Tiny Tip Tuesday #12

Use fonts and colors for a more readable survey

When you create a survey, be sure it's readable. Choosing the right font and colors is the key to an enjoyable reading experience and determines the overall tone of your survey. Let's take a look at how to pick the best fonts and colors for your work.

Before we get into the different types of fonts, the simplest tip to improve readability is to increase the font size so it won't strain the reader's eyes. As for the different types of fonts, sans serif and serif fonts—such as Arial, Tahoma, and Roboto—are the most widely used neutral fonts because they are the easiest to read. However, you can pick decorative and modern fonts when you create a fun quiz or a casual survey. Just make sure the design and font complement each other.

With colors, remember that every color conveys a feeling. So don't use too many bright and goofy colors that could annoy the reader, and remember not to use non-black colors for the text. For example, red, although an energizing color, can be perceived as aggressive. Black is a neutral color, but gray has often been used in surveys as it is believed to keep response bias low. Green is often associated with being correct, and yellow can symbolize something that needs improvement. Blue is always considered a safer option as it's associated with credibility. But these are generalizations since a florescent blue can dip your survey's readability into the abyss, while a good shade of red can highlight important points.

Let us know if these tips help make your question and answer options more readable. We'll be back with another tip next week.