Research questions that find the problems worth solving first
Ask users about the problem before you build the answer, then test your ideas and recruit people for interviews. Each question below comes with when to ask it and what the answer tells you.
What user research survey questions tell you
User research survey questions ask users about a problem before you design the fix: how often it comes up, how much it hurts, how they cope today and what they have tried. A survey reaches more people than a round of interviews, and it tells you which problems and which users are worth a longer conversation.
Ask the problem questions early in a project, by email to a list of users or with a link in your community or newsletter, and the idea questions once you have something to show. Pick five to seven questions, mostly open, and end with the interview sign up for people who want to say more.
Each written answer gets a category, a theme and a sentiment, so a hundred stories about the same problem sort into a few themes you can read in an afternoon. Results lists each answer with its theme, and filtering by theme brings the stories behind one problem together.
- Questions
- 19
- Best asked
- Early in a project, before you build
- Industry
- Any business
- Where to find them
- From library in the Usertick survey editor, on every plan
The 19 research questions, with when to ask each
Grouped by what they tell you. Use them as they are or change the wording.
The problem
Start with the problem itself: what it is, how often it comes up, how much it hurts and how soon it needs solving.
- 01Text
What problem were you trying to solve?
The problem in the user's own words. Ask it first and keep it open, since the words users choose show how they think about the problem before your framing shapes it.
- 03Dropdown
How often does this come up?
How often the problem comes up. Select Every day in Results to filter the page to the users who face it most and read their stories first.
- 04Stars
How painful is this problem for you?
How painful the problem is, in five stars. Read it next to how often it comes up, since a rare but painful problem and a daily nuisance call for different fixes.
- 05Text
Tell us about the last time this happened.
A story about the last time the problem happened. Asking about a real moment brings out details a general question misses, and gives your team real cases to design for.
- 14Date
When do you need this by?
The date the user needs a solution by. Results shows a calendar of picked dates, which shows how urgent the problem is and helps you plan a release.
How users cope today
These show the workarounds and the people involved, which is what your idea has to beat.
- 02Text
How do you handle this today?
How the user deals with the problem now, from a spreadsheet to a colleague. The workaround is what your idea has to beat, so read these answers closely.
- 08Text
What have you tried before?
What the user has tried before. The answers show which approaches failed and why, which saves you from building the same thing again.
- 06Text
Who else is involved in this decision?
Who else has a say in the decision. The answers show whether you need to win over a manager, a team or finance as well as the user.
Testing ideas
Ask what a good answer looks like before you show yours, then test whether your ideas are clear and wanted.
- 07Text
What would a good solution look like?
What a good solution would look like to the user. Ask it before you show your idea, so the answer isn't shaped by what you have already built.
- 09Yes / No
Is it clear what this idea does?
Whether your idea is clear from a short description or a picture. A No means the idea needs a better explanation before the usefulness rating means much.
- 10Stars
How useful would this be for you?
How useful the idea would be, in five stars. Results shows the average and the share who rated 4 or higher, and selecting a low rating shows those users' problems.
- 11Ranking
Order these ideas by how much you want them.
Users put your ideas in order. Results shows the average place per idea, so you can see which one users pick when they can't have everything.
- 13Text
Anything else you want to tell us?
A last open question for anything else. Leave it optional, and read it for problems your other questions didn't think to ask about.
Recruiting for interviews
Use these at the end to find people for a call and record their agreement before you meet.
- 12Yes / No
Would you join a short call to tell us more?
Whether the user would join a short call. Add logic so a Yes leads to the contact and scheduling questions, and a No ends the survey.
- 15Contact
Leave your details if you are open to a short interview
A name and email from users open to an interview. Results shows them in a table, so you can invite people straight from it.
- 17Date
Which day works best for a 30 minute call?
The day that suits the user for a 30 minute call. Results shows a calendar of picked dates, which helps you group interviews on the busiest days.
- 16Consent
May we record the interview?
Asks permission to record the interview. Ask it before the call, and record only the people who agree.
- 19Signature
Sign to confirm you agree to take part in the study
A signature confirming the user agrees to take part. Show the study terms right above it, and keep the signed answers for your records. Signature is on every plan, 1 per survey on Free.
- 18File upload
If you are happy to, upload a photo of where you use the product
An optional photo of where the user works with the product, such as a desk or a shop counter. It shows the setting your design has to fit. File upload is on every plan, 1 per survey on Free, and picture location data is removed on upload.
Tips for asking about research
Small choices that get honest, useful answers.
- 01
Ask about real moments
Ask what happened the last time and what users did about it. Answers about past behavior are firmer ground than guesses about the future.
- 02
Ask before you show your idea
Collect the problem and the ideal solution first, then describe your idea. Showing it early shapes every answer that follows.
- 03
Mix open questions with scores
Use open questions for the problem and scores for how often and how painful it is, so you can sort the stories by the users who need a fix most.
- 04
Recruit at the end
Put the interview questions last, and add logic so only users who say Yes to a call see them.
Add these questions to a survey
From the library to the first answers.
- 1
Open the library
In the Usertick survey editor, choose From library, filter by industry and topic, and add several questions at once.
- 2
Or paste your own list
Paste questions reads up to 10 questions from any text on Free, 100 on Starter and 200 on Pro and above, keeps your wording and picks an answer type for each.
- 3
Choose where it runs
Show the survey on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.
- 4
Read the answers
Results counts every score and choice, and Usertick reads each written answer and files it by topic, on every plan.
Templates and more questions about research
Full surveys that ask about the same things, and neighboring topics in the library.
Templates
Browse all templatesFrequently asked questions
Five to seven. Pick the problem, how often it comes up, how users cope today and one idea question, then end with the interview sign up.
Users who have the problem you are studying. Send by email to a list of them, or share a link in your community or newsletter with a tag on it, and each answer keeps the tag.
Yes. Ask whether users would join a call, then collect contact details and the day that suits them. The contact answers appear in a table in Results.
Yes, for a survey on your website or one shared by link or QR code, where no user ID, traits or visitor ID are stored. Surveys Usertick sends by email aren't anonymous, and the interview questions ask for contact details anyway.
Yes. The question library comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.
Yes. Once a question is in your survey, reword it, change its options or its answer type, and add logic to skip it for some answers.
Yes. The library is translated into Usertick's built-in languages, and in any other language it shows in English for you to translate.
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