Here are some of the best questions for a user survey about trial experience, plus quick tips for writing them. With Specific, you can generate a tailored user trial experience survey in seconds—no busywork, just insights.
Open-ended questions for user survey about trial experience
I always start with open-ended questions when I want real, detailed feedback—not just numbers. Open-ended questions help users share their honest thoughts, uncover motivations, and highlight pain points you might not anticipate. But be strategic: because these take more effort, they work best after an initial warm-up, when users are already engaged. Open-enders can deliver richer insights, but they do have higher nonresponse rates on average (18%) compared to more structured formats, so keep wording clear and concise [1]. Here are ten of the best:
What motivated you to start a trial with our product?
Can you describe your first impression when using the product?
What features did you find most valuable during the trial, and why?
Were there any difficulties or frustrations you encountered? Please explain.
How did our product compare to your expectations?
What was missing, confusing, or disappointing in your trial experience?
Can you share a situation where our product really helped, or fell short?
Did you reach out for support, and if so, how was that experience?
What would make you more likely to upgrade after the trial?
Any final thoughts or suggestions to improve the trial experience?
Placing these questions toward the end, after a few easier ones, helps boost your completion rates, as early open-enders tend to discourage some users from finishing the survey [2].
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for user survey about trial experience
Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you want to quantify opinions, spot patterns quickly, or kick off a conversation. Sometimes it's easier for users to click than type, and these questions lower friction (with average nonresponse rates between 1–2%) [1]. Here are three strong examples:
Question: How satisfied were you with your overall trial experience?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: Which feature did you use most during your trial?
Core functionality (describe feature)
Advanced settings/tools
Integrations with other products
Help & support resources
Other
Question: What best describes your decision after the trial?
Upgraded to a paid plan
Still considering
Decided not to upgrade
When to follow up with "why?" After a user picks an option—especially for questions about satisfaction, usage, or decisions—it’s powerful to immediately ask why. For example: “You selected 'Dissatisfied'—can you tell us more about what went wrong?” These follow-ups turn quick clicks into meaningful context.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? If your answer list might miss a unique scenario, always include "Other" plus a prompt to specify. This opens the door to new insights you hadn’t anticipated and lets the survey naturally branch into richer follow-ups.
NPS question for user trial experience surveys
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the gold standard to quickly gauge user loyalty and word-of-mouth potential. For trial experience, an NPS question brings structured, trackable feedback while nudging users to reveal their “why” in a way that’s actionable. NPS asks: “How likely are you to recommend our product to a colleague or friend?”—then lets you split follow-ups for promoters, passives, and detractors. This style of question is easy to implement using an NPS survey builder for user trial experience. Pairing NPS with conversational follow-ups really unlocks powerful insights.
The power of follow-up questions
Let’s talk follow-ups—this is where conversational surveys really outshine static forms. Our article on automatic AI follow-up questions digs into how real-time probing uncovers fuller stories. With Specific, the AI interviewer's smart follow-ups happen instantly, emulating an expert researcher but at scale. This not only saves time (no more post-survey email ping-pong!) but ensures your user answers don’t lose nuance.
User: “The trial was okay but a bit difficult.”
AI follow-up: “Could you help us understand what was difficult, or which parts felt challenging?”
How many follow-ups to ask? Generally, 2–3 targeted follow-ups are ideal: enough to clarify, but not so many that users drop off. Specific lets you cap follow-ups or skip to the next question when you’ve got what you need.
This makes it a conversational survey: By reacting naturally to what people say, you’re having a real conversation—building trust and openness, not just collecting data.
Easy analysis, even with unstructured text: With AI survey response analysis, you can quickly sift through all open-ended replies, no matter how long or messy. AI instantly summarizes, spots trends, and lets you dive deeper all in a chat.
If you haven't tried automated or AI-powered follow-ups, go ahead and generate a survey—the difference in data quality is worth seeing firsthand.
How to compose a prompt for ChatGPT or other GPTs
If you want to tap into the power of language models yourself, prompts are key. Here’s how to start:
Begin with a simple prompt:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for user survey about trial experience.
But the real magic happens when you give more detail—your goals, who your users are, and the specifics of your product.
We’re a SaaS platform offering design tools. Suggest 10 open-ended survey questions for trial users, aiming to uncover onboarding pain points, feature value, and purchase blockers.
Next, organize your ideas:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Finally, double down on themes that matter most. For instance:
Generate 10 questions for categories ‘Onboarding Experience’ and ‘Upgrade Motivations.’
By iterating your prompts this way, you’ll land on survey content that’s not generic, but exactly on target for your goals.
What is a conversational survey?
Conversational surveys aren’t forms—they’re two-way, adaptive conversations. Instead of filling radio buttons or clunky text boxes, users feel like they’re chatting with a person (or an expert AI)—even as you’re collecting high-quality structured data. Here’s a quick comparison:
Manual Surveys | AI-generated Conversational Surveys |
|---|---|
Fixed, impersonal forms | Adaptive, chat-style experience |
Minimal context, little probing | Smart follow-ups based on each reply |
Hard to write/analyze open-enders | AI summarizes and analyzes responses |
Slow to launch and tweak | Edit surveys instantly with AI in AI survey editor |
Why use AI for user surveys? AI survey generators make the entire process—from question creation to response analysis—faster and smarter. They see hidden themes, probe for clarity, and recommend improvements, all in real time. An AI survey example feels natural and insight-rich—users engage more, while you capture meaning and context you’d miss otherwise.
Specific is built for best-in-class conversational user surveys, so creators and respondents both enjoy a responsive, intuitive experience. If you want to see exactly how to create an AI-powered user survey for trial experience, check out our detailed guide.
See this trial experience survey example now
Try building a conversational survey that energizes users and uncovers insights you’d never get in a form. Experience instant setup, smart AI probing, and effortless response analysis—all tuned for trial feedback discovery. Start unlocking deeper user understanding now.