In the race to build customer-centric products, especially in finance and fintech, surveys have become a staple feedback tool. From onboarding screens to transaction confirmations, brands bombard users with “Tell us how we did” forms. While the intention may be right, the execution is faltering, and the outcome is increasingly counterproductive.
According to a 2024 study by Gartner, 73% of customers ignore at least one feedback request weekly, citing reasons like repetitiveness, irrelevance, or survey fatigue. In the financial services sector—where trust, reliability, and emotional resonance define user loyalty—this overuse of feedback forms is even more critical. What should be a bridge to empathy often becomes noise.
This phenomenon, called survey fatigue, doesn’t just lower response rates. It distorts insights, as only the most annoyed or extremely loyal customers respond—leaving the vast majority unheard. Worse, product teams may take this skewed data at face value, leading to misguided iterations and missed opportunities for meaningful improvements.
Yet, the solution isn’t to discard surveys entirely. Instead, product and experience leaders must rethink their feedback strategy to focus on:
- Intentionality: Ask fewer, better questions. Use context-aware surveys at key moments—e.g., after the successful resolution of a customer support ticket, not after every app login.
- Multimodal feedback: Go beyond words. Pay attention to silent signals—long page dwell times, sudden drop-offs during form submissions, or repeat support queries. These behavioral clues often carry deeper insights than checkboxes.
- Empathy-driven design: Align feedback collection with emotional touchpoints. For example, after a failed transaction, ask “How did that make you feel?” rather than “Rate your experience from 1 to 5.”
- Feedback loops: Let users know how their responses shaped product decisions. A McKinsey report shows customers are 2.3x more likely to respond again if they feel their voice led to action.
The goal isn’t more data. It’s better understanding. As products become smarter, product teams must become more human. Real impact comes not from asking more questions but from listening better.
Let’s make feedback feel less like interrogation and more like a conversation.
