Best questions for power user survey about customization needs

Here are some of the best questions for a power user survey about customization needs, plus tips on designing truly insightful surveys. You can quickly build your survey using Specific—just generate the AI-powered survey you need in seconds.

The best open-ended questions for power user surveys about customization needs

With open-ended questions, we open the door for unexpected insights—giving power users room to share exactly what they want, not just what fits into our boxes. They’re especially powerful when we want rich feedback, stories, or to surface unmet needs.

1. What customizations do you use most frequently, and why are they important for your workflow?

2. Are there any customization options you wish were available but currently aren’t?

3. Can you describe a time when customizing the product helped you achieve a unique result?

4. Which customization features feel most intuitive to you, and which are confusing or difficult to use?

5. How do your customization needs change as your usage of the product evolves?

6. If you could improve one aspect of customization in this product, what would it be and why?

7. What barriers have you faced when trying to tailor the product to your specific needs?

8. How do you share or collaborate on customizations with others in your team or community?

9. Are there any automations or shortcuts you wish could be customized further for your experience?

10. What advice would you give to other power users seeking to maximize their customization?

Open-ended questions let power users explain their motivations, challenges, and creative solutions. This depth can be a goldmine for product teams. In fact, 73% of respondents prefer personalized questions over generic ones, enhancing data relevance [1], making the case for moving beyond simple checkboxes.

The best single-select multiple-choice questions

Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when we want to quantify feedback or kickstart a conversation. Sometimes, picking from a concise list is faster and less taxing for respondents—especially if you’re looking for trends or want to probe deeper with follow-up questions.

Question: Which area of customization is most important to your daily workflow?

• Dashboard layout

• Notification settings

• Interface themes

• Automations/workflows

• Other

Question: How often do you adjust product settings to fit your preferences?

• Every day

• Weekly

• Monthly

• Rarely/Never

Question: When do you usually discover new customization features?

• During onboarding

• After product updates

• Through support or documentation

• From other users

When to follow up with "why?" If a respondent selects an answer but the reasoning behind it matters (for example, they choose "Dashboard layout" as most important), asking "Why is dashboard layout so essential for you?" can quickly uncover detailed motivations or pain points. Follow-up "why" questions transform a static response into actionable insight.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Including "Other" lets you capture needs that don’t fit into your predefined options—critical for identifying edge-case users or discovering new trends. By asking a follow-up when someone picks "Other", you tap into insights no one thought to list upfront.

NPS and the power user: does it make sense?

NPS (Net Promoter Score) asks users how likely they are to recommend your product, using a 0–10 scale, then probes for explanations. For power users focused on customization, it reveals if tailored experiences translate into advocacy and loyalty. When you run an NPS survey for power users about customization needs, you’re not just checking satisfaction—you’re finding out if customizable features drive word of mouth and sticky engagement. You can use Specific's automated NPS survey builder to get started.

Personalized surveys can increase response rates by up to 40% [2], so contextual NPS makes even more sense for this audience.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are where the magic happens. Instead of getting stuck with vague or surface-level answers, you dig deeper—for real context and clarity. Specific’s automated AI follow-up questions feature lets the AI ask sharp, relevant follow-ups in real time, like an expert interviewer would.

• Power user: "I wish themes were more flexible."

• AI follow-up: "What specific changes would make themes feel more flexible for you?"

• Power user: "Notifications can be overwhelming."

• AI follow-up: "Can you describe a recent situation where notifications felt overwhelming, and what would help fix it for you?"

Without those follow-ups, you’d end up with unclear or incomplete data. It turns out that AI-powered personalization can lead to a 25-30% increase in survey completion rates [3], because follow-up questions feel like a real conversation, not another form.

How many followups to ask? As a rule of thumb, 2–3 follow-ups are plenty—you want to get the detail you need without fatiguing users. With Specific, you can even set AI to skip to the next question if the user’s already given all the crucial info.

This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a static form, you and your respondents are having a back-and-forth—making feedback feel natural.

AI survey analysis, effortless: Analyzing long, open-ended responses can be overwhelming, but Specific’s AI makes it simple. Just see how easy it is to analyze responses from power user surveys about customization using AI.

Automated AI follow-ups are a new concept. Try generating or customizing your own survey to experience it yourself.

How to compose great survey prompts for AI

If you want to use ChatGPT or another AI to help generate survey questions and structure, here’s an easy way to prompt your way to excellence. Start simple, then iterate with context.

First, just try:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for power user survey about customization needs.

But you’ll always get better results if you give more detail. For example:

We are a SaaS company with a complex user base. Our power users rely on advanced customization features to optimize their workflow and collaborate. Our goal is to uncover unmet customization needs, pain points, and ideas for more advanced automation. Suggest 10 open-ended questions specifically for these power users.

Next step—categorize the results:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Pick the categories that matter most to your product, then drill down with:

Generate 10 questions for categories "automation needs" and "collaboration on customizations".

What is a conversational survey—and why does it matter?

In a conversational survey, questions adapt in real time based on your respondents' answers, with AI probing for clarity and detail the way a great interviewer would. This isn’t the same as a clunky, one-size-fits-all form. Here’s how they compare:

Why use AI for power user surveys? Power users crave tailored experiences—they want things to ‘just fit’ their needs. By using an AI survey generator, you create surveys as adaptive and responsive as your best power user features. It’s the difference between sending out a bland, generic form and delivering a survey that feels like a natural conversation. That’s one reason why 91% of customers prefer interacting with brands that offer relevant and personalized recommendations [4].

Before you launch yet another ordinary form, consider how much more valuable your findings could be with AI-powered, conversational survey tools. Specific makes it simple to deliver best-in-class feedback experiences with a fully conversational interface. Curious about the steps? Check out our guide on how to easily create a survey for customization needs.

See this customization needs survey example now

Ready to engage your power users and unlock deeper insights? See how a well-designed, conversational survey transforms your feedback process—yielding better data and a smoother experience for everyone involved.