Findings From Our Recent Audience Survey

Happy new year! This is Maurice Cherry, the founder/host/editor-in-chief/next Supreme around here.

For the last two months in 2014, I did a survey to get a better idea of who the Revision Path audience is, how you like the site and the podcast, and a few other topics.

This was a big survey broken into four parts: demographics, the podcast, the blog, and donations and fund-raising.

Let’s examine the findings, shall we?

DEMOGRAPHICS

How old are you?

Survey respondents ranged from 23 to 58 years old, with the average age being 35 years old.

What is your gender?

Survey respondents were 59% male and 41% female.

What is your ethnicity?

Survey respondents were mostly Black/African (79.5%). 10.3% were White/Caucasian, 5.1% were Hispanic/Latino, 2.6% were Asian, and 2.5% listed their ethnicity as Other.

Where do you live?

89.7% of survey respondents are here in the United States. Other survey respondents were from the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa.

Which of the following best describes you?

84.6% of survey respondents are working professionals. The remaining respondents were split between college students (undergraduate and graduate) and retired/unemployed respondents.

How big is the organization you work for?

Every respondent skipped this question.

What is your official job title or field of study (degree program)?

There were a number of different titles here; 87% dealt with some form of design or coding.

The REVISION PATH PODCAST

How did you hear about Revision Path?

28.2% of respondents heard about Revision Path through Twitter. 17.9% came from a personal recommendation (either from me or someone else), 15.4% came from Facebook, 12.8% found Revision Path through iTunes, and < 1% overall came from other sources, like Creative Bloq, Google, Stitcher Radio, and LinkedIn.

How regularly do you listen to Revision Path?

38.2% of respondents listen to Revision Path occasionally, with 23.5% of respondents tuning in every week. 17.6% of respondents listen to 1-2 shows a month, 11.8% rarely listen to the show, and 8.8% have never listened to a single episode.

How do you listen to the Revision Path podcast?

38.4% of respondents listen to the podcast directly on RevisionPath.com. 25.6% of respondents listen through iTunes,  12.8% listen through SoundCloud. and 2.6% listen via Stitcher Radio. Remaining respondents listen through some external application (15.3%) like PocketCasts or Downcast, or they have not listened to the show at all (5.3%).

Are you subscribed to the Revision Path podcast?

48.7% of respondents are not subscribed to the Revision Path podcast. 28.2% are subscribed through iTunes, 10.2% are subscribed through SoundCloud, and 2.6% are subscribed through Stitcher Radio. 10.3% are subscribed through some external application, like PocketCasts, Overcast, or Downcast.

What do you like about the show? Why do you listen?

The consensus of responses had to deal with the subject matter of the podcast — Black creative professionals. Here are a few responses:

• “I like hearing about the different types of work people do on the web. I’m glad there’s such diversity with guests in terms of gender and orientation.”
• “I love hearing a conversation between professionals of color who work in creative fields. Often the discourse on and about black professionals centers around finance, law and social justice. Also I like that the guests come from a variety of backgrounds and work at a range of levels. It gets tiring only hearing from the most [senior] black person at the biggest company, i.e. Black Enterprise.”
• “I love that it’s serving a serious need. I listen because it’s inspiring and makes me proud. The content quality is consistently great, and I also appreciate Maurice’s transparency – he asks for help when he needs it.”
• “I like that it provides perspectives about creative techies and entrepreneurs in the African American community, especially their journeys that led them to where they are today.”
• “I really love that a wide variety of people are featured on the podcasts. It is great to see women, queer and trans people, people who took many different paths to their learning, etc. Also, there are very few shows that talk specifically about people of color in tech, so I am very grateful to listen to this show, especially as I am new to the field and trying to learn as much as I can!”

What do you dislike about the show that can be improved upon?

While a majority of respondents did not have any suggestions for improvement here (53.8%), a few did leave some words:

•  “Would like the sound quality of interviewees to always match the high quality sound of Maurice. Poor mics and echoing rooms kill podcasts for me.”
• “The sound quality of some of the interviews are not as good as they could be. I think it has to do with the background of guests when they call in.”
• “Maybe different kinds of interviews? Guest host? Two guests?”
• “Probably the marketing as I’ve never heard of it.”
• “The energy level can be low sometimes.”
• “This is not so much a dislike as a suggestion — the podcast sounds somewhat “muffled” by comparison to other podcasts I listen to. It’s not a dealbreaker for me by any means, but it’s something I think could be improved.”
• “I wish I could see the interview.”
• “A range of guests, multiple at once.”
• “Written transcripts”
• “hard to sort through the podcast/website, sometimes a little scripted, could use a little more connectivity to engage audience and offer variety; Improvement thoughts: something more reflective of creative people…, switch up format some invite audience to participate…maybe offer a “regular designer” a chance to be on the call or even a student or a teacher to offer a different perspective, listing the snip-its from facebook/twitter on the blog, using a quote from the guest in the blog to pull in audience, interactive opportunities with guest”
• “I wish that the show had other types of programmers on like from ios or Ruby”
• “The audio has definitely improved since the first episode. That was my only complaint.”
• “Maybe add a segment for listener questions for more well-known designers”
• “there is nothing I don’t like about the show. Some show ideas to consider 1. Another Diversity in Design Roundtable 2. Portfolio prep What Makes A Good book 3. How to prepare for a design or web career while in high school or college. 4. Job Judo: How to prepare and survive for those tough job situations every web and graphic designer goes through.”
• “The lack of value it seems like people have. People should throw more money at this.”

With 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how would you rate the Revision Path podcast?

THE REVISION PATH BLOG

How regularly do you read the Revision Path blog?

33.3% of respondents have never read the Revision Path blog. 27.8% have rarely read it, 19.4% read it occasionally, and 13.9% read it 1-2 times a month. Only 5.6% read the blog every week.

Have you read any of the long-form interviews on the Revision Path blog?

A majority of respondents (69.2%) have not read any of the long-form interviews on the blog. 30.8% have.

Have you read any of the articles on the Revision Path blog?

53.8% of respondents have not read any articles on the Revision Path blog. 46.2% have.

With 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how would you rate the Revision Path blog?

This chart shows how the ratings break down.

What topics would you like to see covered on the Revision Path blog? Please be as specific as possible.

Here are a few responses:

• “Technical and design-related tutorials. Also some insight into how others work, including processes and systems.”
• “I can’t say. I never looked at the blog.”
• “Maybe the work flow part or tutorials would be beneficial.”
• “Information about other coders such as ios or Ruby, Python etc.”
• “More tips, strategies, experiences of older black creatives to evolve and remain relevant and competitive in the market.”
• “Best and worst experiences as a designer or developer. And what is the ideal/dream client or dream project.”
• “Design teams, interdisciplinary client/project work, interdisciplinary businesses, in-house designers… designers working together”
• “More variety, in every aspect.”
• “Look at sites like lifehacker which do “how I work” series. Content that is less “here is a black person in the field” and more focused on presenting stories, life and work of talented people who happen to be black.”
• “I wasn’t even aware of the blog, If it was mentioned on the podcast I must have missed it. Just assumed it was just podcast.”
• “Blacks/Minorities in Architecture, historically and currently (locally and nationally).”
• “The creative process. Applying the idea to paper or [the computer].”
• “Being the only black person in white spaces.”
• “The content is great! Keep creating informative content covering a range of topics including diversity, design, consulting, and other things related to tech. Side note: I notice the content recommendation happens on the home page and it feels like advertisements.”
• “Diversity in Design Roundtable, Portfolio prep What Makes A Good book, How to prepare for a design or web career while in high school or college, Job Judo: How to prepare and survive for those tough job situations every web and graphic designer goes through, Going Your Own Way: What makes A Successful Design or Web Entrepreneur, Futurecast What will web designers need to know in 2015”
• “Passion Projects, educational design programs, niche/specialization design”
• “design or code tutorials would be cool!”
• “Career advice for people interested in design and development.
  Opinions on the “next big thing” in web/graphic design and development.”
• “Advice for new UX/web designers and developers, and people who want to break into the tech field.”
• “Black Web designers and web developers in the UK.”
• “Maybe more freelance tips”
• “More about mobile and app development.”
• “Sports”
• “Protests/Civil disobedience”
• “The importance of black design and marketing professionals mentoring young designers and stressing the importance of growing a new generation of designers.”
• “Companies that are doing the right things to successfully improve diversity, rather than just talking about it – what they do, why it works.”

DONATIONS AND FUND-RAISING

Have you donated to Revision Path?

92.3% of survey respondents have not donated to Revision Path. 7.7% have.

Are you familiar with our fund-raising page on Tugboat Yards?

79.5% of survey respondents are not familiar with our fund-raising page on Tugboat Yards. 20.5% are.

Did you know you could support Revision Path on an ongoing basis for just $5 per month?

59% of survey respondents did not know they could support the show for just $5 per month. 41% did know.

If you haven’t donated, what could we do to convince you to give?

Here are a few responses:

• “Marketing”
• “Reach out to me”
• “Give me a job to get money to donate with”
• “I’m not sure what would convince me. Perhaps if supporting was bundled with another benefit.”
• “Not at this time”
• “giveaways like this”
• “You would have to pay me to listen to this racist shit”
• “$25”
• “idk”
• “Send me a notice.”
• “Provide more information on your fundraising efforts.”
• “More variety”
• “Not much”
• “don’t care”
• “just here for the giveaway bro”
• “I would made non-cash donations”
• “Short of finding me a job, there’s not a lot that’s possible right now.”
• “i am not sure”
• “Not sure”
• “will consider it”
• “Plan on donating. Just haven’t yet.”
• “I think tweeting about it so much is almost a deterrent. I don’t support any of my favorite podcasts.”
• “Maybe surround it around a cause: Upgrade revision path. Raise money for art supply scholarship for a high school or college student. Co sponsor with general assembly or Lynda.com if we reach a certain goal i.e. $3000, winner will get 1 free class or 1 year subscription”

Thanks again to all who took the time out to complete this survey!

I definitely have some things to say about the survey findings, but I want to save that for a podcast that’s just about Revision Path. And I want your input as well! Do you have any questions about Revision Path? Send them to me and I’ll answer them as part of this special podcast for Revision Path’s two-year anniversary that will air on March 2.

Now I said this on the last survey I did, and it’s still true: your engagement (comments, subscriptions, downloads, ratings, reviews, etc.) are what really makes the site grow. So if you like Revision Path and want to see it stick around and get even bigger and better, tell your friends, your family, your co-workers — everybody! Subscribe and leave a rating and review for the podcast in iTunes and Stitcher Radio. The more ratings and reviews the show gets, the higher it gets in their rankings (and the more people will find out about the show), and it only takes a few minutes to do.

Are there any websites Revision Path should connect with? Let me know!

Anyone Revision Path should talk with to help spread the word about the site? Let me know!

Anyone you think Revision Path should interview? Let them know! (And let Revision Path know too, but seriously…letting them know helps a ton.)

Got a comment? Leave one below.