Surveys aim to guide you on where to start optimizing. Ideally, they help in identifying friction points.

I often consider friction points or points to optimize in the same vein as Albert Einstein approached problem-solving in physics:

If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions. ~ Albert Einstein

The basic hypothesis for conducting surveys is as follows:

IF we conduct customer surveys,

THEN our test win rate will increase,

BECAUSE we will generate more test ideas focused on the friction points identified during a customer's decision-making process.

Consider the process of understanding customers and their frictions as starting with a blank page. This represents the limited knowledge you have when you first begin to optimize. You have assumptions, but no concrete data. The initial step, therefore, is to discern what factors could be influential.

What you know when you start optimizing - Nothing

We have different options to proceed:

• Test everything: This approach is beneficial in the long term with high test frequency, but it increases the likelihood of randomly testing factors unrelated to the buying decision.
• Use surveys: Surveys can help identify potential areas of importance. They allow us to make educated assumptions about what could be relevant for a specific shop. However, the responses may not necessarily be true or impactful. Despite this, testing these identified areas and making decisions based on multiple A/B tests could potentially lead to more informed decisions.

Friction Points identified through surveys