Utah's Guiding Our Growth Be Heard Survey

Utah is experiencing a population surge. Governor Spencer Cox tasked Envision Utah with educating residents, understanding their concerns, and collecting feedback on managing this growth. After six months of outreach, Envision Utah designed zip code-specific surveys for Urban, Rural-Growing, and Rural-No Growth areas. Recognizing the survey’s crucial one-time run and faced with a tight 8-week window, they asked us to turn these surveys into an informative and user-friendly web experience.
We started with a comprehensive planning workshop focused on goals, identifying user groups, and features tailored to them. We recommended a line-art look and feel to be approachable to all residents, regardless of background. Our design integrated bite-sized bits of education alongside questions. To help residents understand the growth management strategies, we created 32 custom illustrations. We made sure any zip code variations fit in seamlessly. Before finalizing, we tested our design with a mix of Utahns—making tweaks to ensure it was clear for everyone.
We built the site in React, using Qualtrics’s API to handle responses. This combo gave respondents a smooth experience and let Envision Utah analyze the data deeply. Knowing everyone might not complete the survey, we innovated a way to save user feedback in real-time after every question, ensuring no voice was lost.
The survey achieved impactful results in its three-month run:
- Almost 50% of respondents finished the survey. (The goal was 20% completion of the first half.)
- Survey respondents represented all Utah counties
- Nearly 30,000 people visited the site and answered at least one question
- About 19,000 survey responses were received
- Feedback about the site was overwhelmingly positive