As Home Assistant continues to grow and evolve, so does our commitment to making it more inclusive, accessible, and aligned with the diverse needs of our community. To that end, we’re launching an annual survey—and we hope you’ll participate!
A big part of building our roadmap going forward was focusing more on research, which led the team to bring me (Annika) in as a Senior User Experience Researcher. We could keep assuming our community’s wants and needs, but we’d rather base our decisions on data-driven insights 😉. With this survey, we aim to better understand not just how you use Home Assistant, but also who you are as a person, a smart home user, and a member of our community. This knowledge will help us:
- Tailor our future work to address the needs of our community.
- Identify trends and shifts in the smart home landscape over time.
- Ensure Home Assistant and its ecosystem reflect the values and priorities of those who use it.
We understand that some of the questions we’re asking touch on sensitive topics. Rest assured, your responses are completely anonymous, and all questions are optional. If you’re ever uncomfortable, you can skip a question—but for the results to be recorded, you must hit the submit button at the end of the survey. This survey isn’t short; we recommend setting aside around 20 minutes to complete it. Fill out the survey here or read more about what we’re trying to learn below.
~Annika
What we’re hoping to learn
We’re curious about how you began your smart home journey and what drives your decisions today in your home. From the types of devices you use to how your household interacts with your smart home. We want to learn who is using Home Assistant, not just the primary user, but also those living in your smart home. These insights allow us to understand the varied experiences and expertise within the community. For example, knowing your professional background helps us identify areas where your day-to-day knowledge intersects with smart home technologies. We are also asking about neurodiversity, which can help us understand how our community processes and interacts with information. By learning about these differences, we can make our communication and platform design more inclusive. Again, we can understand if you prefer not to share this information.
One area we’re trying to understand better is how you personally resonate with the values of the Open Home. We believe in privacy, sustainability, and choice—but how important are these values to you?
Your data
First and foremost, the survey is entirely anonymous, and you can skip any question you don’t want to answer. For sensitive questions (e.g., gender), we provide options like “prefer not to say” or open text fields.
Once collected, the data will be anonymized and aggregated to ensure your privacy. Because we cannot identify individual responses, certain data rights (like deletion requests) won’t be applicable after submission. Please note around halfway through the survey there is a partial submit point, once you click continue the previous answers will be recorded. The data will be stored and handled according to GDPR standards. For more details, see our User Research Agreement.
How you can help
This isn’t a short survey and should take around 20 minutes - don’t hesitate to return later to complete it. For the results to be recorded, you must progress past the partial submission point or hit the submit button at the end of the survey. While responding to the survey, be aware that there is no right or wrong answer. It is about you as a person, your experience, opinions, and feelings. Don’t overthink your responses, but stay with the answers that come to your mind intuitively. The more detail, the better - your insights will help shape our future directions. Also, share it with friends, family, or anyone who uses Home Assistant.
Fill out the Survey here
The survey opens on Monday, December 16, and closes on Monday, January 20. Once we’ve analyzed the data, we’ll share the results and insights with the community. By participating, you’re helping us build a better Home Assistant - one that grows with its users and stays true to its values. Thanks for your support!
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2024/12/16/community-survey-2024
