Engagement is not a one-way street. Once you have analyzed the data from your first survey, the results may raise new questions or need the community to confirm them. Instead of going straight to a final plan, you can share what you found and run a second survey that asks follow-up questions about the results. This makes sure your reading of the data matches what the community actually meant.
This article covers five steps: share the findings, validate hotspots, test scenarios, fill demographic gaps, and close the feedback loop.
1. Share what you found in the first round
Before asking new questions, show people what you learned. People are curious about how others responded and how their own answers compare, and seeing the results makes them more likely to take part again. There are three ways to do this, and you can combine them.
Publish an AI report of the results
The analysis tool can write a full results report for you. It includes a written summary of the open-ended answers, plus the charts and map cluster analysis from your saved views. Go to the analysis tool, click the AI symbol and select Generate report automatically. Generating a report usually takes a couple of minutes.
- Review before you share. The summary is written from AI-generated tags, so check the tags first. Click a section to see which tags and data it is based on. You can edit, reorder or remove any section, and every quote is a respondent's own words, copied word for word.
- Share it online or as a file. Publish the report as a web page and share the link, for example on your project page or in a newsletter. You can also download it as a Word, PDF or PowerPoint file for meetings and official documents. You can match the report's style to your brand before sharing.
How to: Generate a survey results report using AI. For the method, the AI model and how your data is processed, see How the AI report works.
Add live charts and maps to a project page
If you want to show selected results instead of a full report, add charts and response maps straight to a Project Page. Unlike a downloaded file, these stay connected to your survey data.
- Charts: In the analysis tool, set up the chart and click Export > Maptionnaire page element. On the project page, add a Chart (or Columns) element and choose the survey and chart.
- Response maps: Save a map view in the analysis tool (for example a heatmap, or responses colored by demographic group). On the project page, add a Response map element and choose the survey and view. If you also add the comment questions to the view, visitors can click a pin to read the comment.
- Keep it current: Click the chart icon on the project page to update every chart and map on the page with the latest responses in one go.
How to: Share charts on a project page, Share map responses on a project page and Update charts and maps shared on a project page. Sharing results on Project Pages is available on Communicate and Enterprise plans.
Show earlier map results inside the new survey
If your first survey had map questions, you can add those results to the follow-up survey as a map layer, so respondents see the earlier pins on the first pages. Download the results as GeoJSON files from Export and upload them to the new survey.
How to: Embed an interactive results map
2. Validate spatial hotspots
Ask participants to confirm or rank the locations that stood out in the first round. Respondents don't have to redraw points that already exist, which keeps the survey quicker for them.
- Choose the hotspots to validate: The map cluster sections of the AI report show where responses group together and how those areas differ from the rest of the survey. These make a good shortlist.
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Let people select existing points: Use a Pop-up map so participants can click pins from the previous round and mark them as high priority. Ask a follow-up question, such as "Why is this urgent?", as soon as someone clicks a pin.
How to: Add pop-up features to a map (Pop-up map/Click maps) -
Let people react to each other: Make new map responses public so respondents can see what others marked and vote them up or down. To keep it safe, turn on AI moderation, which automatically hides inappropriate responses.
How to: Let users see and vote on map responses (Public responses)
3. Test planning scenarios based on data
If the data shows that opinions are clearly divided, or the AI report finds two strong but competing themes, use the follow-up survey to test an "Option A" and an "Option B" based on that feedback.
- Instead of asking for general ideas, ask something specific, such as "Which of these two park layouts do you prefer?", and let people vote.
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Make respondents prioritize: use the Budgeting tool to give people a limited budget to spend on project features.
How to: Images as answer options and Create a poll. For budgeting questions, there are two options: Budgeting element and Geobudgeting.
4. Fill the demographic gaps
If the first round missed certain groups, such as young people or residents of specific neighborhoods, use the second round to reach them directly.
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Find the gaps: Filter the first-round results by background questions to see which groups are under-represented and how their answers differ.
How to: Filter survey results based on specific conditions -
Tailor the survey: Use branching logic so that each respondent only sees the content most relevant to them.
5. Compare the rounds and close the feedback loop
When you share the final results, show how raw community input turned into concrete planning outcomes.
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Make the rounds comparable: When you generate the AI report for the second survey, click Edit next to the tag group and enter the tags from the first round. The AI then sorts the new answers into the same tags, so you can show how views changed between rounds.
How to: Generate a survey results report using AI - Build a results page: Combine the published AI reports, live charts and response maps from both rounds on one Project Page, and explain what was decided based on the input.
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Give stakeholders the full picture: If a client, a council member or a partner wants to explore all of the data themselves, give them view-only access to the analysis tool. They don't need to join your team.
How to: Share access to the analysis tool (View only access)
Here are some other things you can do with Maptionnaire Pages:
- Give stakeholders more background information
- Ask for information that the survey didn't cover
- Keep stakeholders up to date on events and deadlines
- Direct people to surveys with links, or embed the survey on the page
- Collect comments from the public
Make it happen: Build a project website (Project Pages). For an overview of every reporting option, see the Quick guide to reporting and sharing survey data.