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Overview
VWO Pulse surveys allow you to gather direct feedback from your visitors to understand the why behind their actions. While quantitative data tells you what is happening on your site, Pulse survey reports provide the qualitative insights needed to identify friction points, gauge customer satisfaction, and uncover the reasoning behind specific visitor behaviors.
For example, if you notice a high drop-off rate on your checkout page, you can deploy a Pulse survey to ask visitors what is preventing them from completing their purchase. By analyzing the report, you can identify specific usability issues or concerns that were not apparent through numerical data alone.
Or, if you receive poor Net Promoter Score (NPS) ratings, you can use the survey report to identify those specific respondents. By reviewing their individual session recordings, you can witness exactly where they encountered issues, providing a clear path to improving the user experience.
Key Benefits
- Capture Real-Time Feedback: View responses as they occur to stay updated on visitor sentiment and site performance.
- Capture Complete and Partial Responses: VWO records every answer when a user selects Next in the survey, ensuring you gather data even if a visitor abandons the survey midway.
- AI-Powered Summarization: Generate report summaries and actionable insights using AI-powered intelligence to save time on data analysis.
- Behavioral Context: Connect survey feedback directly to visitor behavior by viewing session recordings filtered by specific survey responses.
- Collaborative Analysis: Use observations to jot down notable factors influencing your inferences and share them with your team.
Plan-based Access and Limitations
- Detailed filtering is supported only for accounts with Data360 enabled.
- Report downloads are available only on Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans.
- AI-generated summaries require a minimum of 100 responses and are currently in limited beta access.
Access Pulse Survey Reports
- From the main navigation menu on your account dashboard, go to Pulse > Surveys.
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From the surveys listing page, select a Running or Ended survey for which you want to view the report.
- If you select a Running survey, you are automatically redirected to the View Report tab.
- If you select a Running survey, you are automatically redirected to the View Report tab.
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Within the View Report tab, access the three primary report views: Overview, Respondent View, and Question View.
Filter Pulse Survey Reports
Filtering options apply to all three report views, allowing you to configure specific cohorts or timeframes.
Date Filter
Select Date Filter to apply a timeframe to your data. By default, the report displays data for the last 30 days. Standard ranges include:
- Last 30 Days/Last 15 Days/Last 7 Days: Reports from the current date back.
- Today/Yesterday: Data for the current or previous day.
Visitor Segments
Select the Visitor Segment filter to view data for specific cohorts. You can use VWO standard templates or create custom segments based on visitor attributes. Custom segments can be saved in the My Segments section for future use.
Explore Report Views
Overview Tab
The Overview tab provides a high-level summary of survey performance and details of the following interaction types:
- Questions: Total number of questions in the survey.
- Displayed: Total number of visitors who viewed the survey.
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Attempted: Visitors who interacted with the survey. This includes visitors who:
- View the survey and don’t submit even a single response. For example, they may answer the first question but not click Next to submit their response.
- Answer at least one question and click Next to submit the response, but do not complete the survey. They may abandon it or close it midway.
- Answer and submit their responses to only a few questions and end the survey by closing it or without clicking the Submit button at the end.
- Completed: Users who answered all questions and clicked Submit at the end of the survey.
This section also uses graphical representations for choice-based questions and word clouds for free-text responses.
Generate an AI-powered Survey Report Summary
Reviewing individual responses can be time-consuming. To help you quickly identify patterns and key insights, VWO provides an AI-powered summary of your survey report.
Note:
- The AI summary feature is currently in Early Access and available to a limited set of users. To request access to this feature, contact VWO Support.
- To generate the summary, the survey must have collected a minimum of 25 responses.
- This option is available only in the Overview tab.
To generate the summary:
- Click Generate report summary.
- In the Permission Required to Proceed pop-up, review the information displayed.
- Click Approve Request to allow the AI to access survey response data.
Once approved, the system analyzes the collected responses and generates a summary directly within the report view. It consists of a summary paragraph followed by key insights into the respondents and suggested actionable items.
After the summary is generated, you can:
- Copy the summary using the copy icon in the top-right corner.
- Regenerate the summary using the Regenerate Response icon.
Respondent View
This view displays individual respondent answers.
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Select a specific respondent from the Respondents panel on the right.
- View the date and time of their submission alongside their answers.
- If you prompted visitors for their email, select the Email icon next to their response to send them a message directly.
- VWO Pulse groups multiple responses from the same visitor under the Attempts section. If a visitor takes the same survey more than once, you can select specific attempts, for example, Attempt 1, Attempt 2, to see their answers for each session.
Question View
The Question View allows you to analyze data for each question. To view question-specific data:
- Select a question from the Questions tab in the right panel.
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Review the aggregated responses displayed as a graph or word cloud.
Advanced Analysis Options
View Recordings Based on Responses
Analyze user behavior by watching session recordings for specific user responses.
- In the Question View tab, scroll to a choice-based question.
- In the Choices table, locate the specific answer (for example, No or a low NPS rating).
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Click the Session Recordings icon
next to that response. This opens the list of session recordings associated with users who selected that specific answer.
Note:
- This option may not be available for all responses because VWO Session Recordings use sampling, which means, session recordings capture only a sample of visitor sessions. If a visitor’s session was not included in the recording sample, no replay is available, even though the survey response exists. As a result, a corresponding session recording may not exist for every survey response.
- Additionally, this feature currently supports only web-based session recordings and surveys collected through web surveys. Mobile app-based session recordings are not supported at this time.
Add Observations
If you identify patterns or factors that influence your report inferences, use the Observations section available in Respondent and Question views to document them. To add an observation:
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Go to the Observations tab in the right panel and click Create an Observation.
- Provide a clear description and specify the relevant page URL. The URL of the page on which the survey is currently running is auto-populated by default.
- Add a label for easier identification and attach supporting files (up to 5 MB each, 10 MB total). Accepted formats include .png,. jpeg, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .csv, .xls.
- Click Create.
Manage Pulse Survey Reports
Click the More options (vertical ellipsis) icon in the top-right corner of the survey dashboard to access additional actions.
Share and Export
- Email - Send the survey report link to collaborators.
- Download - Export the survey report as a .csv file (available on Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans).
- Print - Generate a printer-friendly version of the survey report.
Duplicate and Organize
- Clone - Create a copy of the survey with the same configuration.
- Archive - Remove the survey from the active dashboard without deleting it.
Data Management
- Flush Data - Clear all collected responses while keeping the survey live and running. Use this to restart data collection without creating a new survey.
- Trash - Move the survey to temporary storage before permanent deletion.
Troubleshooting
Issue |
Possible Cause |
Recommended Solution |
| Exported data does not match on-screen totals. | You may have applied filters before exporting the report. | Ensure the same date range and visitor segment filters are applied before exporting. |
| Multiple attempts from the same visitor. | This is not an issue. Survey targeting allows repeat visibility across sessions or devices. | Review targeting rules. Use Respondent view to analyze repeated submissions and determine whether they indicate friction or genuine repeat feedback. |
| Word cloud does not reflect recent responses. | You may have applied the date filter or the survey must have not collected sufficient new responses. | Verify the selected date range. Reset filters to default (Last 30 Days) and refresh the report view. |
| Completed responses drop after recent edits. | Survey length increased or question complexity introduced friction. | Compare response trends before and after edits. Review session recordings to identify abandonment points. Consider simplifying or reordering questions. |
FAQs
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Does editing a live survey affect existing responses?
No. Previously collected responses remain unchanged. Edits apply only to future respondents.
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If I clone a survey, does historical data carry forward?
No. Cloning copies only the configuration. Data collection starts fresh for the new survey.
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Can I compare two date ranges within the same report?
Not directly within the UI. To compare timeframes, export data or manually adjust the date filter and document observations.
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What is the difference between an Attempted and a Completed response?
Attempted includes any user who interacted with the survey, even if they answered just one question and left. Completed refers only to those who answered all questions and selected the final Submit button.
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Does VWO save data if a user closes the survey without clicking Submit?
Yes. VWO records the response to a question as soon as the user selects Next to move to the following question.
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Can I email a respondent directly from VWO?
You can contact a respondent via email only if you enabled the Ask your respondents for email option while configuring the Thank You screen in the survey. This option allows respondents to voluntarily share their email address at the end of the survey.
When a respondent provides their email, it appears in the Reports section (Respondent view). An email icon is displayed next to their response.
Clicking this icon does not send an email through VWO. Instead, it uses your device’s native mail client, for example, your default email application, to open a new draft with the respondent’s email address pre-filled. VWO does not send emails on your behalf; it simply triggers your system’s default email application.
Need more help?
For more information or further assistance, contact VWO Support.