Best Way to Collect User Feedback?
Hey Hunters, I know that user feedback is very important when building a product, especially for startups. The problem is, I’m still figuring out the best way to collect it effectively.
Right now, I’m debating between:
Email: Sending out direct emails to users. But how should I structure them? Short & casual or more structured surveys?
In-App: Using a widget or pop-up inside the app. But where and when is the best moment to ask?
Feedback Tools: There are so many. Which ones are actually worth it?
I heard some use Google forms. Is this a good alternative to the ones above?
For those of you running SaaS or digital products, what worked for you?
Would love to hear what’s worked for you!
Replies
Product Hunt
In the early days, there's no substitute for talking to users on a call. There's no easy way to do this, but it's worth doing. Feedback tools are also worth using to get larger volumes of data, but at the core, I've always found talking to as many users as possible the most helpful.
Graphify
@rajiv_ayyangar That makes sense! I guess the challenge is getting users on a call in the first place. Do you just reach out manually via email or in-app messages? Or do you offer some kind of incentive to make it more appealing?
Product Hunt
@hussein_r I usually reach out by email, LinkedIn, or Twitter. I usually don't offer an incentive. If the user is motivated enough to use the app, they are usually motivated to help us make the app better.
@rajiv_ayyangar @hussein_r +1 to this. You can also segment it by reaching out to your top users, churned users, etc. so you get a representative sample.
Graphify
@rajiv_ayyangar Thanks! I like the approach of reaching out directly via email, LinkedIn, or Twitter. I think I will try reaching out by mail first and see how it works. Appreciate your help 🤝
Graphify
@rajiv_ayyangar @steveb Yeah, that’s a solid move. Hitting up top users makes sense. I will start by addressing them first, thanks for the help 👍
Chikka.ai
As a fellow-entrepreneur, I also found collecting user feedback a frustrating task. While talking to each user on the phone yields valuable intelligence, it is often time-consuming (merely scheduling and re-scheduling cause major headaches). On the other hand, sending out survey forms in direct emails can reach a larger audience but survey forms are so boring that data collected this way can be superficial and limiting in insights. That's why my co-founder and I built Chikka.ai, which allows you to build your own AI Voice Interviewer in five minutes to engage warmly with real humans and ask great questions. After that, you are just one click away from user insights. Check it out and see whether it helps. Best of luck with Graphify!
minimalist phone: creating folders
I would say that personalised messages and having a talk with them is the best way. I would divided it into a few people you want to have a call with and other group feedback in the text form.
Graphify
@busmark_w_nika Yeah, totally agree. Personal messages always hit better. I’d split it, some people for calls, others just quick text feedback. No need to overcomplicate it.
minimalist phone: creating folders
I would say that in the initial phase, calls are bearable. When you have more users, some forms for many answers make more sense.
Graphify
@busmark_w_nika Good point. Appreciate the insight!
It depends on the industry, nature of the product or service, and the specific case. As I run a remote workplace for knowledge and business outsourcing, I prefer gathering real-time feedback through word of mouth from our managed resources. However, if people are occupied, I utilize other sources of recorded feedback. Every week as a fun friday sessions for quick revisions for improvement takes place.
Graphify
@ajay27324 That actually sounds like a really cool approach! I like the mix of real-time feedback and recorded insights, seems like a great balance between spontaneity and structured improvements. The Fun Friday sessions sound like a solid way to keep things fresh too. Do you find that people are more open with feedback in a casual setting like that?
Yes, to the ones we are performing well and helping their needs met, they surely take interest for it but we have to take initiation for it.
For user feedback, quality is as crucial as quantity, which is why I prefer collecting insights through phone calls or Google Meet—it keeps participants more engaged.
Inside the app, the best time to ask for feedback is after users have fully used a feature and experienced satisfaction. That’s when they’re most open to sharing valuable input.
Graphify
@kay_arkain Noted! I’ll definitely try it that way. Makes way more sense to ask when they’re actually feeling the value rather than just throwing a random survey at them. Appreciate the insight!
Social media is also a powerful strategy to collect user feedback, especially you’ve already build a community. Use built-in poll features on platforms like Product Hunt, X and Instagram to ask specific questions. These are quick and easy for users to engage with, providing instant feedback.
Graphify
@focusaur That’s actually a great idea! I just don’t have a community on X yet. I do have an account, but I barely post since it’s tough to keep up consistently. Definitely gonna keep this in mind and try it out at some point though. Appreciate the tip! 🚀
In my experience, a multi-channel approach works best. Start with in-app surveys for quick, contextual feedback, prompting users at key moments in their journey. Then, use email for more detailed feedback and to reach users who haven't engaged with the in-app surveys.
but @rajiv_ayyangar is right - nothing beats talking to your customer as a starting point.
Graphify
@rajiv_ayyangar @hugo_richard2 That makes a lot of sense. I like the idea of using in-app surveys at key moments, it keeps the feedback relevant and in context. Email is definitely useful for deeper insights, but I’ve noticed response rates can be hit or miss.
And yeah, totally agree, nothing replaces an actual conversation. Do you have any go-to tools for in-app surveys that have worked well for you?
Talking to users on the call is the best way to get honest feedbacks from them
For instance on Fastbloggers, I integrated chat on Skype. This way, it easier for my website visitors and prospective customers to reach out to me and I can ask them for feedbacks later on since we have already connected on Skype.
It build trust and good rapport
Graphify
@dennisabari That’s an interesting approach! Integrating chat on Skype sounds like a smart way to make conversations feel more personal and natural, rather than just another support ticket.
I can see how building that direct connection upfront makes it easier to ask for feedback later. Once users already feel comfortable reaching out, they’re more likely to share honest insights rather than just ignoring a survey or automated email.
I’m curious, do you find that users proactively reach out, or do you usually need to nudge them a bit to get feedback? And how do you balance real-time chats with managing your time efficiently?
Automaze
Personalise messages are best
Graphify
@freeman_laffey Totally right 🤝
Getting meaningful user feedback is an art. We found that passive and active collection work best together—emails and surveys give structured data, but in-app prompts capture real-time reactions.
One thing that helped us was making feedback effortless for users quick inline responses instead of long surveys. This led to a 3x increase in engagement.
Curious—how do you balance qualitative feedback (open-ended insights) with quantitative data (metrics and survey results)?
Graphify
@goodgistai Interesting to hear! I find quick inline responses in-app effective as well. Currently I am rebuilding the onboarding flow and thinking about adding a quick feedback feature at the end to ask users how they found the onboarding. This would get instant user feedback after interacting with the app. For now I have gathered a lot of options, but because of time restrictions, was not been able to do feedback calls or other methods I wanted to try. Currently, I used only Mail and our Forum for Feedback.
I can't say from experience since I'm also new, but I've changed my LinkedIn account into a founder's Startup. I didn't feel like I wanted to do email outreach for this matter as I wanted to connect personally with my potential testers.
I'm just finalizing the 3 month marketing plan and we are going to get ready to lift off.