Client questionnaires – a powerful tool for jumpstarting the project

Having a client questionnaire is fairly common.  How it is used or provided to the client varies greatly.  Questionnaires can be:

• Mailed to the client in advance of the initial meeting.  The designer can either ask the client to return it before the meeting or they can pick it up at the meeting.
• Provided electronically, via e-mail or the internet.  In most cases they types of questionnaires are returned to the designer before the initial meeting.
• Completed during the initial interview.  The designer can either run through the questions with the client noting their responses in a direct question-answer session or the designer can use it as an interview guide and simply note the responses as the go through the questions.

The length of the questionnaire and the level of detail varies.  An internet search for the phrase “landscape design client questionnaire” will return a large under of sample questionnaires.  Some are simple two page documents.  Others are much longer and elaborate.

Regardless of how long the questionnaire is or how it is administered to the clients, the key issue is that the purpose of the questionnaire must be determined.  Is it going to be used to gather simple background information or is the intent to begin uncovering the client’s specific needs?  The purpose of the questionnaire may determine how the designer administers it to clients.

Questions need to be well thought out and structured correctly.  Every question should serve a purpose.  The type of question should be appropriate to the information that is expected.  For example, a very open-ended question is probably not a good candidate for multiple-choice answers.  Questions with prepared responses should be carefully reviewed to make sure that the choices make sense and are not constraining.  All questions should be reviewed to make sure they are not leading the client to a specific answer.  If possible, recruit some volunteers to complete the questionnaire.  This will help verify that your instructions for the questionnaire and the questions themselves are clean and unambiguous.

It is important to keep in mind that this type of questionnaire is not a data-gathering instrument where we are tallying responses for a statistical analysis.  Questions should be designed and constructed to help the designer learn about the client and their needs.  It can also be an educational tool for the client.  They may have to really think about the preferences and choices as they answer questions.  You may be able to include sample photos or drawings to help the client make choices for their responses.

Fundamentally, I think the questionnaire that is provided to the client and completed prior to the interview is preferable.  By having the client complete it beforehand it begins to get the client thinking about what they want.  Also, the designer has a chance to review the responses and develop follow-up questions or note responses that need clarification.  Another, advantage is that the designer can come prepared with specific samples or other materials that may help the client clarify issues or deal with ambiguous responses.

Another option that may be useful is to customize the questionnaire based on what the client is looking for.  Assuming there is some preliminary phone or e-mail contact the designer may know that the client is specifically interested in a front yard makeover.  In that case, the questionnaire can be edited to remove any questions about backyards, patios, or other irrelevant factors.

Questionnaires can provide a baseline of information for a designer to work from if they are designed correctly.  Questions should solicit the client’s preferences and their perceptions of what they think are the areas for improvement.  Drawing out a client’s thoughts before the initial meeting gives the designer an opportunity to prepare follow-on questions and to perhaps bring samples or ideas further solidify the client’s ideas.

One potential issue the designer should be aware of with couples and families is the question of who completed the questionnaire and how much joint input was put into the responses.  It is possible to run into the situation where one spouse has completed a questionnaire that in no way reflects the other spouse’s opinion.  One way to deal with this is to include a question to this effect on the questionnaire such as who completed it and if more than one person is involved, who else provided input.

The designer should always keep an open mind to changing the questionnaire.  New questions may come to mind.  There may be ways to re-sequence the questions to make the responses more consistent or easier to analyze.  Questions that just do not work should be removed.  Like any tool, the questionnaire needs to be maintained.