Optimizing the Use of the Sentence Completion Survey Technique in User Research: A Case Study on ...

Optimizing the Use of the Sentence Completion Survey Technique in User Research: A Case Study on the Experience of E-Reading
Carine Lallemand, Emeline Mercier

CHI'22: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Session: Interaction Schemes and Patterns II

Abstract
Sentence completion, originally a semi-projective psychological technique, has been used as an effective and lightweight user research method in user experience (UX) design. More information is yet still needed to understand how different sentence stems probe users’ insights, thereby providing recommendations for effective sentence completion surveys. We used the completion method on a large-scale sample to explore (e-)readers’ experiences and needs. Depending on their reading habits, participants (N=1880) were asked to complete a set of sentences, as part of a web survey. With 14143 user ideas collected in two weeks, our results confirm that remote online sentence completion is a cost-effective data collection method able to uncover feelings, attitudes, motivations, needs, or frustrations. Variation in sentence stems affected collected data in terms of item response rate, idea quantity as well as variety and originality. Building on previous research, this paper delivers actionable insights to optimize the richness of sentence completion outputs.

Pre-recorded presentations of CHI 2022