Is a survey qualitative or quantitative? Key insights for user UX research foundations in mobile app onboarding

When planning a user UX research survey for mobile app onboarding, you might wonder: is a survey qualitative or quantitative? The answer isn't always straightforward—it depends on what insights you're after.

Both approaches have their place, and modern AI tools are making qualitative analysis much more accessible. The right combination shapes a more comprehensive understanding of user onboarding experiences.

Understanding qualitative vs quantitative surveys for mobile onboarding

Let’s break it down. Quantitative surveys focus on measurable metrics—think completion rates, time-to-value, and feature adoption. This data helps you quantify user behavior, revealing what’s working and what isn’t during the crucial first moments of a mobile app experience.

Qualitative surveys, on the other hand, dive into the “why.” They ask users to describe motivations, pain points, and emotional reactions in their own words. Instead of numbers, you get context and perspective, which is often where product breakthroughs begin.

Conversational surveys are game changers here. By combining structured metrics and open-ended questions in one flow, you easily get both types of data—and you can build these with any modern AI survey creation tool. With AI-driven follow-ups, these surveys adapt to each user’s response to capture context nobody saw coming. Studies show that 73% of UX researchers now use AI tools to streamline their research and analysis, especially for qualitative feedback collection. [1]

Why quantitative data matters for onboarding optimization

Numbers tell the performance story of your onboarding flow. Metrics like drop-off rates, feature activation percentages, and time to first value give you benchmarks for success. For example, if you see a 40% drop-off before users reach their first “aha moment,” you know exactly where improvement is needed.

• Drop-off rates: Spot onboarding leaks or points of frustration

• Feature activation percentages: Identify which features attract engagement—and which go unnoticed

• Time to first value: Measure how long it takes a new user to experience real value

These metrics form your baseline and help you see the impact of every onboarding experiment. But there’s a catch: numbers only reveal the “what.” They don’t explain why people leave, what confused them, or why some features go unused. Quantitative data shows symptoms, but not the root causes. This is where qualitative insights become crucial.

How qualitative surveys reveal onboarding friction you’d never find in analytics

Analytics dashboards can’t capture user confusion or emotional responses. You’ll never see “I didn’t know what to do next!” on a pie chart. Open-ended questions in qualitative surveys surface insights that analytics simply miss, shining a light on:

• Confusing UI copy or icons

• Steps missing crucial context (“Why am I being asked this?”)

• Overwhelming first impressions or emotional responses to UI

AI follow-up questions supercharge qualitative surveys. When a user leaves an ambiguous or intriguing comment, the survey seamlessly asks clarifying questions in real time, making it truly conversational. This is possible with smart tools like AI-powered follow-ups, which adapt based on each user's answers. By making the survey feel more like a chat than a form, follow-ups dig for examples, motivations, and suggestions you’d otherwise miss—all without overwhelming you with unstructured data. [1]

Traditionally, product teams hesitated to use qualitative surveys at scale because coding and analyzing responses was too manual. That’s changed—and it’s all thanks to AI.

AI makes qualitative onboarding insights as easy to analyze as metrics

I remember when reading through dozens or hundreds of open-ended responses felt like a chore. Manually tagging themes? Excruciating. With AI survey response analysis, the game’s changed. You can chat with AI about your survey results, like having a seasoned UX researcher by your side, ready to summarize, cluster, and surface the patterns that matter.

Want to see how versatile this gets? Here are a few prompt examples for analyzing onboarding survey responses:

• Spotting the most common onboarding blockers:

  What are the top three reasons users struggle to complete onboarding in our app?

• Comparing experience by user segment:

  How do feedback themes differ between iOS and Android users?

• Summarizing emotional reactions:

  What emotions do first-time users express when describing our onboarding flow?

• Identifying confusing touchpoints:

  Which parts of the onboarding process do users describe as confusing or unclear?

Your team can uncover actionable patterns in minutes—not weeks—no matter the scale. With Specific, the entire process is seamless: creating a conversational survey page is effortless, and respondents enjoy an engaging, intuitive experience from start to finish.

Choosing your survey approach based on onboarding research goals

So, which survey method should you use for your next onboarding project? Here’s a simple framework:

Modern AI survey builders—like Specific’s AI survey maker—make hybrid surveys accessible to everyone. And don’t overlook in-product conversational surveys for mobile onboarding; they let you capture feedback in the moment, when memories are fresh and details are vivid.

Whatever your focus, integrating both qualitative and quantitative approaches gives you the complete picture, from concrete metrics to emotional nuance. And with AI, creating surveys and analyzing responses has never been simpler.

Transform your mobile onboarding with the right survey strategy

Don’t let onboarding friction go undetected and damage your app’s first impression. Whether you need solid quantitative benchmarks or deep qualitative insights, the most important step is taking action now—and letting modern tools do the heavy lifting. Every onboarding flow has opportunities waiting to be uncovered.

Create your own survey and unlock hidden insights from your app’s onboarding experience—before competitors beat you to it.