What is an open-ended question?
An open-ended question asks people to answer in their own words, with a text box in place of a list of options. It tells you why people feel the way they do and brings up issues you didn't think to ask about.
Answers in people's own words
An open-ended question, such as “What is the main reason for your score?”, gives people a blank text box. They can say anything, at any length, in their own words. Closed-ended questions count how many people feel a certain way, and open-ended questions explain the feeling.
The answers are qualitative feedback: the complaint about a hidden fee, the idea for a new report, the bug that shows up on one browser. They take longer to write and longer to read, so most surveys ask one or two open questions, often right after a score.
Open questions matter most early, when you don't yet know what the options would be, and at the end of a survey, to catch what the other questions missed. Their answers also become the options for better closed questions later.
- Answer
- Free text, in the person's own words
- Best for
- Reasons, details, ideas and problems you didn't foresee
- Often asked
- Right after a score, or as the last question
- Analyzed by
- Sorting answers into themes and reading their sentiment
- Also called
- Free-text question, open question
Open-ended question examples
The best open questions are specific enough to point somewhere and open enough to allow any answer. Tie each one to a moment or a score, and ask about one thing at a time.
- “What is the main reason for your score?” after an NPS or rating question
- “What almost stopped you from signing up today?” right after sign-up
- “What could we have done better?” after a support chat
- “If you could change one thing about the product, what would it be?”
- “What were you hoping to find on this page?” on a help article
Open-ended vs closed-ended questions
Closed questions give numbers you can track, and open questions give the reasons behind the numbers. Most good surveys pair them: a score first, then one open question that asks why.
| Open-ended | Closed-ended | |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | Free text | A choice from fixed options |
| Tells you | Why, and what you didn't expect | How many, and how much |
| Effort to answer | Higher | Low, often one tap |
| Effort to read | Needs reading or sorting | Counted at once |
| Best for | Reasons, ideas, problems | Scores, trends, comparisons |
When to use an open-ended question
Ask an open question when the possible answers aren't known yet, or when a list would push people toward your own ideas. Keep it optional in most surveys, since a required text box makes some people leave.
- After a score, to learn what drove it
- In early research, before you know what the options are
- At the end of a survey, to catch anything it missed
- When someone picks “Other”, to hear what they meant
- After a problem, such as a failed payment, to learn what happened
How to analyze open-ended responses
With a few dozen answers, read them all and note the topics that come up. With hundreds, sort each answer into a short list of categories and themes, such as shipping, checkout or returns, and mark whether it is positive or negative. Counting answers per theme turns words into something you can track.
Keep the list of themes stable so this month compares with the last, and keep a few real answers per theme to quote. A count says how big a problem is, and a quote shows what it looks like to a customer.
How many open-ended questions should a survey have?
One or two is enough for most short surveys, such as a popup on a website or a survey after a purchase. Longer research surveys can carry more, as long as each one asks about something different and the closed questions around them stay quick.
Open-ended questions in Usertick
Add a Text question in the survey editor and set a placeholder, a character limit of up to 10,000, a minimum length and how many rows the box shows. On every plan, the question can also accept a screenshot or a file with the answer, on 1 question per survey on Free.
Usertick reads the written answers as they arrive, in any language. Each one gets a category and a theme from your organization's list, a type (bug, idea, complaint, question or praise) and a sentiment, and each response gets an urgency. On Results, the Text card lists the answers with their sentiment and theme, filters them by theme, and shows how the themes move over time.
In the inbox, each response gets an owner, a status such as Open, Planned or Resolved, and notes, so a written complaint reaches someone who can act on it.
Mistakes to avoid with open-ended questions
Small choices that keep the results useful.
- 01
Asking too many open questions
Each text box takes effort, and a survey full of them loses people. Ask one or two where the reasons matter most.
- 02
Questions too vague to answer
“Any feedback?” gets short, scattered answers. Name the moment or the score you want explained.
- 03
Making the text box required
A required box collects filler such as “no” or “ok”. Keep it optional unless the written answer is the point of the survey.
- 04
Reading answers without counting them
A vivid answer can feel like a trend when it comes from one person. Sort answers into themes and count them before you act.
Frequently asked questions
Right after the question it explains, such as a score, or at the end of the survey. Putting one first makes the survey feel like work before people have started.
As long as people want, within a limit you set. A larger text box invites longer answers, and a short placeholder such as “A sentence or two” sets the expectation.
Yes. On every plan, Usertick reads written answers in any language and files each one under a category and theme from your organization's list, with a type and a sentiment.
Yes, a small one attached to a choice. Read those answers regularly, and when the same answer keeps coming up, add it to the list of options.
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