What is product feedback? How to gather & work with it

Companies that actively collect and implement product feedback can maintain a very good customer satisfaction score (CSAT) of 75% to 85%.

Product feedback helps you understand your users, their experience with your product, and how they generally think you can serve them better. It is a crucial part of product development and customer satisfaction.

How to handle product feedback right?

In this article, you'll learn what product feedback is, the types of product feedback, how to collect them, and how to use them effectively.

Here's what we'll cover:

1. What Is Product Feedback?
2. Types Of Product Feedback
3. How To Collect Feedback From Your Users Effectively
4. Other Ways To Collect Product Feedback
5. Conclusion

What Is Product Feedback?

Product feedback is simply any information users and customers share about their experience with your product. It encompasses their opinions, thoughts, suggestions, and criticisms regarding various aspects of your product like functionality, usability, value, and bugs.

It is crucial to collect product feedback at every stage of your product's development, right from the initial stage (this could be in the form of a waitlist survey) to the completion of the product and beyond for your product to truly resonate with your target market.

Product Feedback from users often comes in two forms. We'll briefly examine each of them in the next section.

Types of Product Feedback

Product Feedback can either be Solicited or Unsolicited. Below we'll shed some light on each of them.

1. Solicited Feedback: This is when you intentionally ask your users for feedback directly through online communities, customer interviews, and surveys - whether in-app surveys, website surveys, or waitlist surveys.
2. Unsolicited Feedback: This refers to input, comments, or opinions provided by users without a direct request or prompts from you. Unlike solicited feedback, unsolicited feedback is voluntarily offered by individuals based on their initiative or personal experiences with a product, service, or brand.

Nevertheless, relying solely on users to offer unsolicited feedback may not be the most strategic approach. It is advisable to proactively manage your online presence to prevent encountering negative reviews on social media platforms or review pages.

So, how can you be more proactive? In the next section, we'll dive into in-app surveys, the best way to collect valuable feedback directly from your users.

How To Collect Product Feedback From Your Users Effectively

User feedback comes in many forms, and so do the ways to collect it! Here, we'll discuss 9 different survey types, each designed to gather specific types of feedback from your users.

Feedback Box Survey

The Feedback Box serves as a direct line of communication between users and developers, creating a user-friendly space for expressing opinions; it gives your users the chance to share what's on their minds seamlessly.

When to use it

• This type of survey is particularly useful for bug reports and feature requests. Users can type in their comments, report issues, or suggest improvements with ease in the text box.

Product Market Fit (PMF) Survey

Product-market fit signifies the point where a product seamlessly meets the demands of its intended market. To measure your product-market fit, a PMF survey needs to come into play.

A PMF survey guides you to align your offerings with the specific needs and preferences of your target audience.

When to use it

• You should conduct a PMF survey during or shortly after the product launch to gauge initial customer reactions, identify early adopters, and understand if the product effectively meets their needs.
• Also, when considering expanding into new markets or demographics, a PMF survey can help ensure that the product aligns with the specific requirements and preferences of the new audience.

At Formbricks, our PMF Survey template has been built to suit your needs with best practices just like Superhuman.

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) Survey

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys are tools designed to measure the level of satisfaction customers have with your product.

This type of survey is typically presented in the form of a simple questionnaire, CSAT surveys gather feedback through rating scales or specific questions, allowing you to quantify and understand customer satisfaction levels.

When to use it

• You can implement CSAT surveys after customers purchase to gauge their satisfaction with the buying process, delivery, and the product itself**.**
• Another use case can be after your customers’ interactions with customer support. Use a CSAT survey to assess the effectiveness of the support provided and overall customer experience.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) Survey

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey is a metric used to gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking respondents a single question: "How likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?" Respondents typically rate their likelihood on a scale of 0 to 10.

Based on their responses, customers are categorized into three groups: Promoters (score 9-10), Passives (score 7-8), and Detractors (score 0-6). The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters

When to use it

• NPS surveys are generally used to measure customer loyalty and advocacy towards your product**.**
• It is also used to identify Promoters who are likely to advocate for your brand or refer new customers. Cultivating relationships with these customers can lead to organic growth through word-of-mouth referrals.

Customer Effort Score (CES) Survey

The Customer Effort Score (CES) survey is designed to measure the ease with which customers can achieve their goals or tasks while interacting with your product. It typically involves asking customers to rate their experience based on how effortless it was to accomplish a specific objective, often on a scale.

When to use it

• CES surveys come in handy when you want to assess how easy it is for customers to navigate and use your product; it help identify areas of friction and streamline user experience.
• It also helps you measure the ease with which customers can resolve issues or seek assistance from customer support. CES surveys help in refining support processes for a smoother experience.

Feature Chaser Survey

This survey is particularly designed to help you follow up with users who just used a feature. Respondents to this survey rate their experience on a scale of 1 to 5.

When to use it

• The Feature Chaser Survey can be of help when introducing a new feature to understand users' initial reactions, usability, and satisfaction, enabling quick adjustments if necessary.
• You can also use the survey to gather feedback after making enhancements or updates to an existing feature, ensuring that user experiences align with expectations.

Docs Feedback Survey

The Docs Feedback Survey is typically implemented on the documentation page of your product, aiming to gauge the satisfaction of your readers. For instance, strategically place this survey at the conclusion of a page to inquire whether the reader found the content helpful or if they successfully located the information they were seeking.

When to use it

• Use the survey to assess how well the documentation meets users' needs and expectations, helping identify areas for improvement or additional information.
• Deploy the survey immediately after users engage with specific sections or complete reading a document to capture their sentiments and evaluate the effectiveness of the content.

Onboarding Segmentation Survey

Onboarding segmentation surveys are designed to gather insights from users during the initial stages of their interaction with your product.

These surveys segment users based on their responses to tailor the onboarding experience, ensuring that individuals receive relevant information, guidance, or support based on their unique needs and preferences.

When to use it

The Onboarding Segmentation survey is used to understand users' goals, preferences, and prior experience to personalize the onboarding journey. For instance, a software application might ask new users about their specific use case to provide customized tutorials.

You can also segment users based on their onboarding preferences, familiarity with similar products, or specific features they are interested in. This segmentation allows for targeted communication and support.

Interview Prompt Survey

The Interview Prompt Survey empowers you to target and engage with your most active users. This specialized tool allows you to send targeted surveys inviting these high-value users to schedule interviews with your product team.

When to use it

The Interview Prompt Survey allows for in-depth conversations and exploration of specific topics when standard surveys or feedback forms fail to capture the nuances of user experience.

Also, if you are looking to build stronger relationships with your users, engaging directly with your most active users demonstrates your appreciation and fosters a sense of community, strengthening user loyalty and trust.

So far in this section, you have learned how to employ different in-app surveys for different purposes to get the best feedback from your users. However, despite being the best way to collect feedback, in-app surveys are just a piece of the puzzle.

Next, we'll briefly explore other ways you can collect feedback from your users.

Other Ways To Collect Product Feedback

This section discusses 5 alternative ways you can employ to collect feedback from your users.

1. Community Forums: Create or leverage community forums where users can discuss your product. Engaging in these forums provides indirect feedback and fosters a sense of community for your users.
2. App Store Reviews: Monitor reviews on app stores to gain public feedback. Addressing concerns raised in reviews not only improves user satisfaction but can also positively impact your app's ratings.
3. Social Media Listening: Monitor social media channels for mentions, comments, and direct messages related to your product. Analyzing social media interactions provides real-time feedback.
4. Email Surveys: Send targeted surveys via email to gather feedback on specific aspects of your product or service. This allows users to respond at their convenience.
5. Feedback Forms on Website: Integrate feedback forms directly on your website, enabling users to share their thoughts without requiring them to be actively using the app.

Read more: How to use in-app surveys to collect product feedback

Conclusion

Throughout this article, we've explored the importance of gathering user feedback and various methods to effectively collect it. While each method offers unique advantages, in-app surveys stand out for their convenience, efficiency, and targeted reach. However, building and managing in-app surveys from scratch can be a time-consuming and resource-intensive endeavor.

This is where Formbricks steps in. We provide a user-friendly platform that empowers you to create powerful in-app surveys without any coding knowledge. With diverse question types and real-time analytics, Formbricks simplifies the process of collecting valuable user feedback and translating it into actionable insights.

By leveraging Formbricks, you can effortlessly create and deploy in-app surveys in minutes, gather targeted feedback from specific user segments. gain real-time insights into user behavior and preferences, and make data-driven decisions to improve your product and user experience.

Ready to unlock a deeper understanding of your users? Sign up for a free trial with Formbricks today and experience the difference!