Performance metrics help you understand not just what participants say, but how they engage with your study. These insights reveal pain points and opportunities to optimize your research for better quality and quantity of responses.
Ballpark collects responses in real time, capturing data even when participants drop off mid-study. This allows you to track incomplete responses, drop-off rates, and other key engagement metrics at two levels: the entire study and individual steps.
Study-level performance
View overall study performance at the top of the Summary page. Think of this as a funnel showing participant progression: from screening for your study, to starting it, to completing it.
The exact metrics displayed depend on whether your study includes screener questions.
Study performance without screeners
When you don't have screener questions, you'll see:
Started: Total participants who moved past the welcome step
Completed: Total participants who answered at least one question and reached the exit step, including those who completed the penultimate step but dropped off before the exit. Also shown as a percentage of participants who started
Median duration: The median time from passing the welcome step until reaching the exit step or dropping off
Study performance with screeners
When you include screener questions, you'll see additional metrics before the started and completed metrics:
Screened: Total participants who saw at least the first screener question, including those disqualified or who abandoned during screening
Qualified: Total participants who passed the screeners and moved to the setup and welcome flow. Also shown as a percentage of those screened
What's a good whole study completion rate?
Ballpark supports various research methods like surveys, usability tests and live interviews and completion rates naturally vary across study types. Use these general guidelines:
Completion rate | Rating |
90-100% | Excellent |
80-89% | Strong |
65-79% | Moderate |
50-64% | Low |
0-49% | Very Low |
Step-level performance
Each step in your study shows individual performance metrics:
Entered: Number of participants who reached the step
Dropped off: Number of participants who left the study at this step
Completed: How completion is defined depends on the step type:
Answer-based steps: Marked complete once an answer is recorded (screener, yes/no, text question, multiple choice, rating scale, image preference, email, number, date, legal question)
Task-based steps: Marked complete once the task is started (website task, five second test, first click, prototype task, prototype free roam, card sort)
Instruction steps: Marked complete as soon as the participant enters
Completion Rate: Percentage of participants who entered the step and also completed it
What's a good step completion rate?
With 20+ step types available, some steps that require more time or effort naturally experience higher drop-off. Here are general guidelines:
Completion rate | Rating |
90-100% | Excellent |
70-89% | Strong |
50-69% | Moderate |
30-49% | Low |
0-29% | Very Low |
Tip: If you notice lower-than-expected completion rates, review your study for potential issues like unclear instructions, excessive length, or technical difficulties that might be causing participants to drop off.