Check whether the outcome improved
Set item acceptance checks
Require a construct, audience, recall period, neutral wording, balanced response options, applicable alternatives, and a decision link. Add a check for double-barreled language, undefined terms, and choices that assume every respondent has the same experience.
Review pilot answers
Ask varied respondents to explain the item and their selected response. Compare interpretations, skipped answers, and requests for clarification. Record language or access barriers and revise only the component that blocks the intended measurement.
Approve the evidence boundary
State what the item can summarize and what it cannot establish about cause, future use, or unmeasured groups. Record the final wording, pilot limits, owner, and review date. Keep an alternate method when the construct remains hard to ask directly.
What to carry forward
The verification record should show item checks, pilot interpretations, response coverage, and evidence limits. Approve the question for the audience tested. Retain a follow-up when interpretation varies materially or the item cannot answer the decision alone.
Technical background: GOV.UK user research guidance.
Keep the decision with the work.
Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.
Create an account See the product workflow