Strategy
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A practical product metric for measuring loyalty, advocacy, and overall sentiment over time.
How to use NPS to track loyalty, understand overall product sentiment, and identify promoters and detractors over time.
What it is
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a UX and product metric used to measure how likely users are to recommend a product or glossaryServiceA service is a component or function that performs a specific task within a system.Open glossary term to others.
It is based on a single question: “How likely are you to recommend this to a friend or colleague?” rated on a scale from 0 to 10.
Respondents are grouped into three categories: Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), and Detractors (0–6).
The score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.
Unlike CSAT, which measures satisfaction at a specific moment, NPS measures overall sentiment and loyalty.
The goal is to understand how users feel about your product at a broader level and track that over time.
NPS is useful when you need a simple loyalty benchmark, but it is only valuable when paired with context and follow-up insight.
When to use it
Use this method when you want a high-level view of user sentiment and loyalty.
It is most useful when:
It is less useful when:
NPS is often used alongside CSAT and qualitative research to add context and explanation.
Key takeaway
Use NPS when you need a simple, repeatable way to track loyalty and broad sentiment over time.
How to run it
Set up properly
Be clear on when the survey fires, who receives it, and how often. NPS asks about the relationship rather than a single glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term, so triggering it straight after a support call measures the call.
Decide the cadence and hold it. Changing timing or audience between waves makes the trend uninterpretable, which is the only part of NPS worth much.
Run the method
NPS asks how likely somebody is to recommend you, on a 0 to 10 scale. The score itself is a blunt instrument; the follow-up question is where the value actually sits.
- Ask the standard question without rewording it. The comparability is the entire argument for using NPS rather than something better suited.
- Use the 0 to 10 scale, scoring 9 and 10 as promoters, 7 and 8 as passives, and 0 to 6 as detractors.
- Include an open follow-up asking why. Almost everything actionable comes from that field and none from the number.
- Keep it quick and unobtrusive, and avoid asking the same people repeatedly.
- Apply it consistently across respondents, since selective sending produces a score describing your happiest users.
Treat the number as a tracker and the comments as the serviceUser ResearchUnderstand user behaviour, validate ideas, and make clearer product decisions with evidence you can act on.Open service. Cross-company NPS comparison is close to meaningless given how much timing and audience move it.
Capture and make sense of it
The value comes from the trend and the comments. After collecting glossaryResponseA response is the data or result returned by a server after receiving a request.Open glossary term, document:
- The score with glossarySample SizeSample size refers to the number of participants included in a study or test.Open glossary term and glossaryResponseA response is the data or result returned by a server after receiving a request.Open glossary term rate stated
- Movement over time, read as a trend rather than as a target
- Themes from detractor comments, which are the most useful material
- Differences by segment, tenure or plan
Use this to track sentiment and to find things to investigate. Acting on the score alone is acting on a summary of a summary.
What to look for
Focus on:
Where it goes wrong
Most issues come from:
NPS tells you how users feel, not why.
What you get from it
Done properly, this method gives you:
Key takeaway
It helps you understand overall sentiment at scale.
Get in touch
If this sounds like something you need, we can help you go beyond the score and understand what is really driving user loyalty.
No guesswork. No assumptions. Just clear insight you can act on.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this method.
What is Net Promoter Score in UX?
NPS is a method used to measure how likely users are to recommend a product or service.
How is NPS calculated?
It is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.
What is a good NPS score?
It varies by industry, but higher scores indicate stronger loyalty.
When should you use NPS?
Use it to measure overall sentiment and track changes over time.
Does NPS improve UX?
Indirectly. It highlights sentiment, but needs supporting research to drive improvements.
Quick take
If you want a simple way to measure loyalty and advocacy, use NPS.
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