Software feedback survey template: 8 questions
Is the software doing its job?
A software feedback survey asks the people who use your software how well it works for them. The Great Question template has eight questions: likelihood to recommend and why, how reliable, secure and easy to use the software is, whether people have had issues, and how they would improve it. Send it during or shortly after use, so people answer from recent experience.
Questions it can answer
- Do people like the software?
- What else should be improved with the software?
- What issues are coming up?
What is a software feedback survey?
A software feedback survey asks users of the software for their opinions. Users should be presented with the survey either during or after using the software. The survey measures how satisfied users are and collects information about any issues.
Related guide: For coding the open-text answers into themes, see our guide to customer feedback analysis.
Do it faster with a Claude skill: Survey designer. Builds a first draft of this study in Claude that you can edit before you send it.
The questions in this template
These are the questions in the Great Question software feedback survey template.
How likely are you to recommend this software to a friend or colleague?
Linear Scale
Not at all likelyExtremely likely
Why did you give that rating?
Long Text
How reliable is the software?
Single Select
- Extremely reliable
- Somewhat reliable
- Not very reliable
- Extremely unreliable
- I don't know or I'm not sure
How secure is the software?
Single Select
- Extremely secure
- Somewhat secure
- Not very secure
- Extremely insecure
- I don't know or I'm not sure
How easy do you find the software to use?
Single Select
- Extremely easy to use
- Somewhat easy to use
- Not very easy to use
- Extremely difficult to use
- I don't know or I'm not sure
Have you had any issues with the software?
Yes / No
- Yes
- No
Logic: if No, skip to Q8.
If you've experienced an issue, can you tell us about what happened?
Long Text
How would you improve the software?
Long Text
Questions you might add
These are our suggestions, not part of the Great Question template. Add them only if you will use the answers.
How long have you been using [Software]? Single choice: Less than a month, 1-6 months, 6-12 months, 1-2 years, More than 2 years.
How often do you use it? Single choice: Several times a day, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Less often.
Which feature do you use most? Single choice from your feature list.
How would you feel if you could no longer use [Software]? Single choice: Very disappointed, Somewhat disappointed, Not disappointed. (Sean Ellis's product/market fit question.)
How to run it
When to send. In the product after someone has used it for a while (for example, after a few sessions), or by email to active users. Don't send it to people in their first session; they have not used enough of it to answer. For a release, send a few weeks after it ships.
Length. Eight questions, and people with no issues skip Q7, so it takes two or three minutes. For a shorter in-app prompt, use Q1, Q2 and Q8.
Sample size. About 100 responses gives roughly ±10 percentage points at 95% confidence on a single question. Make sure the sample includes light and heavy users, not only the most engaged.
How to analyse. Calculate a Net Promoter Score from Q1 and read the reasons in Q2. For Q3 to Q5, report the share choosing the top answer and the share choosing either negative answer, and keep "I don't know or I'm not sure" separate. Report the share who said Yes to Q6, then tag the issues in Q7 and the suggestions in Q8 into themes and count them; pass the issue reports to the team that owns triage. Track Q1 and Q3 to Q6 across releases.
Advantages
- Provide focus for improvements
- Easy to track results over time
- Can uncover unknown challenges
Limitations
- Might uncover problems you were completely unaware of, requiring more investigation
- Survey fatigue
- Sampling errors/size gaps
Frequently asked questions
What questions should I ask in a software feedback survey?
Likelihood to recommend and the reason for it, how reliable, secure and easy to use the software is, whether people have had issues and what happened, and how they would improve it. This template covers those in eight questions.
When should I send a software feedback survey?
After someone has used the software enough to have a view, either in the product or by email to active users. For a specific release, wait a few weeks after it ships.
How is this different from a System Usability Scale survey?
SUS is a fixed 10-question measure of perceived usability that produces one benchmarkable score. A software feedback survey is broader: recommendation, reliability, security, ease of use and issues. Many teams run both.