FocusVision updates Decipher platform to automatically create surveys from Word docs

Customer experience (CX) management is a good investment. Eighty-four percent of companies who prioritize improving the customer experience reported an increase in annual revenue. The ever-expanding CX management market covers a wide range of tools and offerings and is expected to  be worth over $14 billion by 2024.

FocusVision is a market research and CX platform that works with many large organizations, including 18 of the top 20 Fortune 100 companies. They provide software solutions focused on customer insights and survey management.

Last week, FocusVision announced new enhancements to its Decipher survey platform, which includes the introduction of an AI enabled tool that automatically converts Microsoft Word files into actionable questionnaires without the need to change the file format or add special syntax.

ClickZ spoke with Zoe Dowling, PhD, the Senior VP of Research at FocusVision to learn more about the Decipher platform and gain a better understanding of this new application of AI technology.

The Decipher survey platform

Decipher is FocusVision’s professional survey and reporting platform. It enables users to conduct surveys of all sizes, from quick one-question polls to large multi-question, multi-country surveys.

Per Dr. Dowling, “The great thing about Decipher is that you can create a short, quick questionnaire to get a pulse on an issue or execute powerful, multi-country long studies and segmentations. It easily handles complex routing, nested quotas and other advanced capabilities. The tool scales from simple to highly sophisticated survey research.”

Decipher enables users to build the survey themselves, but FocusVision also provides operational and programming support if needed. Users can see survey data in real time and can analyze data within the platform. In addition to dashboard reporting capabilities, charts can be exported for quick sharing and integration with other formats such as PowerPoint and PDF files.

“Decipher is exceptionally robust as a platform,” explains Dowling. “The genesis of the innovations that we’re focusing on are all about the better, faster, cheaper mantra. We are always asking, how do we, as a technology company, help researchers get answers quickly and efficiently?”

Decipher’s recent updates to automatically create surveys from Word docs

Last year FocusVision updated Decipher’s user interface to make it easier to create surveys by incorporating drag-and-drop survey building. This year, they built a survey marketplace, enabling users to procure survey samples from directly within the platform.

“The vast majority of survey questionnaires start their life in a Word document,” says Dowling. “Decipher allows users to convert this document into a survey without having to cut and paste or add special syntax.”

Dowling explained that Decipher now offers first-to-market AI-enabled capabilities to create fully formed surveys from Word documents. The tool pulls from its database of tens of thousands of surveys and uses a built-in algorithm to detect the most common question types. When a user uploads their Word document, it’s run through the algorithm which helps to identify the type of question and creates the survey based on that.

“Technology should enable people to do their jobs more efficiently and focus on what humans do best, which is uncovering insights within the data,” says Dowling. “Our head of innovation is a researcher and recognized that this was a need among our customers. We looked at the platform to see how we could use AI to make survey creation easier for our customers.”

FocusVision’s clients span a spectrum of industries including CPG, healthcare, technology, entertainment and finance. Organization size varies widely and includes industry-specific clients as well as research companies, each of whom have differing needs.

Users get survey responses in a variety of ways, including sending out invitations using their own CRM lists or enlisting people to take the survey. The survey and survey data are hosted on FocusVision’s servers which are cloud-based in a highly secure environment. Users can start doing preliminary analysis almost immediately as responses begin coming in.

Two case studies: The English Football Association and The Alzheimer’s Society

The English Football Association (EFA) wanted to evaluate and improve the Wembley Stadium experience for visitors, but their existing platform was limiting in terms of question types and analytical and output capabilities.

The EFA worked with FocusVision to migrate their survey program to Decipher from an older provider. The migration gave them the opportunity to refresh their survey questions and ensure that they were collecting relevant data. They also reviewed their KPIs and looked at how could they be more flexible to just-in-time needs based on each event at the stadium.

“The EFA updated their survey to incorporate fresh and relevant KPIs and included a modular section which could be adjusted for a particular event,” explains Dowling. “They were able to use the different features within Decipher including built-in mobile functionality since more people are taking surveys on their mobile devices. The study is reoccurring and ongoing.”

The Alzheimer’s Association had a different goal with their surveys. They wanted to create relevant content and information for their customer caregivers.

The Alzheimer’s Association initiated this process by sending a one-off survey with questions that focused on what kind of information caregivers needed and what the information gaps were. They used survey response data to create new information booklets focused on helping the caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients.

“The ways you can use the platform are endless,” says Dowling. “Decipher covers the full spectrum of the customer experience and can help our customers with future product innovations, research around usability, and brand insight.”