No one will come up with an update for a website, product, or service better than their users. So let's figure out what question to ask to benefit from feedback.
No one disputes that numbers are impressive, but reviews are more useful when it's not a story about quantity but quality. When you can do something with them: changes on the site, repairs, or fixes.
Before you start collecting feedback, decide on the goals. Need to understand why people are leaving the site? Increase conversion? Catch bugs before they catch you? Depending on the aims, formulate the questions. Take note of the fundamental ones that will suit any business and help you get valuable feedback.
And we'll clarify right away – it's better to use such questions for surveys. And give a choice from several ready-made options or the Other option, in which respondents can write something in more detail.
Questions
Why did you decide to visit our website today?
This question helps you find out why users come to the site. And also whether you pay attention to their wants. Sometimes the answers to this question can be surprising. Or you will realize that you didn't even know about some of the desires of your users. Maybe you incorrectly identified the target audience? Are your customers getting the information they need? Analytics shows how many people visit the site, and feedback will tell you WHY they are here.
Have you found what you were looking for?
A convenient question if you want to find out if it is easy for a user on your site to find what he came for. And after answering this question, you often have to redesign the navigation.
For example, after such a survey, the Swiss railway company Transilien added a separate landing page with a timetable. Users can access it from the menu bar. Surprisingly, they got lost on the main page and couldn't find out when their train was leaving.
And if somebody can't find something on your site, it's easier to go to competitors and not waste precious time on you.
What was your purpose for the visit? Did you manage to achieve it?
Non–linear surveys are the immediate future of the industry. Specifically, these questions reveal the users' motivation and indicate your positioning problems. Once on the site, will the user achieve his goal? If not, better make changes.
If you understand your users' goals, you will take a giant step towards great UX! For example, the travel company Virgin Holidays found out that users were looking for the All-Inclusive checkmark on the site. And they couldn't find it because it was called Premium All-Inclusive.
Do you still have questions?
Stop shifting the work of a UX designer to the user! Stop, wait a minute... It is an ideal option to instantly change something on the site for the better! Potential customers, and even regular clients, want to know more about the company, products, or services before a new purchase. If they don't find this information from you, they will buy it somewhere they can do it.
You interact with your site every day, and the view is blurred. Therefore, the answer to this question for you is a cold shower. Get ready to learn a lot about the site (and not always pleasant).
Asking users to talk about negative experiences is an unpleasant idea. But sometimes it's the most valuable information you can get from them.
You're asking them to talk about the barriers to conversion. That is, about what prevented the desired action from being performed. But we all dream of getting this cherished explanation!
Clothing manufacturer Calvin Klein, for example, takes this question as the basis of the survey "How can we help you choose the jeans you are looking for?" In the options – a list of new features of the site, from which you need to choose one. The one that the user wants to see first.
How can we improve this page?
This question makes it easier to scale problems on the site. Ask users about specific pages and make changes right away. You can configure targeting pages, users, and their actions in the UX Feedback. For example, on the Success page after purchase, ask the buyer to take a survey: "What functionality did you lack in the cart?"
In one of our cases, we asked users of the textile store's website what criteria were most important to them when choosing a fabric. It helped the client decide which improvements he would have to work on first.
Every page on your site is there for something (logically!), so it is valuable sometimes to check whether it is useful for users. The same goes for products and services.
Other issues
Website improvement
Please, help us improve the website! What do you like and what don't you like the most?
How can we improve our website?
If you could improve one thing on the site, what would you like to change?
How do we make the site more convenient?
Based on your visit, how would you rate our website?
Product
What factors were important to you when choosing a product?
What prevented you from registering right now?
Why did you choose [X]?
Content
How would you rate this content?
Did this text help you?
How can we improve this page?
Did we miss anything important on this page?
Did you find the information you were looking for?
Did you like this article?
What else would you like to read?
Error page
Could you tell us what brought you to this page?
Which page did you visit before the error?
Which page did you want to get to?
Refusal in the cart/Purchase
Why did you refuse to make a purchase?
What bothered you the most during the purchase?
Do you have any questions before completing the purchase?
Did you have any problems while making a purchase?
How could we improve the online shopping process?
Collecting user feedback should always be built around the information you can use. Try to avoid questions that can be answered with yes or no. Of course, the answers will sometimes be... ahem, minimalistic, but, in general, you will get a deep look at the site or product from the outside.
Analytics answers the question: "What?" User feedback to the question: "Why?" If you want to come to a convenient UX, increase conversion and make customers the happiest in the world, you will have to learn to listen to them. They have the answers to all the questions.
