designing-surveys

SKILL.md

Survey design framework grounded in product research best practices from nine leaders.

Prioritize CSAT over NPS for better statistical properties and business outcome correlation; use 5-7 item scales

Design single-variable questions only; avoid double-barreled phrasing that conflates multiple concepts

Target customers 3-6 months post-signup when memory of the "before" state is fresh and relevant

Use MaxDiff (Most/Least) methodology for feature prioritization rather than unlimited rating scales

Force respondents to prioritize by limiting selections (e.g., "pick your top three") and measure frequency to weight impact

Designing Surveys

Help the user design effective surveys using frameworks from 9 product leaders who have built rigorous research and feedback systems.

How to Help

When the user asks for help with surveys:

Clarify the goal - Determine if they're measuring satisfaction, identifying problems, or prioritizing features

Choose the right metric - Help them select between NPS, CSAT, PMF survey, or custom approaches

Design clean questions - Ensure each question measures one thing precisely

Target the right respondents - Help them reach users with fresh, relevant experience

Core Principles

NPS is scientifically flawed

Judd Antin: "NPS is the best example of the marketing industry marketing itself. The consensus in the survey science community is that NPS makes all the mistakes. Customer satisfaction, a simple CSAT metric, is better. It has better data properties, it is more precise, it is more correlated to business outcomes." Use CSAT with 5-7 item scales instead.