Multiple Choice Lists Only a Product Manager Could Love
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Tue, Feb 17, 2009
Recently while visiting a news site I got a popup invitation to take a survey. It proceeded fairly quickly, but at one point I got stuck:
Oops... Please review the following question(s)
Answer required
What specific Sudafed product(s) did you use?
(Please check all that apply)
- Sudafed OM Sinus Congestion (Nasal Spray)
- Sudafed PE Nighttime Nasal Decongestant
- Sudafed Nasal Decongestant
- Sudafed PE Nasal Decongestant
- Sudafed PE Non-Drying Sinus
- Sudafed PE Day and Night
- Sudafed 24 Hour
- Sudafed PE Sinus Headache
- Sudafed 12 Hour
- Sudafed PE Sinus & Allergy
- Other
- None of these
As it happened, my wife had recently given me a Sudafed pill within the past month, but as she had purchased it, I could not clearly remember which specific product it was. I assumed that "PE" stood for pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient, and would have guessed that I had taken Sudafed PE Nasal Decongestant, but I didn't want to guess.
Several times in the past few weeks I have counseled clients to avoid making distinctions in choice lists that their respondents might not be able to make. In one instance, I even used a client's product line as the example, because it had so many SKUs that made finer distinctions than customers would be aware of. I have often read verbatim comments in the "Other" field where respondents would basically say that they knew the brand but not the product (e.g., "I just know it was Acme"). This Sudafed choice list is a great example of the problem. Obviously, Sudafed and its competitors fully understand the Sudafed product line; this question is quite clear to them. But it can be highly confusing to respondents.
I wanted to select a "Don't Know" response, but one wasn't given. I didn't know if "Other" or "None of these" was the right answer, because I simply didn't know the product name. When I tried to move past this question without answering, I was told that an answer was required. Nothing is more frustrating to a respondent than making an answer required when no answer is applicable. I decided "Other" was the least harmful choice to the survey author, so that is what I selected.
Later I asked my wife what I had taken. It turns out I had taken a Sudafed Nasal Decongestant, containing pseudoephedrine. My instinct was wrong: the industry abbreviation for pseudoephedrine is actually PSE, not PE, so it was good that I didn't guess. After drugs containing PSEs were placed behind the counter due to federal regulations trying to restrict the purchase of PSEs by meth labs, Sudafed came out with it PE product line as an alternative that could be sold over the counter (PE is an abbreviation for its active ingredient phenylephrine).
How could the survey author have helped the respondent answer this question correctly?
- If the product packaging has not changed recently, then showing a photo of each product would help.
- A short description of each product would also have been beneficial.
- Letting the customer specify their response to Other is always important, because it helps you understand their thinking. For instance, had that been an option for me, I would have written in "Don't know" into the Other response when taking the survey, which would have clued the survey author into the problem with the question.
- And finally, of course, letting the respondent choose "Don't Know" would have been a lifesaver.
As it was written, the question caused me quite the headache. I took a Motrin.