What is an in-app survey?
An in-app survey is a survey shown inside your product while someone is using it, opened by what they just did. Because it asks in the moment, the feedback is specific and tied to a real action.
Feedback from inside the product
An in-app survey appears inside a web app or a mobile app, usually as a small card in a corner or a panel at the bottom of the screen. It opens when the user does something you care about, such as finishing onboarding, using a feature for the first time or reaching the cancel page, and it asks about that moment.
Because the user is signed in, an in-app survey can know who is answering. You can ask only customers on a certain plan or with a certain role, and read each answer next to who gave it, which makes the feedback far easier to act on than a comment from an unknown visitor.
In-app surveys suit product, customer success and support teams, who need to hear from active users. Email still reaches the users who rarely log in, so most teams use both.
- Shown
- Inside a web app or a mobile app, while the user is signed in
- Opened by
- An action, a screen, time in the product or an event your code reports
- Used for
- Onboarding, feature feedback, NPS, CES, cancel reasons
- Knows
- Who answers, with facts such as plan or role
In-app survey examples
Each in-app survey ties one question to one moment in the product. A few that work for most software teams:
- A welcome survey right after sign up, asking for the user's role to shape onboarding
- A CES question after a setup step: “How easy was it to connect your data?”
- Feature feedback after the third use: “How useful is the new report view?”
- A demand check when someone clicks a feature that isn't built yet
- A cancel survey on the cancel page, asking for the main reason
- NPS for users who have been active for a month or more
When to show an in-app survey
Show the survey right after the action it asks about, while the user still remembers it. Avoid opening it in the middle of a task, on the first screen after sign in, or while the user is typing.
Limit how often the same user sees a survey. A user who answered NPS last month shouldn't see it again this month, and someone who closed a survey without answering is a sign the moment didn't fit.
Targeting signed-in users
The app passes a few facts about the signed-in user to the survey tool, such as their plan, role, sign-up date or number of seats. Targeting rules then decide who sees each survey: trial users only, admins on the business plan, or accounts with five seats or more.
The same facts travel with each answer, so you can compare how admins and members rate a feature, or see which plan the unhappiest answers come from.
In-app surveys vs email surveys
The two channels reach different users. In-app surveys hear from people who are active right now, and email reaches people who rarely log in, including those about to leave.
| In-app survey | Email survey | |
|---|---|---|
| Reaches | Active users, in the product | Everyone on your list |
| Timing | Right after an action | When you send it |
| Context | Fresh and specific | Broader, from memory |
| Best for | Onboarding, features, CES | NPS, quarterly check-ins, quiet users |
What to ask in an in-app survey
Keep it to one or two questions about the moment the user just had. A rating or a choice gives you something to count, and an optional open question after it gives you the reason.
Write the question in the product's own words. Name the feature the way your interface names it, so users know exactly what you are asking about.
Running in-app surveys in Usertick
Add the install code to your web app once, and Usertick surveys show inside it as a popup, a side button or a card inside the page. Page rules are checked again after each in-app navigation, so a survey can target one screen of a single-page app, and on phones a popup becomes a sheet at the bottom of the screen. Usertick doesn't run inside mobile apps installed on a phone; a web app opened in the phone's browser works.
The identify call names the signed-in user with an ID and up to 50 traits, such as plan or role, proven by a hash your server computes. From Starter, targeting can use those traits and the sign-in state, and the email, name and company traits become the person's details in the inbox. The element click, form submit and custom event triggers open a survey on an action in the app, on 1 survey on Free and on every survey from Starter.
Each answer reaches Results and the inbox with the person who gave it, and Usertick reads written answers for theme, sentiment and urgency. On every plan, workflows can post answers to Slack or Microsoft Teams or add them to Google Sheets.
Mistakes to avoid with in-app surveys
Small choices that keep the results useful.
- 01
Interrupting the user mid-task
A survey that covers the screen while someone is working gets closed. Open it once the task is done.
- 02
Asking every user the same thing
A new user and a long-time admin see the product differently. Use traits to send each survey to the users it concerns.
- 03
Surveying the same users too often
Active users see every in-app survey you run. Space surveys out, and stop showing one to anyone who already answered it.
- 04
Forgetting users who rarely log in
In-app surveys reach active users only. Add an email survey to hear from the quiet ones before they leave.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, when the survey tool follows in-app navigation. Usertick checks page rules again after each in-app navigation and counts those navigations as pages viewed.
Yes. Pass the plan as a trait and target on it. In Usertick, targeting by user traits needs the Starter plan or higher.
Not inside a mobile app installed on a phone. Usertick surveys run on websites and in web apps, including a web app opened in a phone's browser, and a link survey opens on any phone.
Name the signed-in user when the app loads. In Usertick the identify call passes the user's ID and traits with a hash your server computes, so each answer carries a verified user.
Listen better, act faster, and build what truly matters.
Start free, see what your customers mean, and get each answer to the person who can act on it.
- 150 responses a month on Free
- Every channel and AI analysis
- No card needed