Designing for Public Input vs. Targeted Outreach

Two different goals

Public input and targeted outreach answer different questions about the same population.

Public-input design playbook

The optimization target is participation. Everything else — survey length, profile step, even the question types — should bend in that direction.

Keep it short

Aim for 5 to 8 questions. A QR-arrival respondent is standing at a bus stop or scrolling through a newsletter on their phone; their attention window is measured in seconds, not minutes. Every extra question past 8 costs you completion rate disproportionately.

Make the profile step optional — or skip it

Requiring email or zip code on the profile step suppresses completion by roughly 5 to 10 percentage points. For a broad-reach public survey, that's a bad trade. Either skip the profile step entirely (every response is anonymous — that's fine for aggregate analysis), or include it with all fields optional. Some Travelers will supply identity voluntarily; the rest contribute to the aggregate count.

Lead with the visual

Map question types convert better than text-first surveys for public input. A Route Selector with three labeled routes on a map answers a transit-planning question in a glance — the Traveler isn't reading three paragraphs of "describe the alignment we propose for the corridor that…"

Distribution channels

• QR codes at transit stops, stations, and bus shelters. Print the QR large, on durable signage, with a one-sentence framing: "Tell us about your trip today — takes 2 minutes."
• Direct links on social media and newsletters. Use the ?s=<publicId> URL from /client/survey — shareable, no auth required.
• Tabling at events. A printed QR on a placard plus a staffer to answer questions converts dramatically better than QR alone.

What to expect in the data

• Anonymous-heavy. Verification rates of 5–15% are normal. Don't treat the un-verified majority as a problem — that's the data you came for.
• Geographic bias. Travelers near where you posted the QR are over-represented. Worth noting in your stakeholder report.
• Long tail of completions. Public-input surveys accumulate slowly for weeks. Don't lock in conclusions in the first 48 hours.

Targeted-outreach design playbook

The optimization target is signal quality. Respondents already opted in by clicking your invitation; the survey can ask more of them.

Length budget: 12 to 15 questions

Targeted respondents will sit through more questions because they chose to participate. Don't waste the runway with filler — every question should produce data you'd reference in a meeting — but you can ask for more depth here than in a public survey.

Skip the profile step entirely

Email-invited arrivals already have identity established via the invitation token. Showing them a profile step is friction without information gain. Turn Requires Profile off for surveys you primarily distribute via emailed invitation.

Use Mailing Lists deliberately

Build small, intent-named lists rather than one big "everyone" list. Sending the same survey to "Route 47 riders" and "Downtown employers" gives you cohort-comparable response rates and lets you slice the report by audience at analysis time. See Using Mailing Lists Effectively for the full pattern.

Lean into verified-rate optimization

• Send through TIPS's email-queue worker (the ?inv=… flow) — auto-verified at click.
• If sending from your own platform (Mailchimp, HubSpot, your CRM), use the external-email invocation ?s=<publicId>&te=<email> for the same auto-verification effect. See Understanding Verified vs. Anonymous Responses for the full mechanics.
• When using your own platform, make sure DKIM and DMARC are set up properly on the sending domain so the post-submit verification email lands in the inbox, not spam.

What to expect in the data

• Verification rates of 60–95%. Email-invited responses are verified on arrival; the only un-verified subset comes from inbox-routing failures.
• Stable response curves. Most responses arrive in the first 72 hours after the invitation, then taper. A reminder send 7–10 days later picks up roughly half as many additional responses as the initial send.
• Higher cost per response. Targeted outreach is more expensive per recorded answer than public input. The per-respondent signal is correspondingly higher.

Running both modes on the same survey

TIPS doesn't force you to pick. The same survey definition can be distributed via QR code AND via emailed invitations to a Mailing List, and every response carries the verified / anonymous tag plus (when known) a linked Traveler Profile. The Report page's four summary cards show the split at a glance.

A common pattern for transit-corridor studies:

1. Verified baseline — targeted outreach to a stakeholder list (transit board, agency partners, opt-in rider list). 50–100 verified responses, ~85% verification rate, used as the headline grant-application number.
2. Public breadth — QR codes at the affected corridor's stops for 4–6 weeks. 800–2,000 anonymous responses, used to demonstrate magnitude of public interest and surface unexpected demand patterns.

In the CSV, filter the Verified column when you need the defensible subset; include everything when reporting aggregate participation. Both numbers go in the report — they answer different questions.

A quick chooser

If you're not sure which mode applies:

• Goal is "what does the broader public think?" → public input.
• Goal is "what do these specific people think?" → targeted outreach.
• Goal involves a federal grant or stakeholder presentation → both, weighted toward targeted.
• Goal is corridor demand discovery → public input, preferably with a Route Creator question.
• Goal is capital-program prioritization → targeted outreach, preferably with a Route Ranker.

Common questions about survey strategy

What's the practical difference between public-input and targeted-outreach surveys?

Public input maximizes participation across an unknown audience (QR codes, social-media-shared links, no profile step required). Targeted outreach maximizes signal from a known audience (emailed invitations to a curated list, verified responses, optional follow-up). Both can run on the same survey definition; the difference is in invitation method and profile-step configuration.

Can the same survey support both modes?

Yes. A single survey can be distributed via QR code AND via emailed invitations to a Mailing List. Each response carries a verified/anonymous flag and (when known) a Traveler Profile, so you can filter or weight at analysis time. The Report page summarizes the mix at the top.

How short should a public-input survey be?

5 to 8 questions, typically. Public-input arrivals have shorter attention windows than email-invited respondents; a long survey loses you participation. Targeted outreach can sustain 12 to 15 questions because the respondent already opted in by clicking your invitation.

Should I require email on public-input surveys?

Usually no. Requiring email on a QR-arrival survey suppresses completion rate by ~5–10 percentage points without proportional benefit, since the responses are often anonymous-by-design. Make email optional on the profile step and rely on the post-submit verification email to capture identity from those who do supply it.

Should I require email on targeted-outreach surveys?

Email is already established via the invitation link (?inv=…), so the respondent never sees a profile step asking for it. There is no friction to optimize away here — focus instead on keeping the survey itself short and meaningful.

Which invitation method should I use for public input?

QR codes on physical signage (bus stops, transit stations, event posters) and direct-link sharing on social media or newsletters. Both route to ?s=<publicId> arrivals on /invoke-survey.php with no profile pre-population. See "Three Ways to Invoke a Survey" for the full breakdown.

Which invitation method should I use for targeted outreach?

TIPS-managed email invitations to a Mailing List (?inv=… auto-verified) or the external-email invocation (?te=<email>) if you prefer to send from your own platform. Both produce verified responses with full identity attached.

Is one mode more defensible for a federal grant?

Targeted outreach with high verification rate is the more defensible standard for documenting demand. Public input is excellent for breadth and discovery but harder to audit. Many successful grant applications use both: targeted outreach for the verified baseline, public input as supporting breadth.