Inactive Users survey about barriers to returning

Tired of guessing why users don’t come back? You can use an AI survey generator to create a high-quality survey in seconds and finally get the answers you need. With Specific, all the tools to get started are right here. Just click and generate a survey tailored to uncover why inactive users aren't returning.

Why a barriers to returning survey for inactive users matters

Inactive users hold the key to unlocking product growth. Ignoring their perspective often means missing out on crucial insights that could improve retention and user engagement. By not running a barriers to returning survey, you’re essentially leaving valuable feedback on the table and letting competitors get ahead.

• Understand root causes: Without direct feedback from inactive users, you’re left guessing about barriers—leading to wasted time and misaligned development efforts.

• Reduce churn: Surveys targeted at inactive users let you catch patterns early, so you can act before more users slip away.

• Improve future features: Honest responses about why users don’t return offer a reality check you can’t get from highly active users alone.

On average, nonresponse rates in online surveys can hit 40%. That means for every hundred users you ask, forty may not respond—potentially building bias into your decisions. [1] Not only does this hurt your data’s accuracy, it lowers your ability to drive real improvement. The good news? Direct barriers-to-returning feedback, especially when collected with conversational AI tools like Specific, boosts your odds of participation and actionable findings. Want to know more about crafting effective questions for this topic? Check out our deep dive on the best questions for an inactive users survey about barriers to returning.

Why use an AI survey generator for inactive user feedback?

Manual surveys are slow, repetitive, and prone to basic errors—especially if you’re not a professional researcher. AI survey generators, on the other hand, do the heavy lifting by instantly creating tailored surveys that ask the right questions the first time. Here’s why this matters for barriers to returning surveys:

Why use AI for inactive user surveys?

• Better engagement: Questions sound conversational, which increases completion rates—especially important when response rates for web surveys are generally lower than for face-to-face surveys. [1]

• Custom follow-ups: Our AI probes each user for deeper context, giving you a richer understanding of their barriers to returning.

• Streamlined experience: Specific’s AI survey generator ensures the user journey is smooth and fast for both you and your respondents.

If you want to see an expert-crafted survey in action, try creating one or check out our library of templates centered on AI-powered survey generation.

Designing questions that drive real insight

Writing questions for inactive users isn’t as simple as it sounds. Vague or biased questions won’t get you real answers. Here’s a quick comparison:

• Weak question: “Why don’t you use our product?” (too broad, puts users on the spot)

• Strong question (as generated by Specific): “Can you tell me about any obstacles that kept you from returning after your last visit?” (“obstacles” focuses the answer, and references recent user activity without blame)

With Specific’s AI survey maker, you avoid awkwardly worded or imprecise questions that confuse respondents. The tool pulls from best-practice templates and expert guidance to ensure your survey digs into the actionable reasons that matter. If you’re writing your own questions, here’s a tip: Always anchor your questions to a recent event (“after your last session...” or “the last time you considered using us...”). This focuses memory and makes answers clearer.

For an expert guide, see how to create an inactive users survey about barriers to returning.

Automatic follow-up questions based on previous reply

If you ask a broad question and never dig deeper, you’ll get vague replies. Specific’s AI uses dynamic, context-aware follow-up questions to clarify answers in real time. Here’s how this works and why it matters:

• Inactive user: “I just didn’t come back because I was busy.”

• AI follow-up: “Was there anything about the product itself, or your experience, that made it harder for you to return once your schedule was free?”

Without these conversational follow-ups, you’ll end up with hundreds of unclear responses that leave you guessing about the real issues. Manual follow-up (like sending clarification emails) costs time and frustrates users; automated probing solves this by clarifying intent on the spot. (More on automatic AI follow-up questions.)

Try generating a survey right here and you’ll experience how automatic follow-ups turn a static form into a real conversation—this is what makes it a conversational survey, not just a list of fields.

Deliver your survey: shareable link or in-product

Choosing the right way to deliver your barriers to returning survey can make or break your feedback project, especially with inactive users. Here’s how each method works:

• Sharable landing page surveys: Generate a survey link and email it, share in a newsletter, drop in a support chat, or post on Slack. Perfect for re-engaging users outside your product (for example, when you have a list of past users or dormant accounts to reach).

• In-product surveys: Show the survey directly in your app or website for returning users—great when you can catch them as they log back in. For those tackling the barriers to returning, using both methods in parallel covers all the bases and helps you boost response rates no matter where users are.

Analyze survey responses with AI—instantly

After the feedback rolls in, don’t get lost in spreadsheets. Specific’s AI will summarize every response, highlight dominant barriers, and help you spot key themes without tedious manual review. The platform detects topics automatically and lets you chat with AI about your survey results for even deeper insight. Want more advice on processing results? Here’s our strategy for how to analyze inactive users barriers to returning survey responses with AI.

Create your barriers to returning survey now

Start uncovering what keeps users away—generate a tailored, conversational survey with AI in seconds and unlock actionable insights today.