CES calculator
Enter how many people chose each score from Very difficult to Very easy, or paste the answers, to get your customer effort score the way Usertick's Results works it out.
1 is Very difficult and 7 is Very easy. Enter how many people chose each score.
CES is the average score; higher means easier. 55% found it easy, choosing 6 or 7.
Work out your customer effort score
The CES calculator turns answers to a question such as “How easy was it to get what you needed?” into a customer effort score. Pick a 5 or 7 point scale, enter how many people chose each score or paste the answers from your export, and the average, the share who found it easy and the split from hard to easy update as you type.
It works the way Usertick's Results does: CES is the average on the question's own scale, higher means easier, and the easy share counts the top two points. Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you type or paste is sent anywhere.
- Formula
- The average of all answers
- Scale
- 1 Very difficult to 5 or 7 Very easy
- Result
- The average, the share who found it easy, hard to easy
- Your data
- Stays in your browser
How to calculate CES
Add up every score and divide by the number of answers. The result is an average between 1 and the top of the scale, and a higher number means customers found the task easier.
Next to the average, look at the share who chose one of the top two points. It reads more plainly in a report: “72% found it easy”.
CES = sum of all scores ÷ number of answers
On a 7 point scale, found it easy means 6 or 7. On a 5 point scale, 4 or 5.
A CES calculation example
Say 100 customers rate how easy a return was on a 7 point scale: 3 give a 1, 4 a 2, 6 a 3, 12 a 4, 20 a 5, 30 a 6 and 25 a 7.
The scores add up to 532, so CES is 5.3. 55 of the 100 chose 6 or 7, so 55% found it easy.
- Sum of scores
- 532
- Answers
- 100
- Chose 6 or 7
- 55%
- CES
- 532 ÷ 100 = 5.3
When to ask the CES question
Ask right after the task, while the effort is fresh, and ask about that one task.
- After checkout, on the order confirmation page
- After a support conversation is closed
- After sign up or the first setup step
- After a return, a booking or any form someone had to fill in
Calculate CES in Excel or Google Sheets
With the 1 to 7 scores in column A, these formulas give the average and the easy share. For a 5 point scale, count ">=4" instead of ">=6".
| Cell | Formula | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | =ROUND(AVERAGE(A:A),1) | CES, the average |
| B2 | =COUNTIF(A:A,">=6") | Found it easy |
| B3 | =COUNT(A:A) | All answers |
| B4 | =ROUND(B2/B3*100,0) | The easy share, in percent |
Compare CES on the same scale only
A 5.3 out of 7 and a 4 out of 5 can't be compared directly, so keep the same scale for the same question over time. If you change it, start a new line in your reports.
An average hides a split: two groups of answers at 2 and at 7 can average the same as answers all at 5. The bar from hard to easy shows which you have.
Measure CES in Usertick
The CES question is a 5 or 7 point effort scale, 7 by default, with labels at both ends. Ask it on your website right after a task, by email, by link and QR code, or as a conversation; in an email, customers pick their score in the message itself.
Results shows the average, the share who found it easy and a bar from hard to easy for everyone and per device, each compared with the period before. Usertick reads the written answers that come with a score, so a slow step shows up in your own customers' words.
Questions about this calculator
Higher is easier, and the most useful comparison is your own score over time or between tasks, such as checkout against returns. Scores on different scales can't be compared directly.
Either works if you keep the same scale over time. Usertick's CES question uses 7 points by default and also offers 5.
Right after the task you want to measure, such as a purchase, a support conversation or a setup step, while the effort is fresh.
Yes. Choose Each answer and paste a column of scores, or type them with commas. Anything outside the scale is left out, and the calculator says how many values it left out.
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type or paste is sent.
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