Quick answer
An open-ended question lets respondents answer in their own words instead of picking from a list. Example: “What is one thing we could do to improve your experience?”. Open questions produce qualitative data that explains the why behind ratings. Use one to three per survey, keep them optional, and place them right after the closed question they explain.
What is an open-ended question?
An open-ended question (or open question) has no predefined answers. The respondent types or says whatever they think is relevant, in as many words as they like. In a questionnaire, it usually appears as a text box: a single line for short answers, or a larger box for longer comments.
That freedom is the point. A closed-ended question such as “How satisfied are you? (1–5)” tells you how many people are unhappy. An open-ended follow-up such as “What is the main reason for your score?” tells you why, in the customer’s own language, including reasons you would never have put in a list of options.
Open questions typically start with what, how, why, describe or tell us about. Questions that start with “do”, “is” or “would” usually invite a yes or no, which makes them dichotomous questions in disguise.
When to use open-ended questions
- To explain a rating. After a satisfaction, CSAT or NPS question, ask for the reason. This is the single most useful place for an open question.
- To explore before you measure. Early in research, open answers reveal the options and wording to use later in closed questions.
- To catch the unexpected. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?” surfaces bugs, ideas and complaints that no list would include.
- When the list would be too long. “What is your job title?” has too many possible answers for a dropdown.
- To collect quotes. Real words from customers and employees make reports and product decisions more convincing.
40 open-ended survey question examples
Copy these examples as they are or adapt them to your product, team or event. Replace text in brackets with your own topic.
Customer feedback and satisfaction
Place these right after a satisfaction or NPS rating so customers explain their score.
- What is the main reason for your score?
- What is one thing we could do to improve your experience?
- What almost stopped you from buying from us today?
- How would you describe our product to a friend?
- What did you like most about your visit?
- If you could change one thing about our service, what would it be?
- What problem were you hoping we would solve for you?
- Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
Product, website and UX research
Use these in onboarding surveys, after a feature launch, or as exit questions on your website.
- What were you trying to do when you came to our website today?
- What, if anything, was confusing or frustrating about this page?
- Which feature would you miss most if it disappeared, and why?
- What would you use instead if our product didn’t exist?
- What is the one feature you wish we had?
- Describe the last time you used the product. What did you do?
- What nearly made you give up during setup?
- How has the product changed the way you work, if at all?
Employee and HR surveys
Keep these optional and anonymous where possible. They give context to engagement and eNPS ratings.
- What is one thing we should start doing as a company?
- What is one thing we should stop doing?
- What gets in the way of doing your best work?
- What would make you more likely to stay here for the next two years?
- Describe a recent moment when you felt proud of your work here.
- What support do you need from your manager that you aren’t getting?
- How could your onboarding have been better?
- What would you tell a friend who was thinking of applying here?
Events, courses and training
Ask these straight after a session while details are fresh, by link or a QR code on the last slide.
- What was the most useful thing you learned today?
- What would you change about the format of this event?
- Which topic would you like us to cover next?
- What, if anything, was unclear in the session?
- How do you plan to use what you learned?
- What made you decide to attend?
- What could the speaker have done differently?
- What should we keep exactly the same next time?
Market research and discovery
Use these early in a research project to discover options and language before you write closed questions.
- How do you currently solve this problem?
- What is the hardest part of [task] for you today?
- Walk us through how you chose your current provider.
- What would an ideal solution to this problem look like?
- What words would you use to search for a product like this?
- What would make you switch from what you use today?
- What, if anything, worries you about trying a new product in this area?
- Who else is involved when you make this kind of decision?
Open-ended survey template
Here is a short sample questionnaire with open-ended questions that you can reuse for almost any product or service. It opens with one closed rating so you can measure, then uses optional open questions to explain the score, and ends with a permission question.
- How satisfied are you with [product / service] overall? (Rating scale, 1–5 (closed))
- What is the main reason for your rating? (Long text, optional)
- What is one thing we could do better? (Long text, optional)
- What do you value most about [product / service]? (Long text, optional)
- Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? (Long text, optional)
- May we contact you about your answers? (Yes / No)
Four of the six questions are open, yet the survey still takes about two minutes because each one is optional and specific. If you want a purely open question questionnaire, for example for discovery interviews, use the research questions above and expect fewer but richer responses.
How to write open-ended questions that get real answers
- Be specific. “What could we improve about checkout?” gets better answers than “Any feedback?”.
- Ask about one thing. “What did you like and dislike?” mixes two questions. Split it, or ask only the one you need.
- Stay neutral. “What did you love about the new design?” assumes they loved it. Ask “What do you think of the new design?”.
- Anchor in a real moment. “Describe the last time you…” produces concrete stories instead of general opinions.
- Follow a closed question. “What is the main reason for your score?” right after a rating is easy to answer and easy to analyze.
- Keep them optional and few. One to three open questions per survey is plenty. Required text boxes attract “n/a” and “asdf”.
- Set expectations. A hint such as “One or two sentences is perfect” tells people how much to write.
- Avoid leading “why” questions. “Why didn’t you renew?” can sound accusatory. “What led to your decision not to renew?” is softer.
Open-ended vs. closed-ended questions
Open-ended questions compared with closed-ended questions | Open-ended | Closed-ended |
|---|
| Answer format | The respondent’s own words | Fixed options chosen by the researcher |
|---|
| Data type | Qualitative | Quantitative |
|---|
| Example | What could we do better? | How satisfied are you? (1–5) |
|---|
| Effort for respondents | Higher; needs typing and thought | Low; a tap per question |
|---|
| Analysis | Read, code into themes, then count | Instant counts, percentages and charts |
|---|
| Best for | Reasons, ideas, language, surprises | Measuring, comparing and tracking |
|---|
The two are partners, not rivals. A good survey measures with closed questions and explains with open ones. For more on fixed-answer formats, read the closed-ended questions guide.
How to analyze open-ended responses
Open answers look messy, but a simple thematic analysis turns them into numbers you can act on:
- Export the answers. Put every response in a spreadsheet with its rating and any segment data next to it.
- Read a sample. Read 30 to 50 answers and note the recurring topics, such as “delivery time”, “price” or “support response”.
- Build a coding frame. Turn those topics into a short list of themes with a one-line definition each. Keep an “Other” theme.
- Code every response. Tag each answer with one or more themes. If two people code, compare a sample to make sure they apply the themes the same way.
- Count and compare. Report how often each theme appears, overall and by group, for example: “Delivery time was mentioned in 31 of 90 comments from dissatisfied customers.”
- Quote the best examples. Pick two or three representative answers per theme to show what the numbers mean.
When a theme comes up again and again, consider turning it into a closed question in your next survey so you can measure it directly.
Disadvantages of open-ended questions
- More effort for respondents. Typing takes time, especially on phones, so open questions are skipped more often and can raise drop-off.
- Slower to analyze. Every answer has to be read and coded before you can count anything.
- Uneven answers. Some people write a paragraph, others two words, and articulate respondents can dominate the picture.
- Harder to compare. Without a consistent coding frame, results from different surveys or periods don’t line up.
You can manage most of these by keeping open questions few and optional, and by checking where people stop. Florm’s partial responses show the exact step where respondents drop off.
How to add open-ended questions in Florm
Florm has two open-ended question types: Short text for a single-line answer and Long text for multi-line answers, with optional minimum and maximum length.
- Create a survey in the online survey maker and add your closed rating or NPS question first.
- Add a Long text step right after it, such as “What is the main reason for your score?”, and leave it optional.
- Use the description field for a hint like “One or two sentences is perfect”.
- On Basic and Professional plans, use logic branching to show a specific follow-up only to people who gave a low rating.
- Read answers in analytics, see where people stop with partial responses, and export everything to Excel for coding, or to PDF for sharing.
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