HKSM

Questionnaires are structured sets of questions used to quickly gather information, opinions, and priorities from a large group of stakeholders and users. In Scrum, they support creating and refining epics and user stories, validating assumptions, and capturing feedback on increments. Results guide the Product Owner in prioritization and acceptance criteria.

Key Points

• Structured tool to collect input from many stakeholders efficiently.
• Useful during initiation, backlog creation, refinement, and after Sprint Reviews.
• Captures both quantitative ratings and qualitative comments.
• Supports prioritization, acceptance criteria, and Definition of Done adjustments.
• Best when timeboxed, concise, and targeted to relevant personas.
• Product Owner sponsors the questionnaire; Scrum Master helps remove impediments.

Purpose of Analysis

Questionnaires aim to validate needs behind epics and user stories, understand stakeholder priorities, and measure satisfaction with delivered increments. They help identify gaps, clarify acceptance criteria, and reveal risks or assumptions that impact the product backlog and release planning.

Method Steps

• Define the objective: decision to be made (e.g., prioritize features, validate a workflow, assess usability).
• Identify audience and sampling: target personas, customer segments, internal stakeholders, and size of sample.
• Design questions: mix of rating scales (e.g., 1–5), rankings, and short open-text prompts; avoid leading or double-barreled questions.
• Pilot test and refine: run a quick test with a few respondents to ensure clarity and correct length.
• Distribute and timebox: send via email, in-app prompts, or community channels; set a clear deadline and reminders.
• Analyze results: aggregate scores, cluster themes from comments, and compare by persona or segment.
• Translate insights into backlog changes: update or split user stories, refine acceptance criteria, and adjust priorities.

Inputs Needed

• Product vision, goals, and relevant epics or themes.
• Current product backlog items and known assumptions or risks.
• User personas, stakeholder list, and distribution channels.
• Survey platform or tool and privacy/consent guidelines.
• Timebox, response targets, and analysis approach.

Outputs Produced

• Response dataset with quantitative scores and qualitative comments.
• Summary report of key findings and prioritized themes.
• Updated product backlog items, including refined user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Adjusted prioritization (e.g., MoSCoW, value-risk, or WSJF inputs).
• Identified risks, dependencies, and follow-up actions or spikes.

Interpretation Tips

• Check representativeness: ensure responses reflect target personas and key stakeholders.
• Triangulate with other techniques like interviews, workshops, and usage analytics.
• Weight responses by stakeholder impact and customer value, not just volume.
• Look for patterns across segments and outliers that hint at risks or innovation opportunities.
• Convert insights into testable acceptance criteria and hypothesis-driven experiments.

Example

A Scrum team releases a new search feature. After the Sprint Review, the Product Owner sends a brief, 8-question survey to active users with a 1–5 ease-of-use scale and two open-text questions. Results show low scores on filter clarity and many comments requesting preset filters.

The team creates new user stories for preset filters, updates acceptance criteria for clearer labels, and raises a usability risk for tracking. These items are prioritized into the next refinement session.

Pitfalls

• Overlong questionnaires leading to survey fatigue and low-quality responses.
• Leading or ambiguous questions that bias the results.
• Non-representative samples that skew priorities away from key users.
• Ignoring qualitative comments in favor of averages only.
• Lack of anonymity or consent, causing low response rates or compliance issues.
• Relying solely on surveys without corroborating evidence from real usage or interviews.

PMP/SCRUM Example Question

A Product Owner must validate which of three epics delivers the most user value across a globally distributed customer base within one week. What is the best next step?

1. Schedule a two-day stakeholder workshop to debate and pick a winner.
2. Distribute a short questionnaire with rating scales and open comments to targeted personas.
3. Ask the Scrum Master to decide based on team capacity.
4. Delay the decision until the next Sprint Review to gather verbal feedback.

Correct Answer: B — Distribute a short questionnaire with rating scales and open comments to targeted personas.

Explanation: Questionnaires quickly gather structured input from a broad audience and support evidence-based prioritization. The other options are slower, less representative, or bypass proper stakeholder input.