UEQ: Customer Experience Questionnaire

The User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) is a standardized tool for assessing user experience (UX) - the overall perception and emotional response users have when interacting with a product, service, or interface.

Developed to complement usability testing, the UEQ measures not only efficiency and clarity but also emotional engagement - giving researchers a well-rounded picture of how users feel about what they use.

The UEQ consists of a series of bipolar statements (e.g., "unattractive – attractive") rated on a seven-point scale from -3 to +3, helping teams quantify attitudes toward usability, design quality, and satisfaction.

It evaluates six main dimensions of UX:

1. Attractiveness – Overall impression and visual appeal of the product.
2. Clarity – Ease of understanding, learning, and navigation.
3. Efficiency – How effectively the product supports users in achieving their goals.
4. Dependability – Reliability, predictability, and consistency during use.
5. Stimulation – The product's ability to inspire and engage.
6. Novelty – Perceived innovation, uniqueness and creativity.

Together, these categories give a quantitative profile of user experience, which can be compared against industry benchmarks or competing products.

The UEQ bridges analytical and emotional insights - making it an ideal complement to research methods like Thematic Analysis (for open-ended insights) and metrics such as CSAT vs NPS (for satisfaction and loyalty measurement).

Read also: Primary vs Secondary Research

When and Why to Use UEQ

The UEQ is widely used in UX research for websites, mobile apps, software platforms and digital products. It helps organizations measure how design decisions affect perception, usability and emotional engagement.

Key Advantages

• Comprehensive evaluation. Measures both pragmatic (task-oriented) and hedonic (emotional) aspects of UX.
• Benchmarking. Enables performance comparison against similar products or industry averages.
• Speed and simplicity. Easy to administer and analyze, even with moderate sample sizes.
• Adaptability. Can be customized to focus on specific user groups or product features.

Researchers often pair UEQ results with qualitative follow-ups using Open vs Closed Questions - capturing both measurable outcomes and nuanced user feedback.

UEQ Procedure

The UEQ follows a structured procedure to ensure reliable and valid data collection.

1. Define Research Objectives

Clarify what you want to learn - for instance, how intuitive a new dashboard is or whether a redesigned checkout improves clarity.

2. Choose or Customize the Questionnaire

Use the standard UEQ form or adapt the items to fit your product. It's crucial to maintain balance between positive and negative pairs for validity.

3. Select Participants

Choose a group representative of your target audience using appropriate sampling methods.

4. Prepare Participants

Ensure respondents understand the product or prototype and are comfortable using it before completing the questionnaire.

5. Conduct the Survey

Provide access via web form, paper questionnaire, or integrated app module. Randomize the order of adjective pairs to reduce bias.

6. Collect and Process Responses

After completion, compute category averages across all participants.

7. Analyze Results

Interpret findings within context, comparing results against benchmarks and identifying areas needing improvement.

8. Take Action

Translate insights into product design changes, user interface improvements, or feature redesigns.

9. Reassess After Changes

Conduct follow-up UEQs post-improvement to measure progress and validate impact - a best practice also used in iterative methods like AIDA, which emphasizes continuous engagement and feedback loops.

Questionnaire Structure

Participants rate 26 pairs of attributes on a 7-point bipolar scale ranging from -3 to +3, where the extremes represent opposite perceptions.

Attractiveness

• unattractive – attractive
• poor quality – good quality
• unpleasant – pleasant
• annoying – enjoyable
• ugly – beautiful
• unfriendly – friendly

Clarity

• confusing – clear
• complicated – simple
• inefficient – efficient
• difficult to learn – easy to learn

Efficiency

• slow – fast
• ineffective – effective
• cluttered – organized
• unpleasant – pleasant

Dependability

• unpredictable – predictable
• hindering – supportive
• unreliable – reliable
• does not meet expectations – fully meets expectations

Stimulation

• ordinary – innovative
• boring – exciting
• not motivating – motivating
• monotonous – varied

Novelty

• uninspired – original
• old-fashioned – pioneering
• banal – advanced
• unremarkable – unique

The alternating order of negative and positive items minimizes "patterned responses," promoting thoughtful participation.

Answer Analysis and Scoring

To calculate category scores:

1. Compute each participant's average rating per category.
2. Aggregate averages across all respondents to get overall mean scores.

Positive scores (closer to +3) indicate favorable experiences, while negative scores (closer to -3) reveal dissatisfaction or usability issues.

Example:

• Stimulation: +1.3
• Dependability: –0.8
• Efficiency: +2.1

Such results suggest users find the product engaging and fast, but potentially unreliable or inconsistent.

Researchers may complement UEQ data with open-ended comments analyzed through Thematic Analysis, uncovering the why behind quantitative trends.

What Is a Normal UEQ Score

UEQ benchmarks are based on thousands of collected datasets across products. Mean score interpretation typically follows this scale:

Category	Excellent	Good	Above Average	Below Average
Attractiveness	1.86	1.60	1.19	0.70
Clarity	2.03	1.77	1.25	0.75
Efficiency	1.90	1.50	1.06	0.60
Dependability	1.70	1.47	1.15	0.78
Stimulation	1.70	1.35	1.01	0.50
Novelty	1.61	1.14	0.75	0.25

General Rule: Scores above +1.0 indicate positive perception. However, interpretation depends on context - for example, a cutting-edge product might score lower in clarity but higher in novelty.

When planning UEQ-based studies, use the Sample Size Calculator to ensure adequate representation for statistical reliability.

Read also: 50 Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions to Strengthen CSAT

How to Improve UEQ Scores

Improvement depends on identifying which UX dimension underperforms and addressing it systematically.

• Low Attractiveness: Refine visual design and consistency.
• Low Clarity: Simplify navigation and onboarding.
• Low Efficiency: Optimize task flow and reduce clicks.
• Low Dependability: Improve stability and error handling.
• Low Stimulation or Novelty: Add innovative elements or gamification features to sustain engagement.

Complement quantitative findings with qualitative user interviews and behavioral observation to ensure changes align with real needs.

A strong motivational component - as discussed in Boosting Motivation: 50 Key Factors - often improves Stimulation and Novelty scores, as emotionally engaged users perceive the product more favorably.

Final Thoughts

The User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) is a comprehensive yet practical tool for measuring how users perceive a product's usability, appeal and emotional engagement.

Its standardized structure enables benchmarking, while its flexibility allows customization for any digital or physical experience.

By combining UEQ results with complementary research approaches like Thematic Analysis and satisfaction frameworks such as CSAT vs NPS, organizations can turn feedback into actionable design improvements.

When conducted systematically - using valid sampling, thoughtful communication, and clear objectives - UEQ transforms raw opinion data into a map of user experience quality, guiding both product refinement and strategic UX decision-making.