UX Survey Template

UX survey template: questions that turn user feedback into design decisions

Usability testing shows you what users do. UX surveys tell you why. A user might complete a task successfully but still find the experience frustrating. Without a survey, you would never know. The task got done, so the metric looks fine, but the user is one bad experience away from switching to a competitor.

This template covers questions for different UX research scenarios, from post-task micro-surveys to comprehensive usability assessments, with guidance on when each format works best.

Types of UX surveys

UX research is not one activity. The right survey depends on where you are in the design process and what you need to learn.

Formbricks has a dedicated System Usability Scale (SUS) template if you want to use that standardized framework. For broader product feedback, the collect feedback template is a good starting point.

Post-task survey questions

Show these immediately after a user completes (or abandons) a specific task. Keep it to two to four questions. Any more and you disrupt the workflow.

1. How easy was it to complete [task]? | Rating scale (1-5, Very difficult to Very easy) | Required
2. Did you encounter any difficulties? | Single choice (Yes / No) | Required
3. If yes, what was the difficulty? | Open text | Conditional (show if Q2 = Yes)
4. How confident are you that the task was completed correctly? | Rating scale (1-5) | Optional

Question 1 is a variant of the Single Ease Question (SEQ), a validated single-item measure of task difficulty. A score below 4.0 on a 5-point scale indicates usability problems worth investigating.

Post-task surveys work best as in-app surveys triggered by specific user actions. Formbricks supports event-based triggers that show the survey at exactly the right moment.

Feature usability survey questions

Send after users have had meaningful time with a feature (at least a few uses, not immediately after launch).

1. How would you rate [feature] overall? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
2. How easy is [feature] to use? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
3. How often do you use [feature]? | Multiple choice (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely, Never) | Required
4. Does [feature] work the way you expected? | Single choice (Yes / Mostly / No) | Required
5. What is the most frustrating thing about [feature]? | Open text | Optional
6. What would you improve about [feature]? | Open text | Optional
7. How would you feel if [feature] were removed? | Multiple choice (Very disappointed, Somewhat disappointed, Not disappointed) | Required

Question 7 is borrowed from the Sean Ellis product-market fit framework. Applied at the feature level, it tells you whether a feature is essential or expendable. If fewer than 20% say "Very disappointed," the feature may not be pulling its weight.

For a ready-made version, check out the gauge feature satisfaction template.

System Usability Scale (SUS)

The SUS is a standardized 10-question survey developed in 1986 that remains one of the most widely used usability benchmarks. It produces a score between 0 and 100.

The 10 statements use a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree):

1. I think that I would like to use this system frequently.
2. I found the system unnecessarily complex.
3. I thought the system was easy to use.
4. I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system.
5. I found the various functions in this system were well integrated.
6. I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system.
7. I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly.
8. I found the system very cumbersome to use.
9. I felt very confident using the system.
10. I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system.

Scoring: For odd-numbered items, subtract 1 from the score. For even-numbered items, subtract the score from 5. Sum all adjusted scores and multiply by 2.5. The result is a score from 0 to 100.

SUS scoreInterpretation

80+

Excellent usability

68-79

Above average

50-67

Below average, needs improvement

Below 50

Poor usability, significant issues

The industry average SUS score is around 68. Formbricks has a SUS survey template with automatic scoring built in.

Product experience survey questions

A broader UX health check. Run quarterly or after major releases.

Usability

1. How easy is [product] to use overall? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
2. How easy was it to get started with [product]? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
3. How often do you encounter errors or unexpected behavior? | Multiple choice (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Very often) | Required

Navigation and information architecture

4. How easy is it to find what you need in [product]? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
5. How would you rate the organization of features and menus? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required

Visual design

6. How would you rate the visual design of [product]? | Rating scale (1-5) | Optional
7. Is there anything about the interface that feels cluttered or confusing? | Open text | Optional

Performance

8. How would you rate the speed and responsiveness of [product]? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required

Help and documentation

9. When you need help, how easy is it to find answers? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
10. Have you used our documentation or help resources? | Single choice (Yes, and they were helpful / Yes, but they were not helpful / No) | Required

Overall

11. How likely are you to recommend [product] to a colleague? | Scale (0-10, NPS) | Required
12. What is the single biggest usability improvement we could make? | Open text | Optional

First impression survey questions

Show during or immediately after a user's first session. These capture the critical onboarding experience.

1. How easy was it to get started? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
2. Did [product] match what you expected based on our website/marketing? | Single choice (Yes / Somewhat / No) | Required
3. What, if anything, was confusing during your first experience? | Open text | Optional
4. Did you accomplish what you came to do? | Single choice (Yes / Partially / No) | Required
5. How likely are you to come back and use [product] again? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required

First impression surveys identify sign-up barriers and activation issues that prevent new users from becoming regular users.

When and how to deploy UX surveys

In-app, triggered by behavior. This is the gold standard for UX surveys. Show the survey at the moment the experience happens, not hours later via email when the user has forgotten the details. Formbricks supports in-app surveys with event-based and page-based triggers.

After usability testing sessions. If you run moderated or unmoderated usability tests, add a short survey at the end. The test captures behavior; the survey captures perception.

Embedded in the product. A persistent feedback icon or feedback widget lets users report UX issues on their own schedule, without waiting for a survey to be triggered.

Avoid email for UX surveys. By the time someone reads the email, the specific UX details have faded. Email works for broad satisfaction surveys; it does not work well for task-level or feature-level UX feedback.

Connecting UX survey data to design decisions

Pair quantitative scores with qualitative context. A task ease score of 2.8 tells you there is a problem. The open-ended response "I couldn't find the export button" tells you what to fix.

Track scores per release. If you measure SUS or task ease after each release, you can see whether changes improved or degraded the experience. This creates accountability for UX in the development process.

Prioritize by impact and frequency. A usability issue that affects 60% of users is more urgent than one that affects 5%, even if the 5% issue is more severe. Use survey data to estimate how widespread an issue is.

Close the loop with users. When you fix something that users flagged in a survey, tell them. The feature chaser template automates follow-ups when requested features ship. This same pattern works for UX improvements.

For a deeper look at how to use in-product surveys for UX feedback, read how to use in-app surveys to collect product feedback.