Andrea Middleton 11:07 pm on September 20, 2019
Tags: ,   

WordPress User/Pro Survey: 11 questions and a script

I recently had the humbling realization that calling this survey the “User and Developer Survey”… ignores a host of other roles in the WordPress ecosystem, as if we don’t care to gather data from designers, content creators, support professionals, translators, and project managers (to name a few). Because that’s not true, I’m going to start calling this the “WordPress User/Pro Survey” when discussing with contributors. For the general public, I think we should just call it the “WordPress Survey.”

The WordPress User/Pro Survey needs your help! In this post, you will find 11 questions excerpted from the survey that need feedback, plus a link to the entire survey script. The full survey script is very long, and many questions from previous surveys are included, so this post includes only the 11 questions that I think are more likely to be affected by blind spots.

As you read through these questions, please note any thoughts you have about answer options that should be added or removed. If you don’t know how you would answer a particular question, I’d love to hear about it in a comment on this post. I’ll also request feedback on an optional question about gender, which I will elaborate on below. 

Questions that have stars (*) next to them are required questions (in the survey, not for this post!). Click “Show full post” to see the questions and the specific feedback requests.

11 Questions

1. Which of the following best describes how you use WordPress? *
If more than one applies to you, please choose the one which fits best.

[RADIO BUTTON, CHOOSE ONE]

  • I work for a company that designs/develops websites.
  • I use WordPress to build websites and/or blogs for others on a freelance/independent basis. 
  • I design or develop themes, plugins, or other custom tools for WordPress sites.
  • I’m a designer, developer, or other web professional working with WordPress.
  • I own or run a blog that is built with WordPress.
  • I own or run a website that is built with WordPress (using WordPress primarily as a content management system).
  • I write for or contribute to a blog/website that is built with WordPress.
  • I use WordPress for school as a teacher.
  • I use WordPress for school as a student.
  • I’m learning to build websites using WordPress.
  • I don’t use WordPress.
  • None of those.

2. Which of the following describes why you use WordPress instead of other technological tools/platforms?
You can select more than one.

[CHECK BOXES, CHOOSE MANY]

  • It’s what I know best.
  • I enjoy the open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. community associated with WordPress.
  • A friend, coworker, or personal connection recommended it to me.
  • My web developer selected/recommended it to me.
  • It was recommended through a resource that I trust.
  • I found a WordPress theme I wanted to use.
  • I found a WordPress pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party I wanted to use. 
  • It was most cost-effective.
  • It had the features I needed.
  • I did not have a choice of platforms.
  • Other [SPECIFY]
  • I don’t know.

3. Do you work for a company, or on your own? *

[RADIO BUTTON, CHOOSE ONE]

  • My primary job is working for a company or organization that uses WordPress.
  • My primary job is as a self-employed designer, developer, marketer, manager, writer, or other web professional that uses WordPress.
  • I earn money from part-time or occasional freelance work involving WordPress.
  • Work that I do involving WordPress is just a hobby, I don’t make money from it.

4. Which of the following best describes how you use WordPress?   
You can select more than one.

[CHECK BOXES, CHOOSE MANY]

  • My personal blog (or blogs) uses WordPress.
  • My company or organization’s website is built with WordPress software.
  • I write (or otherwise work) for an online publication that uses WordPress.
  • I have a hobby or side project that has a website built with WordPress.
  • I am learning how to build websites using WordPress.
  • Other [SPECIFY]

5. What is the primary purpose of your WordPress site?

[RADIO BUTTON, CHOOSE ONE]

  • Monetise a hobby
  • Monetise a business
  • Raise funds for a non-profit organization
  • Personal validation/sharing my passion with others
  • Sharing information
  • Supplement an existing income stream
  • Help legitimise my business
  • Represent my business and its offerings
  • Fun/enjoyment of making websites
  • Expand/grow my business
  • Sell products/services
  • Teach or educate
  • Show examples of my work/share my professional portfolio
  • Other [SPECIFY]

6. Aside from WordPress, which of these other tools do you regularly use for your online publishing needs? 
Select all that apply.

[RANDOMIZE LIST]

  • Squarespace
  • Weebly
  • Wix
  • Ghost
  • Drupal
  • Joomla
  • Medium
  • Blogger
  • Tumblr
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Other [SPECIFY]
  • None of these

7. Do you identify as…?
You can select more than one.

[CHECK BOXES, CHOOSE MANY]

  • Female
  • Male
  • Non-binary
  • Prefer to self-describe [SPECIFY]
  • Prefer not to say

8. Which of the following best describes your job level or role? 
Choose all that apply.

[CHECK BOXES, CHOOSE MANY]

  • Owner/President/CEO/EVP/SVP/Partner/VP
  • Marketing/communications/sales
  • Operations 
  • Accounting/finance
  • Web/software/IT developer
  • Theme developer
  • Plugin developer
  • Product manager
  • Project manager
  • Product/UXUX UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. designer or researcher
  • Graphic/web designer
  • IT analyst/manager/director
  • Technical support
  • Administration/coordination/office support
  • Translator
  • Other [SPECIFY]
  • Prefer not to answer

9. Which of the following describes your level of technical expertise?
Choose all that apply.

[CHECK BOXES, CHOOSE MANY]   

  • I can recall facts and basic concepts about technology.
  • I can explain, interpret, and infer technical ideas or concepts to others.
  • I can use technical information in new situations.
  • I can draw connections among various technical ideas.
  • I can justify a stance regarding the use of a type of technology or defend a decision about technology. 
  • I can produce new or original work using technology.

10. How did you first learn about WordPress?

[RADIO BUTTON, CHOOSE ONE]

  • School
  • Technical community
  • Work (e.g., already being used for a project)
  • MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area.
  • Tradeshow
  • Online Ads
  • Print Ads (e.g., magazine, billboards, etc.)
  • Internet search (e.g., Google, Bing, etc.)
  • Recommendations / word of mouth (e.g., family/friends, colleagues, etc.)
  • Social media (e..g, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.)
  • Reviews / Online forum
  • Commercial (e.g., TV, radio, podcast, YouTube, etc.)
  • Other [SPECIFY]
  • Don’t know

11. What types of services does your company or organization specialize in? 
Choose all that apply.

[CHECK BOXES, CHOOSE MANY]

  • Visual design, including branding and identity
  • Interaction design, user experience and/or information architecture
  • Web development
  • Website management (backups, updates, site performance, etc.)
  • Search engine optimization
  • Pay-per-click marketing, such as Google Adwords
  • Email marketing or other lead generation
  • Digital and content strategy
  • Social media management 
  • Hosting
  • Video / Photography
  • Other [SPECIFY]

Context on the question about gender

The reason to ask about gender is twofold: to discover if there is any statistical difference in the way people of different genders use or work with WordPress, and to identify how many people of each gender participate in the survey, year over year.

Survey questions about gender in previous years had open field answers. While I really like the inclusivity of that approach, I know from personal experience that processing the results of an open field question about gender is very time-consuming. The approach here — in which the question is not required, and we allow people to self-identify or tell us they prefer not to answer — seems to me to strike a balance between an inclusive question and somewhat streamlined analysis. That said, we can revert to an open field, if we determine that it’s the only way we can keep true to our goal.

Request for Feedback

For all questions, please share any suggestions you have for additional answer options that should be added, or answer options you think could be consolidated, indicating the number of the relevant question. If you don’t know how you would answer a particular question, I’m particularly interested in knowing that, and why. 

If you have a strong opinion on whether the answer option of question 7 (the question about gender) should go back to open field, or if you think the question prompt should be different, such as “What is your gender?” — please indicate that preference in a comment on this post!

And then if you decided you wanted to read the whole survey script, feel free to comment on the content of the script inside the document itself.

#survey, #user-developer-survey