We are leveraging AYTM.com to craft a survey to validate the need for an application we are currently developing. This relates to another question I've asked but basically we are back-peddling to ensure there is a need for the app before we get too far into the development cycle.
We've received great feedback from friends, colleagues, and family but we want to hit some targeted strangers. I'm having trouble with crafting the actual questions to ask though. I don't want them to feel loaded but we aren't sure how broad to be with them.
Here is basically what I'd like to know:
Q1. Our application does X, how helpful do you feel it would be to you?
1 - Not helpful, in fact it's stupid.
2 - Meh...
3 - I could see myself using it.
4 - I'd be all over it and use it on a daily basis.
5 - TAKE MY MONEY... I NEED IT!
Q2. What would you consider the value of an this application?
$0, $.99, $1.99, $2.00+
I feel like I should be asking more. I'm a big fan of KISS but still feel like while we have their attention, let's extract some more pertinent information. What are your thoughts?
Thanks a ton!
These are good questions to start with. I'd recommend rephrasing the first question to "How likely would you be to use this app?" (subtle but important difference - it can be "helpful" but they may not use it). And rephrasing the second to "How much would you be willing to pay for this app?" (again, idea vs. intent).
You can also get a sense for Net Promoter Score (NPS) by asking "On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend this app to a friend?" (Learn how to calculate NPS here: http://www.netpromoter.com/why-net-promoter/know)
First of all, the questions asked by you is more about validating your product than market. Hence, you need to be clear with the objective of the survey. Do you want to validate the market or the product?
If you want to assess the need of your product then you need to undertake a "Need Assessment" survey.
If you're struggling with pricing your product or adding feature (s) per pricing plan then you need to analyze the market/competition to be able to benchmark against.
Is there anything specific you're looking at? Feel free to reach out with more clarity to get clarity. All the best!!
Great answers so far but I wanted to add another perspective:
One of the assumptions that is core to surveys being valuable is that answering "I want this" and putting in your credit card are two different things. In reality, there is quite some difference.
In order to truly tell whether an offer resonates, nothing substitutes for the real thing. This is sort of off the beaten path for lean startup but has been used in quantitative direct response marketing effectively for decades.
You could easily be getting in front of real customers and following their feet, not their lips with the budget you have allocated for this survey. At .95/response you could most likely get more respondents as well.
By split testing - you can get insight into key benefits, price points and anything else you could possibly want with REAL intent being measured by conversion.
In addition, you can build a pre-order list and get a few steps ahead on your customer acqusition channel at the same time.
You'll need a bit of knowledge in CRO, advertising and copywriting but for something like this it's all 101 level stuff. Give me a shout if you're interested and need a hand!
