Sixteen (16) people responded to our survey before the cut-off date. Here is a summary of the data we received:

Demographics

• 69% of respondents were female
• 14 of the respondents were in their 20’s
• One respondent was in their 40’s
• One respondent was 70 years of age or older

Computer Usage

• 63% of respondents said they mainly used Windows to browse our site
• Only one out of the 10 Windows users did not use Internet Explorer
• Only two of the six people who did not usually use Windows used Internet Explorer
• Most of the respondents check their email via the web

Familiarity

• 38% of respondents do not know either Becky or me very well
• From the 62% of respondents who do know at least one of us, one knew both of us equally well, four knew Becky better, and five knew me better
• Three respondents said their interests were more similar to Becky’s
• Four respondents said their interests were more similar to mine
• Six respondents said their interests were similar to a little bit of both of ours
• Two respondents said their interests were not similar to either of ours

Site Viewing Habits and Feedback

• Most respondents visit our site a few times per week
• 86% of respondents liked or loved our recent website redesign from Huemor, one person disliked it, and the rest were either indifferent or undecided
• 44% of respondents would like to see a change in the colors on our site
• 25% of respondents would like to see a change in the page layout on our site
• 19% of respondents would like to see a change in the graphics and images on our site
• One respondent wanted to see a change in the fonts on our site

Site Content Preferences

• 8 of 16 respondents wanted to see more photography
• 6 of 16 respondents wanted to see more daily life anecdotes
• 6 of 16 respondents wanted to see more reviews
• 5 of 16 respondents wanted to see more crafty stuff
• 5 of 16 respondents wanted to see more recipes
• 5 of 16 respondents wanted to see more personal opinions
• 4 of 16 respondents wanted to see more religious discussion
• 4 of 16 respondents wanted to see more humor
• 3 of 16 respondents wanted to see more geeky stuff
• 3 of 16 respondents wanted to see more family stuff
• Only one respondent wanted to see more political stuff

Lima Beans

• 5 respondents said that they like lima beans
• 4 respondents said that they do not like lima beans
• 4 respondents said that their like or dislike of lima beans “depends” on other factors
• 2 respondents indicated that they “though this was about our website!”
• One respondent told us to “leave the beans out of this.”

Observations

• Our typical site viewer is a 20-something female, using Internet Explorer
• I rarely test my coding changes on the browser most people use, and yet I rarely get complaints about our site not working in that browser. I must be doing something right
• We update our site slightly more frequently than most people visit, so most people are probably reading a chunk of new posts with each visit.
• People older than their 20’s, for the most part, didn’t respond to our survey. I can think of at least eight people who regularly visit our site, are 30 or older, and did not complete a survey. I have two theories which may explain this. First, as you mature, you have a growing social life, family, and career. This leaves you with little time to browse the web, and even less time to fill out a survey. Second, many of the age 30+ people I can think of may feel that Becky and I know them well enough that their response to the survey is unnecessary.
• Photography was the most requested content in the survey – 50% of respondents want to see more on our site. However, we already have a great photo gallery, with over 3,500 photos. Isn’t that enough? If you wanted to see more photography, in what sense do you mean?
• For the 44% of our viewers who wanted to see a change in the colors on our site, what specifically would you like to see change?
• For the folks whose interests are not similar to mine or Becky’s… how did you end up at our site, and responding to our survey?

If you have any responses to questions I’ve raised, or any other comments on our survey results, please leave them in the comments section of this post by clicking on the ‘comments’ link below.

Thanks to everyone who participated!