Feedback Request Template: Questions That Get Honest Answers About Your Product
A feedback request gets useful answers when it asks about what the person did, not what they think of you. Ask what they were trying to do, whether they managed it and what nearly stopped them, and keep it to three questions or fewer. Templates follow for a community post, a user email and a swap with another maker, each aimed at a different person and a different amount of their time.
Why does “what do you think?” get you nothing?
Because it asks for an opinion, and an opinion about someone’s own work is delivered politely. “Looks great!” is a kindness, and it tells you nothing about whether the person understood the product or would come back. What you can rely on is behaviour: what they tried, where they hesitated, what they did next. A good feedback request steers the reply toward events that already happened.
| Instead of asking | Ask | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| What do you think of it? | What were you trying to do when you opened it? | Gives the goal, so you can judge whether the product served it |
| Is it easy to use? | Where did you slow down or reread something? | Points to the exact screen |
| Would you use it? | What did you use before this, and would you go back to it? | Reveals the real alternative |
| Any suggestions? | If you could change one thing before you tried it again, what would it be? | Forces a ranking |
| Do you like the design? | Without looking, what does the product do? | Tests comprehension, not taste |
Template 1: a feedback post in a community
Use this where people share work, such as a maker forum, a Slack or Discord group, or the Discuss forum on this site. Read the community’s rules on promotion first. The request should make sense without anyone opening your link, so that a reader can help from the text alone.
Title: [Specific decision you are stuck on], and I'd like a second opinion I'm building [product name], which [one-line description]. I've hit a decision and I don't trust my own view. The choice: [Option A] or [Option B]. [Two lines on why each is tempting.] Context that might change your answer: [who the users are, what they do right before using it]. If you want to see it: [link]. You don't need to; the question stands without it. What would you pick, and what am I not considering?
Template 2: an email to someone who just tried it
Send this one to a person who has used the product once or twice, within a day or so, while the details are fresh. Three short questions get more replies than a survey link, and they read as from a human. Do not attach anything.
Subject: Quick question about your first go at [product name] Hi [first name], Thanks for trying [product name]. I'm trying to learn what's confusing, so I'd value three short answers (a line each is plenty): 1. What were you trying to get done? 2. Did you manage it? If not, where did you get stuck? 3. What nearly made you give up? You can reply right here. I read every response myself and I'll tell you what I change because of it. [Your name]
The order is deliberate. Question one starts easy and anchors the answer in a real goal, question two finds the failure and question three finds the near-failure, which is often more telling because the person kept going and so was not counted by any metric.
Template 3: asking another maker for a teardown
Other makers are fast and frank reviewers of landing pages and first-run screens, and they are usually willing to trade. Offer something specific in return and make the request small.
Hi [name], I liked [specific thing about their product or post]. Would you do a ten-minute teardown swap? I'd record my screen while I go through [their product's first screen or landing page] and say what I notice, and you'd do the same for [your product]. No need to be nice; I'd like to find what a stranger can't figure out in the first minute. Here's mine: [link]. Tell me what you'd like me to look at in yours.
How do you read the replies without fooling yourself?
- Copy every reply into one list, with the date and the person’s role, before you react to any of them.
- Tag each point with one label: bug, confusion, missing, not for me, or praise. Praise is pleasant and rarely actionable.
- Count tags across people. One person’s request is a data point; the same confusion from three is a task.
- Weigh by fit. A reply from someone who is exactly your target user outweighs five from people who never needed the product.
- Pick the top two confusions and fix those before adding features. Features come from the same list later.
What should you do after you collect feedback?
Thank everyone briefly and specifically, and tell the people who helped what you changed; the post-launch checklist puts this step in the first week. That closes the loop and makes them more likely to answer next time. The broader question of where to find reviewers is covered in the feedback section of the where-to-launch pages, and how to get feedback on an MVP goes through the reasoning. If you have not published yet, you can launch your product free and use the comment thread as a standing place for feedback. For builders in this space, the design tool ideas on the board give a feel for how people phrase what they want.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions should a feedback request have?
One to three. Each extra question lowers the chance of a reply and makes the answers shallower. If you need more detail, ask the first question, then follow up with the second after they answer. A short email gets a human response; a form with eight fields gets abandoned or ticked at random.
Where is the best place to ask for feedback on a new product?
Where people who have the problem already talk. That might be a niche forum, a Slack or Discord group, or a launch page’s comment thread. Follow each community’s promotion rules, ask a specific question and be present to reply. General audiences give general opinions.
Should I offer something in exchange for feedback?
A small, honest thank-you is fine, such as free access or a mention if they want one. Avoid payments that could bias answers toward praise. The best return is telling them what you changed because of their reply, which costs nothing and makes it more likely they help again.
What do I do if the feedback is harsh?
Separate the tone from the content. Harsh feedback often contains the most honest signal about what confused or annoyed someone. Thank them, ask one clarifying question about what they expected, and look for whether others report the same thing before deciding to change anything.
Written by Post your build ideas with AI assistance and edited for this site. Where a page names another product, the facts came from that product’s own pages on the date shown above; terms change, so check them before you rely on them. About the publisher.