How to Create a Survey in Excel in 2024

To keep customers happy, it’s useful to build products with them. For this, you need to collect valuable feedback, typically through surveys, to understand customer preferences and challenges. Ultimately, this helps make better product and business decisions. 

You can also use surveys to collect employee feedback, understand the impact of your brand efforts on customers, and more.

Needless to say, data collection using surveys is applicable to multiple use cases in the modern business ecosystem. Excel surveys are a great way to collect this data. This blog will help you learn how to create a survey in Excel and best practices for survey management.

Let’s get started and show you how to turn that blank Excel sheet into a powerful feedback collection tool.

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How to Create a Questionnaire Survey in Excel

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a survey questionnaire in Excel:

1. Plan your survey

Before you start creating a survey, do the groundwork for a successful data collection process. Start with identifying your goal and the target audience. 

Break your big goal into smaller pieces. Figure out exactly what you want to learn and how you’ll measure it. This will help you ask the right questions and make sense of your answers later.

Next, you need to choose the various question types you will use. Some of these are:

• Multiple-choice questions: Allow respondents to select one or more options
• Open-ended questions: Allow respondents to provide detailed answers 
• Closed-ended questions: Offer predefined answer choices
• Likert scale questions: Measure attitudes or opinions on a scale

2. Set up your Excel sheet

Now open Microsoft Excel on your desktop or PC, click on ‘New’ and start a new workbook. 

In cell A1, enter the title of your survey. Let’s call it the Customer Satisfaction Survey. Don’t forget to select Merge & Center to bring it to the center as a title.

3. Create the survey structure

Use the top row to put the labels for all the information you’ll collect. Think of it like the headings of a data table. You can include things like ‘Name,’ ‘Email,’ and all the questions you’ll ask.

Next, let’s insert your questions. Start typing the question text one by one, each in its box.

To make your questions stand out, you can highlight the top row with any color you like. 

4.  Format your questions

Now it’s time to make your questions look good. 

After you’ve entered all your questions, you now have to format them based on their type. 

Here’s what to do for every kind of question: 

Multiple choice questions:

Select the cell where you want to place the multiple-choice question; in the top bar, select Data.

After selecting data, click on Data Validation.

You’ll see something like this.

Now, don’t be intimidated. Simply select List under Allow.

Enter the possible answers in the Source box, separated by commas (e.g., ‘Very Satisfied,’ ‘Satisfied,’ ‘Neutral,’ ‘Dissatisfied,’ ‘Very Dissatisfied’).

And voila! You’ve created a multiple-choice question column. The column should look like this.

Rating scale questions

For rating scale questions, follow the same steps as above to create questions, but enter numbers or ratings as the source (e.g., ‘1,2,3,4,5’).

Open-ended questions

For open-ended questions, leave the cells blank for respondents to fill in.

5. Enhance your survey with formatting

A well-formatted survey with clear and concise questions is easier to understand and enhances user experience. It also increases the completion rate and helps you get more relevant and correct responses. 

6. Save and distribute

We are at the final step. Save your survey as an Excel file. It’s a good idea to save the spreadsheet with a clear, descriptive name so you can easily search for it later.

Next, it’s time to distribute your feedback survey. 

You can share your survey file via email, upload it to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox, post it on social media platforms, or use any other method that works best for your respondents. Make sure it’s easy for them to access and fill out.

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Best Practices for Excel Survey Management

Here are some of the best practices to keep in mind when creating a survey:

Embrace the ‘rule of thirds’ for question types

If you want detailed insights from a survey, add a mixed bunch of questions. This is where the rule of thirds comes in. 

This mix serves two key purposes: 

• First, it keeps respondents engaged by varying the type of thinking required in feedback forms, reducing survey fatigue
• Second, it provides a rich dataset for analysis, combining complex numbers with contextual information

For example, if you’re conducting employee satisfaction surveys, the employees will be interested in participating and not get bored when filling out the responses.

Implement a survey fatigue detector

You know how people sometimes start clicking the same answer over and over when they’re tired of a survey? Responses that have been submitted out of fatigue don’t add any value, especially for important purposes like product user research. Excel can help detect survey fatigue.

Here’s how you can check: You set up a formula that looks for patterns in answers, like someone picking ‘3’ five times in a row. If it spots this, it waves a red flag in the Excel survey. 

Let’s say your survey responses are in columns B through K, with each row representing a different respondent. You want to flag if someone gives the same answer 4 or more times in a row. You could use this formula in column L:

=IF(COUNTIF(B2:K2, MODE(B2:K2))>=4, “Potential Fatigue,” “OK”)

Here’s how it works:

• MODE(B2:K2) finds the most common answer in the row
• COUNTIF(B2:K2, MODE(B2:K2)) counts how many times that most common answer appears
• If this count is 4 or more, it flags as ‘Potential Fatigue.’ Otherwise, it says ‘OK’

You can adjust the number 4 to be higher or lower depending on how strict you want to be. 

Use the ‘inverted pyramid’ approach

Imagine filling up a website form that starts with a very technical question, one that requires too much thinking, such as “What is your organization’s strategy for implementing microservices architecture in cloud-native environments?” It can be off-putting and you might exit the web page. 

On the contrary, if the survey starts with the following simple questions, you might feel more at ease.

Q1: “Does your organization currently utilize cloud-native environments?”

• Answer Type: Yes/No

Q2: “What is the primary reason for your organization to adopt cloud-native solutions?”

• Answer Type: Multiple Choice (e.g., Scalability, Cost Efficiency, Flexibility, Innovation, Others)

That’s what the ‘inverted pyramid’ approach is all about.

Start with easy questions that a respondent can answer quickly. Maybe ask about their age or how often they use your product. These are like warm-up exercises for your survey takers.

Then, slowly move into more detailed questions. Maybe ask about specific features they like or don’t like. By the time you get to the trickier questions, they’re already in the groove of answering.

This approach works because it feels natural. It builds trust and keeps people from feeling overwhelmed right at the start. Plus, even if someone drops out halfway, you’ve already got some useful info from those early questions.

Remember, a good survey is like a smooth conversation—it eases people in and keeps them interested till the end.

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Limitation of Using Excel to Create Surveys

While Excel has some great functionalities in terms of data analysis, it may not be the best tool to collect raw survey data. Here is why:

Lack of user-friendly interface

Excel isn’t the friendliest tool for creating surveys. 

It has a steep learning curve and a complex layout. To create an attractive, user-friendly survey in Excel, you’d need advanced skills. Plus, designing complex question flows and logic can be particularly challenging in Excel. It might be easier to use a tool designed specifically for surveys. 

Limited question types

Excel’s limitations in survey design become apparent when considering question types. Sure, Excel’s great for basic stuff like text, numbers, and dates. But what if you want to get fancy? 

What if you want to add pictures and ask users to pick their favorite?

It’s not that you can’t do these things in Excel, but it’s like trying to paint a masterpiece with a crayon. You might pull it off, but it’s probably going to be a struggle. 

Meanwhile, a dedicated form-builder software has all types of questions readily available. They make it easy to create surveys that are interesting for people to fill out, and give you better data to work with. 

Difficulty in data collection

Using Excel for surveys can be tricky when it comes to collecting data. People usually have to type their answers into the Excel file. It takes more time, and there’s a chance of mistakes. 

Also, sharing Excel surveys online isn’t as straightforward as you might think. It’s not like those survey tools where you can just send out a link. With an Excel survey, you’re often stuck emailing files back and forth, which can be a bit of a juggling act.

These aren’t deal-breakers, but they can slow things down a bit. 

Inefficient data management

Excel isn’t great at handling large amounts of survey data either. One big issue with using Excel for surveys is the need for manual calculations. You have to set up and apply formulas yourself, which is time-consuming and tedious. 

This process is also prone to errors like incorrect data entry or misapplied formulas, leading to inaccurate results and unreliable surveys.

Excel also doesn’t automatically update survey results as the new survey data comes in. Any changes to the data require manual input and formula recalculation. This makes it hard to get timely insights from raw data and complicates collaboration since everyone must ensure they are working with the latest version.

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Using ClickUp Forms to Create and Distribute Surveys

So, we’ve established that creating and distributing surveys using Excel may not be the best idea. Instead, you should try intuitive form-builders with drag-and-drop features, such as ClickUp, to save time and effort.

ClickUp Form View

You can easily build a survey with ClickUp’s Form View by following these three simple steps:

• Open a List, Space, or Folder of your choice
• Click on the + button and select Form
• Name it and add a description
• Drag any Form Field from the left panel to insert it to your Form

You can also collect responses, assign them to team members, and convert them into actionable tasks. This way, your survey responses won’t just sit there without any action. You don’t even have to do it manually; just automate the workflow that turns survey responses into tasks. 

We’ve mentioned that Excel has limited question types. Well, that’s not the case with ClickUp! ClickUp has a huge variety of field types, including text, long text, dropdown, labels, ratings, numbers, money, and more. 

You can even customize assignees, response messages, avatars, themes, and colors. 

After you complete the form, it’s time to share it with your audience by copying the direct link and sending it to anyone you want to reach. 

ClickUp Docs

You can also use ClickUp Docs to write down your ideas and edit them in real time with your team. ClickUp Docs lets you securely share documents within teams with privacy and edit controls. 

ClickUp Dashboards

The point of a survey is to get valuable insights. ClickUp Dashboards offer valuable business insights based on your survey needs. 

You can connect your survey results to a ClickUp List and then build a dashboard with charts, graphs, and tables. It helps you easily spot trends, compare responses, and share insights with your team.

ClickUp Brain

Want to get ideas for your survey? You can use ClickUp Brain, ClickUp’s AI assistant, to brainstorm ideas. It’s a simple AI tool that answers any questions you may have. We did a little experiment and asked the AI to tell us which survey questions to use. These are the answers we got. 

Pretty handy questions, aren’t they? You can use ClickUp Brain in the same manner. Just enter any query about building a survey, and ClickUp Brain will assist you. 

Want to get started with building a survey right away? ClickUp offers a vast template library with over 1000+ templates to try. Here are a few relevant templates you can try: 

ClickUp Employee Engagement Survey Template

ClickUp Employee Engagement Survey Template is an employee survey tool that helps you gather insights into how employees feel about the company culture. 

Based on the survey responses, you can identify areas for improvement and understand your workforce better. Here’s how you can use the template:

• Create personalized questionnaires with custom questions
• Provide valuable feedback that can help shape policies and strategies
• Gather real-time feedback from employees on any device

Download This Template

ClickUp Customer Satisfaction Survey Template

You’ve learned how to build a customer satisfaction survey in Excel, but once you use the ClickUp Customer Satisfaction Survey Template, you’re going to find it hard to go back to that. 

With this template, you can collect customer feedback and analyze survey results to understand customer behavior. The template helps you:

• Collect customer feedback in a timely and cost-effective manner
• Identify areas of improvement for your business
• Analyze survey results to create action items

Download This Template

ClickUp Feedback Form Template

ClickUp Feedback Form Template is a customizable digital form for collecting and managing feedback easily. 

It offers various question types, integrates with other ClickUp features for analysis, and helps you organize and prioritize input for improvement actions. You can get the overall rating, the reason for the ratings, see customer tiers, and more. 

Download This template

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Create Interactive Surveys with ClickUp

Now that you know how to create a questionnaire survey in Excel, you’ll also know that while Excel can undoubtedly handle the basics, it falls short when it comes to the complexity and efficiency modern surveys demand. 

To put it simply, it lacks the dynamic features of a dedicated survey platform. 

Enter ClickUp, a tool that goes beyond being just a Google Forms alternative. With conditional logic, real-time updates, and advanced reporting, ClickUp empowers you to create engaging surveys, share them with users, and extract meaningful insights.

Ready to ditch the spreadsheets and elevate your survey game? 

Sign up on ClickUp today!