Skipper Draft is an AI-powered tool designed to help you overcome the blank page and create surveys with ease. It's not meant to replace your expertise but to act as an assistant, helping you get started and stay on course. To make the most of Skipper Draft, it's crucial to write clear and effective prompts. Think of it as providing a detailed brief to a research assistant. Here’s how to write prompts that get you the best results.
Understanding Skipper's role
Before diving into prompt writing, remember that Skipper Draft is a specialist in writing surveys, not a search engine. Instead of asking a question as you would with a search engine, tell Skipper what you want to learn from a study. The more specific you are, the better the generated draft will be. Additionally, Skipper is not able to reference other areas of your workspace, such as the Target Market page. Therefore, it's critical to include all relevant details within the prompt itself.
Key elements of an effective Skipper Draft prompt
A successful prompt generally includes the following three core components:
- Summary statement: Start with a single sentence describing what you want to learn from your audience. This should be a clear objective for your survey. Focus on the desired outcome of the research.
- "I would like to gauge consumer sentiment..."
- "I would like to know the relationship between..."
- "I would like to test respondent preferences..."
- "I would like to learn about..."
- Specific parameters: Include parameters such as survey length, the number of questions, or specific outputs you're seeking. This helps frame your objectives and guide Skipper. Though it may not be exact, it will get you close. You can also include specific question types or research tests. For example, you might specify that you'd like to include a MaxDiff question, or that you are looking for a certain number of open-ended questions in your survey.
- Context: Provide background information, including who your target audience is, what you'd like to do with the information, and why you're conducting the study. Since Skipper does not reference the Target Market page, be sure to include details about your specific target audience in the prompt, for example, "consumers of this product," or "parents of children ages 12 and up." Additionally, explain the context of the survey. Is this for market research, customer feedback, or academic purposes? The more context you provide, the better Skipper can tailor the survey to your needs.
Best practices for writing prompts
Beyond the core elements, consider these best practices:
- Be clear and specific: Use precise language to state what you want the AI to do and avoid ambiguous terms.
- Provide context: Offer sufficient background information to help the AI understand your needs.
- Provide examples: When possible, give examples of the type of response you’re looking for and highlight important details that should be included or avoided. For instance, if you want to measure customer satisfaction, you could provide examples of questions that effectively gauge satisfaction levels.
- Set constraints: Specify any length limitations or formatting guidelines, such as if you prefer bullet points or paragraphs. This helps ensure the generated survey aligns with your desired format and structure.
- Use progressive refinement: Start with a general prompt and refine it based on the responses you receive. Adjust the prompt to address any shortcomings or unexpected results.
- Be neutral and unbiased: Frame prompts in a way that does not lead the AI towards a particular answer, and encourage diverse perspectives.
- Test variations: Experiment with different phrasing to see how the AI responds. This can help you discover the most effective way to communicate your requirements.
- Validate outputs: Regularly check the responses for accuracy, relevance, and appropriateness.
- Maintain ethical considerations: Avoid prompts that encourage sharing personal or sensitive information.
Examples prompts for Skipper Draft
These examples cover a range of topics and include a variety of parameters, allowing you to see the flexibility of the tool. Some examples include:
- "I would like to know how Kia Telluride compares to Hyundai Palisade in terms of features, performance, and customer satisfaction among SUV buyers aged 35–54."
- "I'd like to understand social media and smartphone use among kids aged 10–18, including frequency of use, preferred platforms, and parental controls."
- "I would like to know how Americans aged 25–45 go about moving from state to state, including reasons for moving, challenges faced, and resources used."
- "I’d like to learn what design of a food court offers the best experience for families with children under 12, considering factors like seating, layout, and food options."
- "I'd like to gauge consumer sentiment among grocery shoppers aged 30–60 on topics like shrinkflation, skimpflation, and spaving, and understand how these trends impact their purchasing decisions."
- "I want to write a survey to learn more about how Americans aged 25–54 are taking vacations this summer, including destinations, budget, and travel companions."
- "I would like to know more about Owala water bottle users aged 18–34, including reasons for purchase, frequency of use, and satisfaction with the product."
- "I would like to test respondents aged 25–45 about their preferences when participating in community events, such as types of events, frequency of attendance, and motivations for involvement."
What to do after generating a draft
Once Skipper generates a survey draft, you should always review and edit your survey. Consider the following:
- Are the questions clear and related to the survey's objectives? Ensure that each question directly contributes to the overall goal of your survey.
- Does the draft include everything you are looking to measure? If there are any gaps in the generated draft, add or modify questions accordingly.
- Do the questions make sense and are they in a logical order? The flow of the survey should be smooth and intuitive for respondents.
- Are the question types used appropriate to the questions being asked? Make sure the chosen question types effectively capture the desired data.
- Does the survey logic itself make sense and do the arrays and aliases match up? Check that any skip logic or question grouping is correctly implemented.
- Do the right questions get shown or hidden, depending on previous demographics or behavior? Verify that any conditional logic is working as intended.
- For any PQs, are all people who you would like to hear from “accepted” into your survey? Ensure that your screening questions are appropriately filtering respondents.
- Are randomization and N/A used appropriately? These features should be used strategically to enhance data quality.
- For multiple-choice questions, are the response options mutually exclusive and comprehensive? Response options should cover all possibilities without overlap.
Easily modify your draft with the Modify feature
Once you have a draft you're happy with, you can use the Modify feature to help you polish it to perfection. Here's how it works:
- Select a question: Click “Modify” and select the question you want to refine.
- Choose your action: Tell Skipper what you'd like to do. You can select from pre-written prompts or write your own.
- Review and refine: Skipper will generate suggestions for you—from there you can choose to accept them as is or tweak them further. This gives you complete control over the final product.
Modify can help you clarify ambiguous phrasing, expand answer options to capture a wider range of perspectives, or even seamlessly add new question sets to explore emerging research areas.
Privacy and security
It is important to remember that Skipper Draft operates within strict privacy protocols. Your survey data is stored internally for service delivery, troubleshooting, and platform improvement. However, it is never used to train Skipper’s algorithms. Your data remains your own, and efforts are made to ensure the confidentiality and security of your research.
By following these guidelines, you can effectively use Skipper Draft to streamline your research process and focus on what truly matters: uncovering meaningful discoveries and driving impactful decisions.
.jpeg)
