Empty State Onboarding UX Effectiveness Survey
Evaluates how effectively empty-state screens communicate value, guide first actions, and support onboarding for new or reset users. Use after a user's first session to identify friction points and optimize empty-state design.
No sign-up to try · Unlimited responses on the free plan
Welcome, and thank you for participating! This brief survey asks about your experience with empty states during today's session. It should take about 10 minutes. Your participation is completely voluntary, and you may stop at any time. There are no right or wrong answers — we are interested in your honest opinions. All responses are confidential and will be reported in aggregate only. Your feedback will be used to improve our onboarding experience.
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Sample questions
A preview of what’s in the template. Every question is editable before you launch.
Which platform did you primarily use for today's session?
- Web (desktop/laptop)
- Mobile web (browser on phone)
- iOS app
- Android app
- Other
Which of the following best describes your account status before today?
- Brand-new account
- Reset or cleared data on an existing account
- Returning user starting a new project or space
- Not sure
Before today, how familiar were you with this type of product?
- Not at all familiar
- Slightly familiar
- Moderately familiar
- Very familiar
- Extremely familiar
During today's session, did you encounter any empty states (screens with no content yet, such as an empty dashboard or blank project)?
- Yes, several
- Yes, at least one
- No
- Not sure
Which of the following next actions did the empty state(s) suggest? Select all that apply.
- Create or upload something
- Connect an integration
- Invite teammates or collaborators
- Explore a template or library
- Watch a tutorial
- View sample data or a demo
- Adjust settings or configuration
- None / no suggestion
- Other
Thinking about the empty state(s) you encountered, how well did they explain the feature's value or purpose?
How clear was the headline or main message in the empty state?
How clear was the visual or illustration in the empty state?
How clear was the call-to-action button or link in the empty state?
The text in the empty state was the right length for me to understand it.
How confident were you about what to do next after seeing the empty state?
What did you do immediately after seeing the empty state?
- Took the suggested action
- Did something else in the product
- Looked for help or documentation
- Left the product for now
Please rank the following ways to help you get started, from most to least helpful.
- Guided checklist
- Pre-filled sample data
- Short video or tour
- Templates to choose from
- One-click default setup
- Contextual tips or tooltips
Based on today's experience, how likely are you to continue using this product?
Overall, how would you rate the quality of the empty-state experience during today's session?
Based on your responses in this survey, please share any additional thoughts or feelings about your empty-state experience today.
We'd love to understand your experience in more detail. An AI moderator will ask a couple of follow-up questions based on your earlier answers.
Which role best describes you?
- Product management
- Design / UX
- Engineering / Development
- Data / Analytics
- Marketing / Sales
- Operations / Support
- Student
- Other
- Prefer not to say
Where are you located?
- North America
- Europe
- Asia
- South America
- Africa
- Oceania
- Prefer not to say
What is your age range?
- Under 18
- 18–24
- 25–34
- 35–44
- 45–54
- 55–64
- 65+
- Prefer not to say
Thank you for your time and thoughtful feedback! Your responses will help us improve the onboarding experience.
What’s included
AI follow-ups
Adaptive probes on open-ended answers that pull out detail a static form would miss.
Attention checks
Built-in safeguards against rushed answers and low-quality respondents.
AI-drafted copy
Wording, ordering, and branching written by the AI — tuned to your research goal.
Auto report
Themes, quotes, and a plain-English summary write themselves once responses come in.
Why this template
What this template is built to do — we found no directly comparable template from other survey tools to review.
What sets it apart
- Purpose-built for evaluating empty-state screens specifically (headline clarity, visual clarity, CTA clarity, and text length) rather than generic onboarding satisfaction
- Pairs closed-ended clarity and confidence ratings with an AI follow-up interview to probe why an empty state did or didn't guide the user's next action
- Includes a ranking question comparing different onboarding aids (e.g., tooltips, sample data, CTAs) to prioritize design fixes, plus pre-session context questions on familiarity and account status
- Outputs auto-generated reports with transparent, reviewable AI prompts, and is available on a free tier or the $50/mo Business plan
Frequently asked questions
What questions are in the “Empty State Onboarding UX Effectiveness Survey” template?
The template includes 20 ready-to-use questions, starting with: “Which platform did you primarily use for today's session?” · “Which of the following best describes your account status before today?” · “Before today, how familiar were you with this type of product?”. The full set is previewed above, and every question is editable.
How long does this survey take to complete?
Respondents typically finish the 20 questions in about 10 minutes.
Can I customize this template?
Yes — every question, answer option, and the ordering is editable before you launch. You can add or remove questions, or ask the AI editor to rework the survey around your research goal.
Is this template free to use?
Yes. Open it in the editor and start customizing right away — no account required to try it, and the free plan covers launching your survey.
Ready to launch?
Open this template in the editor. Every part is yours to change before the first respondent sees it.
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