This article provides practical advice and best practices on how to analyze and process responses from a summit survey. The aim is to structure data in a way that adds value to analysis and presentations.
What questions does top task analysis answer?
A clear problem statement helps you focus on the most important numbers and results:
An analysis finds answers to these key questions:
What are your users' top tasks and target groups?
Are users able to solve their tasks? What works and what can be improved?
Is there a need to redesign the website or what should be prioritized?
The key questions can be furthered specified with these following sub-points. The points can be used as themes to highlight in your presentation.
User tasks
What are your users' tasks?
What are the most important tasks - the top tasks?
What are the least important tasks - the micro-tasks?
What are the reasons why users fail to complete their task?
Which tasks are connected
What drives costs and revenue?
Target groups
Who are the users?
Do different segments have different success rates?
Do segments have different needs (top tasks)?
Seasonality
How does the demand for tasks vary over time?
Do the content and needs of tasks vary?
How does the performance of tasks and user segments change over time?
User satisfaction
How many people fail a task (number)?
What is the completion rate (KPI) for a task?
How easy is it to solve the task (usability)?
How does the website or task perform compared to the industry?
Using these questions as a starting point, you can focus your analysis and what data you dive into.
Tips
Read customer stories to see how others have used their Top Tasks survey results
Two ways to use the results
To get the most value out of your data, you can work with ongoing analysis and workshop format:
Continuous analysis: Product teams or webmasters can use the data for continuous improvement. Check in regularly as a source of insight.
Workshop format: Present data to management for strategic decisions. This can be bi-annual reviews or before and after a launch.
Tips for analysis in Skyra
1. Clean up in "Other"
Many answers often end up in the "Other" category. You can clean up Other by moving them to relevant tasks. Then statistics about top tasks (demand) are updated and the answer thread can be read in the context of the correct task.
How to switch top task
Here are some tips for handling Other:
Move to existing tasks (Task): If an answer obviously belongs in an already defined category, it can be moved to the appropriate top task.
Create new task: If you see a lot of similar answers in "Other" that don't fit into existing categories, consider creating a new top task and moving them there.
Use labels for structure: For answers that still don't fit in a specific task, you can use labels to make it easier to keep track. See suggestions below.
2. Use of labels
Labels can help structure data and make it easier to find your way back to specific feedback. Here are some suggestions on how labels can be used:
Problem: For comments describing problems users are experiencing.
User testing: For feedback that should be taken forward to user testing.
A specific issue: To collect recurring issues, such as "unable to log in" or "problems with search".
Plain language: For answers that point out unclear or difficult to understand text.
Discussion point: For feedback that should be addressed in upcoming meetings.
3. Use of filters
Filters can provide valuable insights:
Audience: See if different target groups have different top tasks.
Solution rate: Analyze if the solve rate varies between audiences or devices (desktop vs. mobile).
Device distribution: Compare data from desktop and mobile to identify differences in task performance.
4. Dashboard and views
In Skyra there are several useful views for analysis and presentation:
Top Tasks: Provides an overview of the most important tasks, key metrics, and the ability to click into a task page to see results for that specific task.
Level 1 and 2: If the survey is set up with levels 1 and 2, you can choose which level the list should show. Level 1 will focus on the broader categories and show numbers (demand and resolution rate) that summarize the underlying tasks.
Survey Report: Displays answers to each question in a clear way.
Responses: Displays a detailed tabular overview of each response organized in threads. Each row shows all responses from one user.
You can also export responses from a survey as a CSV file and analyze further in Excel or Sheets.
Learn more about top tasks
Gerry McGovern has developed the top task methodology. The traditional methodology is project-based and can include up to 200 hours of mapping and reporting on top tasks. Skyra automates much of the work and reporting is continuous, rather than project-based.
To learn more, there are many articles on the internet. In addition, Gerry has a lot of teaching on Youtube, they are starting to get a few years old but are just as relevant today.
Here is a suggested video on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/cdpMiMc1ErQ?si=NsgDQRlDykoHJEOY