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Problem validation survey template

Check the problem is real, before you build the fix

Eight questions for people in your target market: how often they face the problem, the hardest part, how they handle it today, what a solution must do, what they would pay and whether they would switch. Use it as it is or change any question, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this problem validation survey tells you

A problem validation survey tests whether a problem is frequent and painful enough for people to pay for a better way, before you write any code. This template uses planning a team's week as the example problem and takes about two minutes: how often people plan, the hardest part, how they handle it today, how satisfied they are, what a solution must do, what they would pay each month, how likely they are to switch, and an optional email for early access.

It is written for a link you share with people in your target market, in communities, newsletters or your own messages, or for an email Usertick sends to a contact list. Replace the example problem in the welcome screen and in each question with your own, and keep the same order.

Usertick reads the answers about the hardest part as they arrive, files them under a category and a theme from your list and marks each as a complaint, an idea or a question. Results shows the share of each current approach, the satisfaction average and the share for each price band, and selecting an answer, such as With spreadsheets or documents, narrows every card to that group.

As a linkIn an emailOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
8
Time to answer
About 2 minutes
Written for
A link shared with people in your target market
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

The 8 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 8 · Multiple choice

How often do you plan or review your team's work?

Why ask it
A problem people face every day is worth more to solve than one they meet once a month, so frequency comes first.
What you learn
A donut with the share of each frequency. Select Every day to see how the people who face it most answer the price question.
Make it yours
Match the wording to your problem's natural rhythm, such as per order, per week or per project.
Question 2 of 8 · Text

What's the hardest part of planning your team's week?

Why ask it
The hardest part, in people's own words, tells you whether they describe the same problem you plan to solve.
What you learn
Usertick reads each answer, gives it a theme from your list and a sentiment, and lists the answers filterable by theme, so the pains that come up most rise to the top.
Make it yours
Keep it required and open, since it is the question that decides whether the problem is real.
Question 3 of 8 · Multiple choice

How do you handle it today?

Why ask it
How people handle the problem today is your real competition: a dedicated tool, a spreadsheet, a homemade workaround or nothing at all.
What you learn
A donut with the share and count of each approach, with typed Other answers listed. Select With a workaround I built myself to find the people who care most.
Make it yours
Treat a large share for the option that says it doesn't get done as a warning: the problem may not hurt enough to pay for.
Question 4 of 8 · Stars

How satisfied are you with the way you handle it today?

Why ask it
Satisfaction with the current way shows how much room a new solution has. People happy with a spreadsheet are hard to move.
What you learn
The average on five stars, a bar per rating and the share who rated 4 or higher, which here is the share already served well.
Make it yours
Read the low ratings together with the price question to find the people who are unhappy and willing to pay.
Question 5 of 8 · Multiple choice · Optional

What would an ideal solution have to do?

Why ask it
The must-haves turn the problem into requirements, so your first version covers what people expect from the first day.
What you learn
Bars with the share and count of each requirement, with typed Other answers listed.
Make it yours
Set a maximum of two or three selections, so the list shows priorities instead of everything.
Question 6 of 8 · Multiple choice

How much would you pay each month for a solution that does that?

Why ask it
A price band, asked after the requirements, tests whether the problem is worth paying for. Nothing is an honest answer that can save you a build.
What you learn
A donut with the share of each price band. Select a band to see which approaches and requirements those people named.
Make it yours
Set the bands around the price you have in mind, with one band below it and one above.
Question 7 of 8 · Multiple choice

If a better solution existed, how likely would you be to switch to it?

Why ask it
Willingness to switch shows whether the pain beats the effort of changing habits.
What you learn
A donut from Very likely to Very unlikely, over time as stacked shares.
Make it yours
Compare it with question 3: people likely to switch from a homemade workaround are the first customers to talk to.
Question 8 of 8 · Contact · Optional

Leave your email if you'd like early access (optional)

Why ask it
An email for early access turns interest into a list you can invite when the first version is ready, and shows who cares enough to leave one.
What you learn
A table of names and emails. Each email becomes a contact in Usertick, so you can add early-access people to a list and send them your next survey.
Make it yours
Keep it optional and last, so people can answer everything without leaving details.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

How satisfied are you with the way you handle it today?

The average rating and the share who gave 4 or 5 stars, against the period before.

How often do you plan or review your team's work?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

How do you handle it today?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Problem validation in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Replace the example problem

    Rewrite the welcome screen and every question about planning a team's week for your own problem, and keep the order: frequency, pain, today's way, requirements, price.

  2. 02

    Ask outside your network

    Share the link in communities and newsletters where your target market reads, and add ?utm_source= to each, so the tag stays with every answer for workflows and Google Sheets.

  3. 03

    Decide the bar before you read

    Write down which answers would mean go, such as the share who would pay something, before the results come in.

  4. 04

    Invite the early-access list

    Add the people who left an email to a contact list, and send them a product idea test once you have a first version to show.

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Frequently asked questions

Ask people in your target market how often they face it, how they handle it today and what they would pay to solve it. A frequent problem, poor current ways and a named price together make the case to build.

People who face the problem in their work, found in the communities, newsletters and lists where they gather. Keep friends and investors out of the sample, since they tend to answer kindly.

Treat it as a range. People are kinder about prices in a survey than at checkout, so read the price bands together with who left an email for early access.

Enough to read each group you care about. A score in Results says how many answers it rests on when there are fewer than 30.

Build the smallest version for the most common pain, then run a product idea test with the people who left an email.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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