You might have heard some best practices for quizzes like “no more than 10 questions” or “people don’t like hard quizzes”. However, how valid are they?

Length of quiz, difficulty level, poor scores...how do these factors impact the completion & lead capture rates of quizzes? Myths and assumptions are plenty; but evidence has been scarce...until now. We did some deep data diving and now have a few insights to share with you.

MYTH 1: A LONGER QUIZ = FEWER COMPLETIONS

We did a statistical analysis of quizzes published by our clients, looking for the relationship between the length of the quiz (i.e. how many questions) and what percentage of people who started the quiz completed it.

The data we found (charted below) finds that the length of a quiz only accounts for a 2.3% variance in the completion rate. In other words, once someone starts the quiz, the length of the quiz is a very small factor in determining the likelihood of someone completing the quiz. And interestingly, studies show that surveys that are too short generally have lower response rates.

THING FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT:

Obviously, we need to respect people's time; however, the length of a quiz or survey shouldn't be the first thing you stress about. Focus instead on the goals of the endeavor: What issues are you trying to solve? Who is your target audience? What data do you need to achieve your objectives?

MYTH 2:  A HARDER QUIZ = FEWER COMPLETIONS & REGISTRATIONS

None of us wants to feel uninformed and we sure as heck don't want data which confirms that we are. Or do we?

There's an assumption that if people find quizzes too hard, they'll fear getting a bad score and abandon before completing the quiz or registering to view their performance.

But that assumption doesn't appear to hold up when we analyze the data. It appears the difficulty level of a quiz does not negatively impact completion rates as the final score accounts for less than 2% of variation of quiz completion:

Nor does the difficulty of a quiz impact registration rates. In fact, less than 5% of the variation in registration completion can be attributed to the "How did I do?" factor:

Key Insight: People are just as likely to complete a challenging quiz as they would complete a relatively simple one. The same rule applies to the registration rate. Psychological studies show that challenging tasks bring more satisfaction and improve the flow experience. In general, people actually want to know where they stand and how they compare.

THING FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT:

For practical applications, tap into that sense of challenge with a catchy title: "How much do you actually know about x?" for example. Also focus on the reward the person will receive for completing the assessment, which could be recognition of high scores, a Continuing Education credit, or some value for completing the quiz.