In today's fast-paced digital landscape, capturing in-app user feedback is crucial for any app or software to succeed. When users start an app or software session, they have a clear idea of what they want your application to accomplish. If your product fails to help your users accomplish their goals – or it takes too long to do so – you risk losing customers.
The sooner your product development team identifies and fixes areas of friction in the user experience, the more customers you'll acquire and the fewer you'll lose. But how can you achieve this? By collecting and analyzing real-time feedback from your app users, you can uncover new ideas for product improvements, fix bugs, and drive deeper discussions about possible changes with users who are already performing certain actions.
Why Collect User Feedback In-App?
When you build feedback mechanisms into user workflows, users are more likely to share their ideas or point out problems. They're less likely to share feedback if they have to leave your app and search for an email with a survey link. In-app user feedback tackles the challenges faced by product managers in several key ways:
- Provides insight into how to improve the usability of a particular feature.
- Drives deeper discussions about possible changes with users who are already performing certain actions.
- Uncovers and fixes bugs.
- Captures new ideas for product improvements and app development.
- Available around the clock, making real-time feedback a more convenient customer option.
- Requires little to no maintenance after implementation, leaving you more time for other tasks.
Types of In-App Feedback
Before focusing on discoverability, decide how to balance the two main types of in-app feedback to support your business goals. Both general and contextual feedback can reveal important insights. The trick for product managers is knowing when and how to deploy each type:
General Feedback
General feedback deals with an app or web experience as a whole. For instance, a well-positioned pop-up within your platform allows you to collect feedback at any point in users' workflows.
Contextual Feedback
Contextual feedback concerns a specific interaction with the app, such as a new feature, bug fix, or process update. These feedback prompts appear right after a user completes the desired action.
How to Gather In-App Feedback from Users
There are various ways to collect feedback within your app or website. Many product teams opt to use a combination of methods to ensure they get sufficient feedback coverage:
- Open-ended Feedback Widgets
Open-ended widgets capture general user feedback when a customer voluntarily clicks on an icon or button embedded in your app or website.
- User Satisfaction Surveys
In-app user satisfaction surveys can be general or contextual, automatic, and/or optional. They typically pop up after a user tries out a new feature you hope improves their experience.
- Shake-to-send feedback
- Rate-my-app feedback
- App analytics feedback
Best Practices for In-App Feedback
To make the most of your in-app feedback strategy, follow these best practices:
- Make ease of use and discoverability a priority.
- Balance general and contextual feedback to support your business goals.
- Use a combination of methods to ensure sufficient feedback coverage.
By incorporating in-app user feedback into your product development process, you can create a better app experience that keeps users engaged and loyal.