This article will guide you on how to create an API developers survey about API reliability. With Specific, you can build surveys like this in seconds, leveraging AI to automate the tough parts.
Steps to create a survey for API developers about API reliability
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific instantly—no hassle, no long forms.
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
You honestly don’t even need to keep reading—AI takes care of the expert survey design, and even creates smart follow-up questions so you get the full story from every respondent.
Why surveys on API reliability matter for API developers
Skipping surveys like these isn’t just a missed checkbox—it’s a missed opportunity to protect your tech and your business. When we gather input from developers, we get a front-row seat to real reliability issues: the bugs that slip through, the failure points, or what helps keep services consistent during tough times.
Nearly 60% of application downtime is caused by API failures.[1] That’s not a minor annoyance—it’s hours lost, users frustrated, and sometimes big money down the drain. With dozens of microservices and interconnected platforms, reliability feedback is the difference between smooth sailing and late-night incident calls.
API developers know the weak spots and clever workarounds—if you’re not asking them directly, you’re missing patterns the logs will never show.
About 70% of data breaches now target APIs.[1] Proper surveys point out not only reliability gaps but also dangerous exposures.
Regular API reliability surveys unlock improvements that automated monitoring alone can’t uncover. The feedback shapes better documentation, testing priorities, and long-term stability—helping you build trust with end users and stakeholders. If you’re not running these surveys, you’re basically running blind to the risks that matter most.
What makes a good API reliability survey for developers?
There’s a big gap between just firing off a questionnaire and actually collecting actionable data. Here’s what separates a useful API reliability survey from noise:
Clear, unbiased questions: Ambiguous phrasing confuses and frustrates API developers, who are detail-oriented by nature.
Conversational tone: If the survey feels approachable, people are more likely to answer honestly and give thorough replies.
Avoiding leading or technical jargon—unless every respondent shares the same context. Precision matters.
Room for open answers: Closed-ended questions are fast, but developers often want to “explain the why.” That’s where the gold is.
The best measure of a survey: Both the quantity and quality of responses should be high. A 40% response rate filled with thoughtful context beats a 90% rate of one-word grumbles any day.
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Ambiguous, generic questions | Specific, clear, and context-aware phrasing |
Impersonal, survey-form tone | Conversational, approachable, human language |
Only closed-ended questions | Mix of open, closed, and probing follow-ups |
Examples of question types for an API developers survey about API reliability
Let’s dig into question structure. Getting the mix right will make or break your survey.
Open-ended questions work best when you want to learn about personal experiences or pain points that structured questions miss. Developers use these to vent, clarify, or highlight edge cases:
What’s the most common API reliability issue you face in your current workflow?
Can you describe a recent incident where an API failed and its impact on your team?
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for tracking trends or prioritizing known issues—especially when you want at-a-glance stats. For instance:
Which API reliability factor causes you the most stress?
Unexpected downtime
Slow responses
Poor documentation
Frequent breaking changes
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question is great for benchmarking developer satisfaction and loyalty over time. You can easily generate an NPS survey for API developers about API reliability with one click.
On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our API to other developers based on its reliability?
Followup questions to uncover "the why": These are invaluable when a reply begs for clarification or deeper context. Followups help you get beyond surface-level responses—especially when an answer is vague, opinionated, or surprising.
For example:
Why did you rate the API reliability as you did?
What would have made that outage less disruptive for your workflow?
Care to explore more question examples and tips for your API developer survey about API reliability? Check out the full guide for inspiration and ready-to-use prompts.
What is a conversational survey?
Conversational surveys turn data collection into a chat-like exchange, meeting modern API developers where they are: in quick, interactive, frictionless flows. With Specific, survey creation is as easy as talking to an AI—no manual form-building required. Unlike traditional surveys that feel like homework, conversational surveys keep engagement high and responses natural.
Manual survey creation | AI-generated survey (Specific) |
|---|---|
Requires form builds, logic setup, manual editing | Instant survey generation from a single prompt |
No dynamic follow-ups—static, linear path | Contextual, automated probing based on replies |
Stale, robotic user experience | Conversational, AI-driven, human-feeling |
Why use AI for API developers surveys? Letting AI handle your next API reliability survey means you skip the tedious setup and get a tailored, expert-level questionnaire in seconds. If you want an AI survey example that’s engaging, ask less, and still delivers more, check out the AI survey generator.
Specific leads in conversational surveys, thanks to real-time AI follow-ups, smart analysis, and a fun, modern interface. Both the survey creator and every developer respondent get a smoother, more insightful experience. If you’d like a full guide, try our article on how to create a survey for API developers—it covers everything you need for top results.
The power of follow-up questions
Automatic follow-up questions aren’t just fluff—they’re game changers. Instead of leaving responses vague, Specific’s AI asks smart, targeted follow-ups based on the respondent’s last answer and real conversation context. That means richer insights with zero extra lift from your side. These follow-up interactions save hours you’d spend chasing busy developers for clarifications over email, and they keep the whole exchange feeling easy and natural. For details, see how automated follow-up questions work.
Here’s how missing followups can derail your feedback loop:
API developer: “Sometimes the API goes down.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share when this happened and how it impacted your workflow?”
How many followups to ask? Usually, two or three layers of follow-up are enough to unlock context. Specific makes it simple to balance depth vs. survey fatigue, letting respondents skip ahead once you have the information you need—a crucial time saver when developers are short on patience.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a static question-and-answer sheet, you get an evolving, human-feeling conversation—leading to more actionable, authentic insights.
AI survey response analysis, large context, thematic summaries: All those rich, open-ended responses? AI sorts and analyzes them in minutes, not weeks. You can learn how easy this is with tools like AI-powered response analysis for API developers surveys. No fear of “too much unstructured data”—AI makes sense of it all instantly.
Automated conversational followups are brand new—try generating a survey and see the magic firsthand.
See this API reliability survey example now
Create your own survey to capture real-world feedback, drive improvements, and experience the difference AI-powered conversational surveys make.