SmartSurvey

It is very easy to set up a questionnaire, and there is a very good range of question types and answers. Images and video can be embedded in a question, broadening the design. The design-test-redesign cycle is well implemented. The whole questionnaire can be easily branded to give a unique look. Deployment is simple, and with multiple versions easily set up. Usefully for a forum, it is possible to produce a print copy of on-line survey with ease, so that the same questionnaire can be used on street stalls or visiting where online use is not possible or low. There is also support for publishing links to the survey via social media such as Twitter or Facebook.

Analysis facilities are good, with basic summaries and a frequency count of answers immediately available. This aids continuous tracking of the survey. There are good export features, so data can be moved to Excel or R for more detailed review.

I found this a very useful software suite and can wholeheartedly recommend it. The speed at which a survey can be prepared and sent out, and distributed via a variety of means such as email lists, social media or web sites makes it a very effective tool for carrying out a wide variety of consultations, such as in planning and community surveys. Local authorities would benefit from a slightly more expensive version that could allow them to get to know their community views in greater depth.

The ease of use and simplicity of the programme. I am creating the surveys on behalf of Local Authority Building Standards Scotland. We are currently looking at our membership and require to see if we are currently meeting their needs and where we need to improve. Smart survey as a tool to be able to collate this information is fantastic and the fact that it produces the tables and diagrams for you and makes us as a group move on from the spreadsheet and having to interrogate the information provided saving on valuable man hours as the admin and management team are put together from staff from the 32 Local Authorities and this is not a job we are paid to do this is just for us to hopefully in Scotland improve the services we provide to the customer. We issued our 1st survey at the beginning of February and still have 2 weeks for it to run but it is brilliant seeing the information coming in and being able to see we are making progress and that we are not to far of the mark. The way it is presented is very easy to analysis with lots of tools available to assist. If stuck customer helpline is exactly what is says on the tin help...no question to small or silly.

There are some questions that need to be adapted but on discussion I was told there are ongoing developments (matrix questions in multiple answers currently all fields require to be completed even if the response is zero - a default of zero if not completed would be perfect)

-Easy to use after a brief learning curve
-Simple to make or take surveys
-Can get plenty of responses

-User Interface could be more streamlined from designers side
-Loading Problems on survey-taker side.

This is the only survey which verifies the demographic information of the attendee of a survey that is created thus making it more legitimate.

Because it is free it is also used by fraudsters creating scams, we advise them to make it more secured.