a user describe their experience can let you know if they're the right fit.

Screeners based on familiarity with a product

• Don't point-blank ask if someone is familiar with your product as people are naturally inclined to say "yes".
• Ask contributors to indicate their familiarity and then define the different levels of understanding.

Screeners based on the frequency of use

• Define frequency in solid terms, not just "rarely," “sometimes," “often," etc. 
  • Daily
  • Weekly
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
• To determine how recently a user has participated in a specific activity, define time:
  • Within the last week
  • Within the last month
  • Within the last six months
  • Within the last year

Screeners based on industry or occupation

• Start by listing broader categories. 
• For example, a massage therapist might want to hear from people in the massage therapy industry. The first question could be: 
  • Which of these industries do you work in?
    • Health (which would encompass massage therapy)
    • Tech
    • Education
    • Sales
    • Marketing
    • None of the above
• In a follow-up screener, have users indicate their role within the Health industry. 

Screeners that deal with personal information 

• If the study requires the contributor to disclose sensitive personal information during the user test, it's important to forewarn them with a screener question.
• We recommend asking these types of screener questions first so that contributors avoid wasting time if they don't want to opt-in.
• If your study involves Protected Health Information (“PHI”), please review our article on collecting insights under HIPAA: Protected Health Information (PHI) and HIPAA (UserTesting). Only accept users who are willing to be open about this personal information.

Related content