Glossary
Customer feedback terms, in plain words
Short, clear definitions of the metrics, question types and methods behind customer feedback, each with how it works in Usertick.
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A/B testAn A/B test shows two versions of something, such as a page, an email or a survey question, to comparable groups of people at the same time, then compares one measure to see which version performs better.
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ChurnThe rate at which customers stop using or paying for a product over a period, written as a share of the customers you started with. Cancellation surveys ask the ones who leave why, so the main reasons can be fixed.
Close the loopFollowing up with the people who gave feedback: thanking them, fixing what they raised and telling them what changed. Closing the loop turns a survey answer into an action the customer can see.
Closed-ended questionA survey question with a fixed set of answers to pick from, such as yes or no, a rating or a list of options. The answers are quick to give and easy to count, compare and track over time.
Completion rateThe share of people who finish a survey out of those who start it. Some tools measure it instead as the average share of questions answered in each submitted survey, so skipped or unseen questions lower it.
Conversational surveyA survey that asks one question at a time in the style of a chat, shows each answer as the person's reply and can add a short response after it, so answering feels like a brief conversation.
Customer effort score (CES)A measure of how easy it was for a customer to get something done, such as a purchase, a setup or a support request, rated from “Very difficult” to “Very easy”. The score is the average rating or the share of easy answers.
Customer feedbackCustomer feedback is what customers tell a business about its products, service and experience, from scores and choices to written comments. Teams collect it with surveys, support conversations and reviews, and use it to decide what to fix and build.
Customer journeyThe customer journey is the full set of steps a person goes through with a business, from first hearing about it to buying, using, getting help and coming back. Mapping it shows where the experience works and where people get stuck or leave.
Customer satisfaction (CSAT)A measure of how satisfied customers are with one purchase, visit or interaction, asked on a short scale such as 1 to 5. The CSAT score is the share of answers in the top two ratings, 4 and 5, out of all answers.
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Double-barreled questionA survey question that asks about two things at once but takes only one answer, such as “How satisfied are you with the price and quality?” Nobody can tell which part the answer is about.
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Exit-intent surveyAn exit-intent survey opens when a visitor seems about to leave a page, such as moving the pointer toward the browser's tabs, and asks one short question about why they are leaving or what stopped them.
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Feature requestA feature request is a customer's ask for a new capability or a change to a product, such as an export, an integration or a setting. The most useful requests carry the problem behind them, so a team can weigh the need and decide what to build.
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In-app surveyA survey shown inside a web app or a mobile app while someone is using it, opened by what they just did, so the feedback arrives in the moment instead of days later.
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Leading questionA survey question worded so that it nudges people toward one answer, through an assumption, a loaded word or a one-sided scale. The answers then reflect the wording more than what people think.
Likert scaleA rating scale that asks how much people agree with a statement, usually on five or seven points from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”, so attitudes can be counted and compared in a consistent way.
Link surveyA survey on its own web page, opened from a link you can send in an email or a chat, post on social media or print as a QR code, so anyone with the link can answer without visiting your website.
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Margin of errorThe plus-or-minus range around a survey result that shows how far it could sit from the true value for your whole audience, at a chosen confidence level. More answers give a smaller margin of error.
Matrix questionA survey question that lists several items in rows and one shared answer scale in columns, so people rate every item the same way in a single grid. Also called a grid question.
Micro-surveyA very short survey, usually one to three questions, shown at a specific moment on a website, in a web app or in an email, so people can answer in a few seconds without leaving what they are doing.
Multiple-choice questionA closed survey question that lists answer options and asks people to pick one, or every option that applies, so the answers can be counted as shares of everyone who answered.
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Net Promoter Score (NPS)A loyalty metric built on one question, “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”, answered from 0 to 10. The score is the share of promoters (9 or 10) minus the share of detractors (0 to 6), so it runs from −100 to 100.
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Onboarding surveyAn onboarding survey asks new customers or users about their first steps with a product or service: why they signed up, how easy setup was and what got in the way. It runs at milestones in the first days or weeks.
Open-ended questionA survey question that asks people to answer in their own words, with a text box and no list of options, so they can give the reasons, details and ideas a fixed set of answers would miss.
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Post-purchase surveyA post-purchase survey asks customers about an order they just placed or just received: how easy buying was, how they found you, and how the product and the delivery measured up. It runs on the confirmation page or in an email after delivery.
Product-market fit (PMF) surveyA survey that asks users how they would feel if they could no longer use a product. The share who answer “Very disappointed” is the PMF score, a common signal of how well the product meets a real need.
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Qualitative feedbackFeedback in people's own words, such as written survey answers, comments and interview notes, that explains the reasons behind the scores. It surfaces problems and ideas a team didn't think to ask about.
Quantitative feedbackQuantitative feedback is feedback you can count and compare: scores, ratings, choices and rankings. It shows how many people think something and how that changes over time, and open answers explain why.
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Ranking questionA survey question that asks people to put a list of items in order, from most to least important or preferred, so you see which options come first when they compete with each other.
Rating scaleA survey question that asks people to rate something on an ordered set of points, such as 1 to 5 stars or 0 to 10, so each answer becomes a number you can average, compare and track over time.
Response biasResponse bias is any steady pull that moves survey answers away from what people really think or do, caused by how a question is worded, when and how it is asked, or who chooses to answer. More answers don't remove it.
Response rateThe share of people who answered a survey out of everyone who received it, such as the customers who answered out of the emails delivered. It shows how far the answers speak for the whole group you asked.
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Sample sizeThe number of people whose answers you collect and analyze in a survey. A larger sample narrows the margin of error, so its results describe your whole audience more precisely.
Sentiment analysisReading written feedback to tell whether each comment is negative, neutral or positive, so a team can see the mood of hundreds of answers at a glance and notice when it changes.
Statistical significanceA difference is statistically significant when it is too large to be explained by chance alone, judged against a threshold such as 95% confidence. It tells you a gap is likely real. Whether the gap matters is a separate question.
Survey fatigueSurvey fatigue is the tiredness people feel when they are asked for feedback too often or for too long. It shows as fewer answers, more people quitting midway and quick, careless answers to the last questions.
Survey logicRules that decide which question a person sees next, or whether the survey ends, based on their answers. Each person sees only the questions that apply to them, and the survey stays short.
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TargetingSurvey targeting is the set of rules that decide who sees a survey and where, such as which pages, devices, countries or kinds of users, so each question reaches the people it is meant for.
Thematic analysisA method for finding patterns in written feedback: each answer is tagged with the topics it mentions, the tags are grouped into themes, and the themes are counted to show what customers raise most.
TriggerA survey trigger is the event that opens a survey, such as a page loading, time passing, a scroll down the page, a click or a move to leave, so the question appears at the moment it fits.
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VerbatimA customer's exact words, quoted as they wrote or said them, such as an answer to an open survey question. Verbatims add context to scores and help a team understand and act on what customers report.
Voice of the customer (VoC)Voice of the customer (VoC) is the practice of collecting what customers say about their experience across many moments, reading it for patterns and sharing it with the teams that can act. A VoC program turns scattered feedback into priorities.
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Website feedbackWebsite feedback is what visitors tell you about your site while they use it: problems they hit, ideas, questions and whether they found what they came for. It is usually collected with a feedback button or a short on-page survey that records the page.
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