What is CSAT in UX research?
Customer Satisfaction Score captures how satisfied users are with a specific interaction, transaction, or experience. Unlike NPS which measures overall loyalty and advocacy intent, CSAT is tied to a specific moment: after completing a support ticket, finishing an onboarding flow, or using a particular feature. The typical CSAT question asks "How satisfied were you with your experience today?" with responses on a 3, 5, or 7 point scale. The score is calculated as the percentage of respondents who selected one of the top satisfaction ratings.
When should you use CSAT?
CSAT is most valuable when you need feedback on a specific interaction rather than the overall product. Post-support surveys use CSAT to measure how well the issue was resolved. Post-purchase surveys measure the checkout experience. Post-onboarding surveys measure how well the setup process went. This specificity makes CSAT more actionable than broader metrics: a low CSAT after a specific interaction points directly to where improvement is needed. CSAT is less appropriate for measuring overall product quality or long-term loyalty, where NPS or SUS are better suited.
What are the limitations of CSAT?
CSAT scores are highly sensitive to how and when the question is asked. Users surveyed immediately after a positive interaction score differently than users surveyed days later. The phrasing of the question and the scale used both significantly affect scores. CSAT also suffers from response bias: users with strongly positive or strongly negative experiences are more likely to respond than those with moderate experiences. Like NPS, CSAT provides no diagnostic information about why satisfaction is high or low, making it a tracking metric rather than a diagnostic tool.