Why a smiley face question is a great start to a survey

4 minute read

Smiley face questions create an instant opportunity for customers or employees to tell you what they think. We now see them everywhere for quick ratings on internet purchases or as we head off on holiday through the airport security on feedback kiosks.

Smiley faces are a good start...

As part of a short kiosk survey they are an ideal start, and here’s why:

  1. They are easily recognised and familiar so there’s no barrier
  2. They quickly engage people
  3. They are effectively multi-language
  4. Respondents don’t need to think or ponder – just touch the smiley that reflects their experience.

However, whilst they are quick and easy to answer, they don't give any reasons for the rating.  A couple of questions that follow the initial smiley question can quickly and effectively gain this broader understanding of your customer's thoughts and feelings. Giving you the details so you can understand WHY they answered that way. That's where the follow on questions come in to play.

Example Follow-on Survey Questions:

There are different options avilable to you to build a survey that is quick to compete, whilst also giving you the insight you need. Whether that is 1,2 or 3 questions (sometimes more) here are a few styles of question you might want to consider

  • Multiple choice - provide a range of options that the respondent can choose from, that makes it easy for them to tell you their areas of delight or concern. For example you could ask "Please tell us why you gave us that rating?". The options to press might be: Customer Service. Environment. Menu Options. Queuing Time. Etc.
  • Multiple answer (all that apply) - enable several buttons to be selected where more than one answer is required. For example you could ask "What were the main areas you visited today?"
  • Free form text (verbatim) - with ViewPoint you can ask for free text comments where the customer can tell you exactly what's on their mind. For example you could ask "What could we improve?"
  • Routed - you can determine the question that follows, based upon the previous response. For example, after a negative rating you could say "Sorry to hear that. Please explain why?". Or after the answer 'Queueing Time' you could ask "How long did you have to queue?" with the options being 1-2 mins, 3-5 mins, 5-10 mins etc.
  • Tabular (multiple questions on one screen) - this is a very neat way to ask several rating questions on one screen.
  • Randomised - a slightly more specialised tool which changes the order of the questions which in some settings can reduce any bias from the question order.
  • Image based - we can provide beautiful surveys, using images within the survey headers and on the buttons themselves. For example in hospital and health settings we often use 'easy read' images and large font questions to help the respondent easily understand the question.
  • On-brand, text or graphics - brands are vitally important and often very protected. ViewPoint can powerfully use brand images, fonts and graphics to provide great looking and effective surveys.
  • Multiple languages - capture feedback in the local language.
  • Contacts and data capture - gain emails and phone numbers with permission, for marketing, loyalty programs or problem resolution.

Write surveys for success

Think about the time your respondent has to spend on your survey. If they will only have a few seconds keep the survey really short, maybe only 3 questions such as a smiley face rating question, followed by why they gave that rating, followed by “Is there anything else you would like to tell us?” 

The magic question, “Is there anything else you would like to tell us?”

The power of this question cannot be underestimated. The 'magic question' enables the respondent to tell you what REALLY MATTERS to them. This open question can inform you of something that’s on their mind in just a few simple words. Many of our customers have received powerful feedback from this simple question.


To read more about survey design please click here


ViewPoint offer the opportunity to have a feedback kiosk trial, giving you the chance to see how insight captured through feedback can help you. 

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About author

Written by Simon Rowland

Simon is the CEO of ViewPoint. Find out more about Simon Rowland.

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