Idea Validation Template
User Needs Survey Template
Stop guessing, start listening. This template uncovers the real problems your users face, what they've tried, and what still fails. Build products that solve real needs and earn loyalty from day one.
Decision context
User Needs Survey helps reduce a real decision risk.
Use this at the earliest stage of product planning. Perfect when exploring new opportunities or shaping roadmaps, it helps you validate pain points and prioritize features with confidence.
Template preview
What is inside the template
The template combines questions and surveys with focused follow-up prompts, so the team can collect the specific evidence described in the source study.
Study spine
A focused study spine, ready to adapt.
The preview shows the shape of the study: the stimulus or task, the core prompts, and the follow-up evidence Fred can help you collect.
Prompt 01
Long text
Please describe the main problem you face when using [scenario or product
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 02
Long text
What are the consequences if this problem remains unsolved?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 03
Long text
What solutions or approaches have you already tried?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 04
Long text
What do you feel was missing or insufficient from those attempts?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 05
Short text
How much are you currently spending to manage or solve this problem?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 06
Long text
In your experience, what would be the most valuable improvement or outcome to
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Methods included
Research methods used by the template.
The preview above shows the template-specific prompts and tasks. This section explains the method types in general, so teams understand what each one is for.
Questions and Surveys
Structured response capture
Method purpose
Survey questions collect text, scale, choice, date, numerical, or grid responses so teams can compare user feedback consistently.
Workflow in Fred
From template to decision-ready evidence
Fred gives you a structured starting point for the study, then helps you collect responses and turn recurring signals into evidence your team can review.
- 01Start from the prebuilt structureOpen the user needs survey template, then adapt the placeholder stimulus, task, or wording to match your product context.
- 02Collect focused responsesParticipants complete the questions and surveys flow and answer the follow-up prompts that capture the decision signal.
- 03Review patterns and confidenceIdentify unmet needs, wasted spend, and gaps in current solutions.
- 04Share a decision-ready reportTurn the recurring evidence into a clear recommendation for the product, design, content, or research decision at hand.
Evidence output
What you can decide after running this template
The output should help the team move from opinions to concrete evidence about what users understood, selected, completed, preferred, or questioned.
Signal
Identify unmet needs, wasted spend, and gaps in current solutions.
Evidence
Learn what improvements matter most to users so you can design impactful products that people actually adopt.
Action
Use the results to refine the experience before the decision becomes expensive to change.
Method fit
Use this template when the decision needs focused evidence.
Use this section to decide whether the template is the right starting point, or whether the research question needs a broader plan.
Good fit
Use this at the earliest stage of product planning. Perfect when exploring new opportunities or shaping roadmaps, it helps you validate pain points and prioritize features with confidence.
Use another method
You need statistically representative market sizing rather than directional research evidence. You have not defined the stimulus, task, concept, page, or feature that participants should evaluate. You need a broad discovery program instead of a compact template-led study.
Who it helps
Different teams can use the same evidence for different decisions.
The template keeps the study compact enough for a sprint, while still giving each role the evidence they need to move the decision forward.
Product Manager
Problem
Needs evidence for a idea validation decision without designing the study from scratch.
Outcome
Gets a ready structure for collecting questions and surveys evidence.
UX Researcher
Problem
Needs a repeatable method structure that keeps questions, tasks, and follow-ups focused.
Outcome
Gets a study spine that can be adapted, launched, and reported with less setup work.
Related resources
Continue from this template to related methods and decisions.
Use these links to connect the template to the broader Fred workflow and supporting educational content.
FAQ
Practical details before you run the template.
Short answers for teams deciding whether this template fits the research decision in front of them.
Start the study
Use this template to collect evidence before the decision hardens.
Start with a structured study, collect focused evidence, and turn the results into a clearer product decision.
Output
A focused study, a clearer decision, and evidence your team can inspect.