If SurveyMonkey is designed to be as accessible as possible, then online survey tool WorldApp KeySurvey (which has custom pricing) has approached survey design from the other direction.
WorldApp KeySurvey has designed its feature set around enterprise use, putting a premium on administrative controls and security.
It's an excellent tool, but our Editors' Choice designation goes to competitor Qualtrics in our online survey tools review roundup.
Survey Design
WorldApp KeySurvey divides its Home screen into a folder directory for storing surveys, a list of the surveys therein, and a summary screen of the status of the selected survey.
Surveys can also be categorized with different colors, a bit like the old Labels feature in Mac OS's Finder.
That said, the user interface (UI) has a very Windows XP-like look.
Unlike other online survey tools that let you directly choose the kind of question you want to add to the survey, in WorldApp KeySurvey, you must first specify that you want to create a new question from scratch and then choose the type of question.
Question types have a small thumbnail near them, and WorldApp KeySurvey provides a reference page similar to that of eSurveysPro that goes into further explanation of question types.
But I would prefer a more interactive, tool tips-based system as you can find in SurveyMonkey ($25.00 at SurveyMonkey) or Qualtrics.
WorldApp KeySurvey also has a unique way of referring to question types.
For example, a radio button-based single-choice question is referred to as "Pick one or other." Only some of these names include tips for when the question should be used.
Hovering Help is provided in other parts of the UI, although sometimes it consists mainly of a suggestion to check out the Help pages.
Of particular note is WorldApp KeySurvey's "3D Matrix" question type, which, like Checkbox Survey , lets different types of selectors be mixed and matched in a single matrix.
WorldApp KeySurvey even lets you specify certain kinds of data formats in up to 12 different columns—for example, currency in one, a date in another, and a drop-down menu of choices in a third.
While WorldApp KeySurvey's approach to this is also an extensive multistep process, like Checkbox Survey's, it's a bit less convoluted in WorldApp KeySurvey.
WorldApp KeySurvey's Question editor provides many text formatting options.
And, while WorldApp KeySurvey, like SurveyGizmo ($25.00 at SurveyGizmo) , provides for importing a survey outline, it also allows for importing answer choices from a CSV file.
This could be handy for longer or dynamically generated lists.
The product also provides robust skip logic options with extensive rule combinations.
In fact, it provides two disparate UIs to creating such logic, one connected to the question and one branching off a survey-wide Advanced Features menu.
The Advanced Features menu also includes a Display Logic capability ("Show/Hide" in WorldApp KeySurveys' lingo).
The UI for both of these include a more modern UI layout than for standard WorldApp KeySurvey's features, and hopefully bodes well for the direction the company is taking.
WorldApp KeySurvey also supports piping, which is recalling text from previous questions and answers into future questions and answers via a powerful Calculated Value feature that relies on codes.
Particularly for piping in answers, though, there are far simpler UIs available in other products.
In terms of personalizing, WorldApp KeySurveys provides a wide range of themes, but these by and large consist of different title graphics.
Alas, none of these are editable, but WorldApp KeySurvey will let you dig in and customize a theme to a great deal, including writing your own CSS.
When it comes to fielding a survey, the product provides a number of options.
Survey links can be customized and integrated with the product's unique Participant portal for helping respondents keep track of multiple surveys.
However, there is no innate support for multiple collector links and no direct integration with social media.
Reporting
WorldApp KeySurvey offers a full array of reporting features.
Questions can be cross-tabbed with answers to other questions, and filters can be set on a question-by-question basis.
There are also many options for customizing the text formatting of reports.
A few features stood out, including the ability to customize the question and answer text used for charts in reports, as well as the ability to create custom groups of respondents according to how they answered certain questions.
That said, all of these options must be set up in advance of running a report, whereas other tools let you tweak them more interactively.
This is similar to the Checkbox Survey approach, although WorldApp KeySurvey provides far more flexibility before the report is run.
One of the standout features of WorldApp KeySurveys is its plug-in architecture.
On the one hand, the product's extensibility lets it keep the core UI relatively streamlined.
On the other hand, the plug-ins aren't necessarily easy to use.
Another great feature is its Tasks, which is a simple, integrated tool for tracking and delegation of tasks—as well as setting up workflows—for various parties connected with the surveys.
Other features are less obvious but are targeted at WorldApp KeySurvey's enterprise customer base.
For example, WorldApp KeySurvey's developer notes that it can host images and videos securely, ensuring that packaging concepts, for example, can't be crawled and stolen.
The product has also integrated extensive administrative controls to ensure that only authorized parties have access to survey-related tasks.
Pricing
WorldApp KeySurvey uses a direct sales approach and provides customized pricing; there is no pricing listed on its website.
While the rest of the product seems fairly competitive, this outdated approach to pricing was a bit of a disappointment.
Final Thoughts
WorldApp KeySurvey provides plenty of power under the hood, and seems to be aimed toward survey designers ready to dig into the use of variables and codes to bring out advanced functionality.
Its UI, while functional, is simply not as friendly as those of the other online survey tools in this review roundup, and neither is its pricing methodology.
But with amenities such as the Participant portal, it really seems to shine when working with a controlled list for intra-organizational work.
Cons
The Bottom Line
Online survey tool WorldApp KeySurvey is a highly capable and flexible system and is set up for enterprises that need administrative controls and security.
