Best questions for api developers survey about sdk usability

Here are some of the best questions for an API developers survey about SDK usability, plus our take on building surveys that get real insights. You can generate a high-quality SDK Usability survey with Specific in seconds—even better, our AI handles the hassle.

Best open-ended questions for API developers: SDK usability

Open-ended questions are golden when you want authentic, detailed opinions—especially for something nuanced like SDK usability. They let API developers use their own words, revealing bugs, gaps, or workflows you might never uncover with checkboxes alone. Use them when you want honest, deep feedback instead of surface-level stats.

1. What are your first impressions of our SDK’s usability when working with your preferred language?

2. Can you walk us through a recent integration you completed using our SDK? What went smoothly, and where did you struggle?

3. How does our SDK’s documentation support your workflow? What’s missing or could be clearer?

4. Describe any pain points you’ve encountered with SDK installation, configuration, or updates.

5. What features or functionality would you like to see added or improved in our SDK?

6. Compared to other SDKs you use, how would you rate the clarity of our API reference?

7. How effective do you find our sample code and usage examples?

8. If you’ve worked with the SDK across multiple platforms (e.g., JavaScript, Python, Java), how consistent was your experience?

9. What tools (like Swagger, Postman, automated testing) do you use in conjunction with our SDK, and how well does the SDK fit into your toolchain?

10. Is there anything else about our SDK or your development experience you want to tell us?

Studies show that developers spend about 49% of their time consulting API documentation, making the quality of docs and reference content a top priority when framing open-ended questions. [1]

The best single-select multiple-choice questions for API developers on SDK usability

Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you need quick, quantifiable data or want to break the ice. They let developers respond fast, reduce fatigue, and make it easier to spot trends. For SDK usability, they’re useful when you want to benchmark experience, spot outlier preferences, or drive follow-up discussion for deeper insights.

Question: Which programming language do you primarily use with our SDK?

• JavaScript/TypeScript

• Python

• Java

• Ruby

• PHP

• Other

Question: How would you rate the overall ease of integrating our SDK into your application?

• Very easy

• Somewhat easy

• Neutral

• Somewhat difficult

• Very difficult

Question: Which part of our SDK did you find most challenging?

• Installation

• Configuration

• Authentication & Authorization

• API Method Usage

• Error Handling

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" If a developer picks a negative or unclear option—or even something like "Other"—always prompt for context. For example, if a respondent marks "Very difficult" for integration: Ask, “Why did you find integration difficult?” That’s where you’ll get practical feedback you can actually act on.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include "Other" when your list may not cover every use case or scenario. Developers often work in specialized environments, and follow-ups on "Other" can uncover edge cases or unique challenges that wouldn’t surface otherwise.

Want more tips on making smart multiple-choice questions? See our how-to guide—it breaks down the art of balancing structure and conversation for API developer surveys.

NPS for API developers: Does it make sense?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just for end users—it can work wonders in developer-facing feedback. NPS distills loyalty into a simple score (“How likely are you to recommend this SDK to a colleague or friend?”), but the real value comes from why someone scored high or low. Ask it to benchmark SDK satisfaction, spot early warning signs, or track improvements after a major update.

SDK usability matters because it shapes every dev’s daily experience: 74% of developers now focus on API-first approaches, so the SDK becomes a cornerstone of their workflow [2]. NPS tells you if your SDK’s actually converting devs into fans—or leaving them cold. Try an NPS survey for API developers in seconds: let AI structure it and add probing follow-ups for depth.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are the secret sauce in every conversational survey. Instead of dry, one-shot forms, you get a dialogue where developers can clarify, expand, or vent in detail. With automated AI follow-ups, the survey feels as sharp as your best interviewer—digging deeper, clarifying jargon, and surfacing insights you’d otherwise miss.

• Developer: “The SDK was hard to set up.”

• AI follow-up: “What specific setup issues did you encounter? Was it documentation, environment configuration, or something else?”

Without the follow-up, you’d be guessing and risk acting on vague data. With automated conversation, you close the gap and make every response actionable.

How many followups to ask? You generally want two to three follow-ups for each meaty response. This tends to drill down just enough, while not overwhelming your respondent. With Specific, you can set the max depth and auto-skip when you’ve got the clarity you need—clean, simple, and fast.

This makes it a conversational survey—the feedback flows naturally, like a chat between two engineers instead of a tedious survey form.

AI analysis, easy themes, instant insights: Even when the survey yields a wall of unstructured text, AI-based analysis tools (see our guide here) make it effortless to pull out common themes, pain points, or wish-list features—far simpler than manual coding or spreadsheet wrangling.

Automated follow-ups are a new breed of survey design—try creating one with Specific and experience the difference in developer feedback quality.

How to prompt AI (like ChatGPT) to generate great questions

AI is a brilliant brainstorming partner—if you feed it the right prompt. Start broad, then get specific as you refine what you’re after:

Kick off with:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for API developers survey about SDK usability.

But the more context you give, the sharper your questions will be. For example:

I manage an API product with SDKs for JavaScript and Python. I want to understand where developers struggle, what documentation gaps exist, and how our SDK can better integrate with tools like Swagger and Postman. Suggest 10 targeted open-ended questions for a survey on SDK usability.

Next, organize ideas and dig deeper:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Once you have categories, pick what matters to you and drill down even more:

Generate 10 questions for categories: Documentation Experience, Integration Challenges, Toolchain Support.

Experiment with specificity—AI shines when you’re clear about your goal.

What is a conversational survey and why does it matter?

A conversational survey feels like a human chat, guided by AI, not a stale Google Form. The AI asks, adapts, and follows up just as an expert would—making every API developer feel heard. This isn’t just UX fluff: conversational surveys net richer, more candid feedback, and higher response rates because developers know their nuance won’t get lost in a checkbox maze.

Here’s a quick comparison:

Why use AI for API developers surveys? Because only AI-driven surveys can keep up with the complexity of developer environments and the diversity of SDK stacks. When 94% of SDKs support JavaScript and 69% support Python [1], you need a survey that speaks to multi-language, tool-heavy workflows. AI-powered survey makers (like Specific’s generator) build and tailor questions to your stack and adapt on the fly—something manual forms just can’t do.

Specific is all about getting actionable insights from API developers with minimal grunt work. Our conversational surveys deliver best-in-class UX—easy for devs, no sweat for teams, and powerful enough to surface critical feedback, even in sprawling organizations (where the average is over 250 APIs! [3])

See how easy it is to create a conversational survey for SDK usability, or just jump in and chat with our builder—it’s as simple as describing your audience and goal.

See this SDK usability survey example now

Create your own conversational SDK usability survey for API developers and quickly surface the insights that matter—Specific’s AI-driven approach means you’ll get deeper, richer responses with less effort. Start now and see just how smooth the process can be.