How should an entry-level UX researcher at a design-tools SaaS company approach brand awareness measurement when troubleshooting, considering PCI-DSS compliance?

Meet Alex: A UX Researcher Navigating Brand Awareness with PCI-DSS in Mind

Alex just landed a role at SketchFlow, a SaaS company making collaborative design tools. Their product’s brand awareness is murky, and Alex’s mission is to figure out why. On top of that, SketchFlow handles payments, so everything must align with PCI-DSS compliance—a set of security standards for payment data.

We asked Alex to share their approach, pitfalls, and fixes for measuring brand awareness when user onboarding and feature adoption are in play. Here's what they said.

Q1: Alex, what’s the first step when troubleshooting brand awareness measurement in a SaaS like SketchFlow?

Alex: Start by clarifying what brand awareness really means for your product. It’s not just “do people know our name?” but also “do users recognize the value of our design tools?” In SaaS, especially with onboarding and activation, brand awareness ties directly into how smoothly users begin using the product.

Imagine brand awareness as a faucet controlling water flow: if it’s barely turned on, no users flow in. If it’s wide open, users flood the system. Your job is to check if the faucet is leaking or blocked.

Common failure: Many juniors jump straight to surveys asking “Have you heard of us?” without capturing if users connect the brand to specific product benefits, like their quick prototyping feature or real-time collaboration.

Q2: What’s a root cause you often see messing with brand awareness data?

Alex: Mixing up brand awareness with brand perception or feature adoption. They’re related but not the same. Brand awareness is the “hello” moment — did the user know we exist? Perception is the “what do you think about us?” Feature adoption is even further down the funnel: are users actively using the tools?

Let’s say you run an onboarding survey through Zigpoll asking, “Do you find our design tool intuitive?” That’s feature feedback, not brand awareness. Confusing these confuses your metrics.

Fix: Keep your measurement clean — use brand-awareness-specific questions and tools. For example, run a short onboarding survey before users experience features to gauge pure brand recall and recognition.

Q3: How do you practically measure brand awareness for a SaaS product with onboarding flows?

Alex: Two methods are your friends here: aided and unaided brand awareness surveys.

• Unaided recall means asking users, “Name all design tools you’re aware of.”
• Aided recall means presenting a list including your tool plus competitors and asking which ones they recognize.

For SketchFlow, that might look like:

“Which design tools have you heard of before signing up? (Select all that apply)

• SketchFlow
• Figma
• Adobe XD
• InVision”

You can embed this in the signup or onboarding flow, making sure you don’t slow users down.

Data nugget: A 2024 SaaS Insights report found that companies running aided/unaided surveys during onboarding saw a 15% lift in accurate brand awareness tracking versus post-activation surveys.

Q4: What if brand awareness numbers are low? How do you troubleshoot?

Alex: First, check your survey timing. If you ask after onboarding, users might conflate their experience with brand recall. Run surveys early. If you’re already late, segment users into “new” versus “experienced” to isolate brand recall.

Next, dig into traffic sources. If users come mostly from PPC ads without brand messaging, they might not recognize the brand name but only the product feature advertised. This lowers raw brand awareness but might boost activation.

Example: SketchFlow found their Google Ads mostly drove feature curiosity, but brand awareness was near zero. They added brand-focused ads and saw awareness jump from 12% to 28% in two months.

Q5: How do PCI-DSS compliance rules affect brand awareness measurement?

Alex: If your brand awareness survey captures or passes through payment info—like credit card data—PCI-DSS rules kick in. PCI-DSS requires that all payment data is handled in a highly secure way, limiting how you collect and store info.

Why it matters: Suppose you run a combined onboarding survey that asks for payment info and brand feedback. You must ensure survey tools encrypt data, restrict access, and comply with PCI standards.

Fix: Separate brand awareness surveys from payment collection. Tools like Zigpoll, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey can run simple brand awareness questions without payment fields. Keep payment entry strictly on your PCI-compliant checkout pages.

Q6: What SaaS-specific challenges should UX researchers mind during troubleshooting?

Alex: Onboarding complexity and churn mess with brand awareness measurement. If users never activate or drop off early, they’re unlikely to develop brand recall.

Imagine a funnel with holes: users enter at the top, but many leak out before activation. Your measured brand awareness might look low, but really, those users never had a chance to “meet” your brand properly.

Fix: Use onboarding surveys at different funnel points. For example:

• Right after signup (ask about brand recall)
• Post-activation (ask about brand perception and feature feedback)

Pro tip: Combine brand awareness data with churn analytics. If churn spikes where brand awareness is low, you’ve found a root cause.

Q7: What tools would you recommend for collecting brand awareness data safely and effectively?

Alex: Zigpoll is excellent for short, embedded surveys—quick to deploy and user-friendly. It supports easy segmentation, which helps you track awareness across user cohorts.

• Zigpoll: Great for lightweight onboarding surveys without payment data entry.
• Typeform: More customizable, works well if you want branded surveys with conditional logic.
• Google Forms: Free and simple, but less secure and customizable. Avoid if payment data is involved.

Remember, none of these tools should handle PCI-sensitive info. Keep your payments and brand feedback separate.

Q8: Can analytics tools help with brand awareness measurement?

Alex: Indirectly, yes. Tools like Mixpanel or Amplitude won't tell you if users recognize your brand but can track activation rates and user engagement. If activation rates climb after a brand awareness campaign, you can infer awareness increased.

Example: SketchFlow ran a brand-focused webinar and tracked new user activations via Mixpanel. Activations rose 20%, pointing to better awareness—even though the survey recall score only nudged by 2%.

Q9: Are there any limitations or situations when brand awareness measurement isn’t useful?

Alex: If your product is very niche or B2B with a small, targeted user base, raw brand awareness surveys may not offer much insight. Your users likely already know your product deeply.

Also, for products with limited marketing budgets, spend might be better focused on activation and retention metrics instead of brand awareness.

Q10: What are some quick fixes to improve brand awareness measurement quality?

• Segment users by new vs. returning before surveying.
• Use direct questions like “Have you heard of SketchFlow before today?” rather than vague ones.
• Run surveys early in onboarding before feature exposure.
• Include competitor options in aided recall to benchmark.
• Separate payment and survey flows clearly to stay PCI-DSS compliant.
• Track survey response rates to ensure you’re not missing a silent majority.

Alex’s Final Advice: Start Small, Iterate Fast

Brand awareness measurement isn’t a one-off project. Think of it like tuning a radio—adjust your dial (survey questions, timing, segmentation) until you get a strong, clear signal.

Focus on simple, well-timed surveys embedded in onboarding, watch out for PCI-DSS compliance by separating payment data, and combine brand data with activation and churn metrics.

Remember: better brand awareness means smoother onboarding, higher feature adoption, and ultimately, less churn. And that’s the kind of insight your SaaS product needs to grow.

Comparison table: Brand Awareness Measurement Tools for SaaS UX Researchers

Real-World Wins

One design tool company reported a jump from 2% to 11% in brand recall by sending short aided awareness surveys before users hit their onboarding tutorial. The catch? They split the survey from the payment process completely, avoiding PCI-DSS pitfalls.

By understanding what brand awareness really means, when and how to measure it, and how to handle payment compliance, you’ll be ready to troubleshoot with confidence and get your design tools SaaS on the map.