Personalized Results Visualization for Research Surveys

A custom solution for online surveys with a focus on privacy and usability

Project Info

• This project was implemented by drahtwarenhandlung OG.
• Client: University of Vienna
• Timeframe: 2016
• Project effort: less than 1 person-month

Project Description

As part of a research project, researchers at the University of Vienna conducted multiple surveys among business founders. They used the standardized online survey platform [SoSciSurvey.de]( https://www.soscisurvey.de/, which was not originally designed to fully support their specific use case.

The project’s main challenge was to develop a technical solution that would allow participants to compare their individual results with those of other survey participants while fully protecting privacy and complying with data protection requirements. At the same time, the results needed to be presented in a meaningful and visually appealing way.

An analysis of the survey platform revealed that custom results pages could be generated using PHP. Since these pages also supported embedded HTML, it was possible to integrate the d3.js visualization library.

Working closely with the researchers, the relevant survey results were identified and appropriate presentation formats were defined. Suitable visualizations were then designed, implemented, and embedded directly into the online survey platform.

Originally, SoSciSurvey.de could only return basic information (such as a date) to participants, while data analysis and visualization were available exclusively through the administrative backend. By integrating d3.js into the PHP-based results pages, the information available to participants was significantly enhanced. Personalized results pages tailored to each type of data made it possible for participants to clearly understand their own survey results in comparison with the overall survey population—while fully preserving privacy and ensuring compliance with data protection requirements.

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