Concept: Survey vs. Pulse
A survey can be larger or smaller in scope; does this affect what we should call it?
The simplest definition of the concepts can often be based fundamentally on the scope or size of a measurement. Below we explain how we view the concepts of a survey and pulse/pulse survey:
A pulse is most simply defined as a smaller type of survey, which can be advantageously held between larger and more comprehensive surveys. A pulse can work well to direct focus on specific areas, for example a single index; if larger full-scale measurements are held too often, it easily becomes tiring for the respondents. A pulse can also include individual questions from several different areas, to capture a larger perspective but with fewer questions.
A pulse is thus a type of survey, while a survey does not necessarily have to be of the "pulse" type.
Recommendations for creating a pulse survey
To create a pulse survey, we recommend the "Start from scratch" survey type. This gives you the option to select specific questions or individual question packages/indexes, to keep the pulse relatively small in a meaningful way.
A more advanced form of pulse is also available as a survey type, named Smart Pulse. This type of pulse automatically selects follow-up questions based on previous insights from each team. Read more about how this works here: 📌 Smart Pulse