{"id":3014,"date":"2023-03-14T16:18:48","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T16:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refiner.io\/blog\/?p=3014"},"modified":"2025-04-15T11:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:26:16","slug":"ux-research-surveys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/refiner.io\/blog\/ux-research-surveys\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use UX Research Surveys for Product Development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a technical founder, I couldn\u2019t deny it even if I tried – I love building my product. And I do mean every aspect of the process here, including figuring out<\/em> what to build<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I also know that to other founders, the process of identifying users’ needs is pretty challenging. It\u2019s often difficult to even imagine where to begin. Or what strategies to use to collect that feedback, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that the process is easy (and relatively quick to do, too), but it involves running UX research surveys. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, let me show you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What exactly do I mean by a UX research survey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I love this quote from Erika Hall (I\u2019m quoting it after <\/em>Userinterviews<\/em><\/a>), who said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSurveys are the most dangerous research method.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, surveys can deliver incredible insights into your audience\u2019s preferences, needs, challenges, issues, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s also so easy to misinterpret that feedback. It\u2019s difficult to avoid bias too. Not to mention that it can be quite tempting to use those insights selectively to prove your point (rather than extract objective insights.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And nowhere else can it become more evident than in UX research surveys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the term – UX research survey – refers to a user research method that you employ to collect qualitative and quantitative insights from your existing customers about your products or services. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the name suggests, the method is survey-based, meaning that, to provide feedback, customers need to answer your questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the word, questions<\/em>, can be misleading in this context, so let\u2019s stop briefly and discuss this. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the time, we associate the word, questions, with having to provide some lengthy reply or explain our emotions or impressions. But that\u2019s not always the case with UX survey questions, actually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, you might ask users to provide more information about the context of the customer\u2019s impressions, motivations, etc. But often, in UX research surveys, your leading questions should focus on collecting quantitative insights. And you do that by asking closed-ended questions<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a quick example of a UX research survey aiming to gauge perceived product value.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"UX
An example of a multiple choice question in a product feedback survey. Built with Refiner<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Note that the only thing a customer needs to do to complete it is to select the appropriate response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, you can also include a follow-up question in your survey. This time, however, you could use an open-ended question to help you learn more about the reasons behind the person\u2019s original answer and reveal their thoughts about the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is an example of a follow-up question to a product-market fit survey.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Let\u2019s circle back to UX surveys, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How exactly do you use UX research surveys for product development?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve covered the two types of UX survey questions – closed and open-ended ones. But I think it\u2019d be a good idea also to see what type of insights you should seek to drive product development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, typically, we run UX research surveys to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Validate concepts or feature ideas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this option, you aim to collect existing customers’ ideas about new features or capabilities that you\u2019re considering introducing to the product.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like to think of this research as a way to validate my own ideas. It\u2019s as if you were taking your dream product and running it by users to see what they think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because let\u2019s face it, what we, founders, want to build doesn\u2019t always match what the audience needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UX research surveys are a great way to get a real-world perspective on our ideas and see which ones resonate with our customers the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When to run these UX surveys?<\/strong> Ideally, early on in any stage of the product development cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collect product feedback<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These questions help you understand what aspects of your product are most important to your audience and whether you\u2019re focusing on improving the right features moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UX surveys focusing on product feedback help you understand: <\/p>\n\n\n\n