Rating scale questions
Put a number on what people think
People answer with one number on a fixed scale, so an opinion becomes something you can compare across respondents.Paste your URL and Fiuto builds a free rating scale study for you in minutes. No experience required.
A preview player for the rating scale method. It steps through the four blocks a respondent sees, and is paused on the third: the scale question itself, with one point already picked and the Fiuto panel floating over the scale holding the question.
What is a rating scale question?
A rating scale question gives people a fixed run of numbers and asks them to pick one. The scale is the same for everyone who answers, so the numbers can sit beside each other and mean the same thing.
Fiuto offers 5, 7, and 10 point scales, with a zero-based option for the 0 to 10 run that net promoter surveys use. Labelling the two ends is optional, but it keeps every respondent reading a 3 the same way.
The result is an average score and the spread of answers across the scale. The average says how much, and the spread says whether people agree about it.
When to run oneRun one when the honest answer to your question is an amount rather than a label.
Is a rating scale the right choice?
It is worth two minutes to check a rating scale is the method you want.
Reach for it when
Measure satisfaction with a feature, a flow, or a support experience
Check how clear a message, a price, or an instruction reads
Gauge how much effort a task took
Take the same reading again after a change, using the same scale
Reach for something else when
The options need to compete, and only one of them can go first. A ranking question forces that trade-off.
You need the reason behind the score, not just the number. Follow it with an open-text question.
Rating scale tips
Ask about one thing at a time
A question with two subjects gets one number, and you will not know which half it belongs to.
Choose the scale length on purpose
Five reads quickly for a light check, seven picks up finer differences, and ten is the right choice for likelihood to recommend.
Label both ends in plain words
A bare run of numbers leaves each respondent to invent their own meaning.
Frequently asked questions
01What is an example of a rating scale question?
"How easy was it to set up your first project?" answered on a 7 point scale from very difficult to very easy is a rating scale question. Every respondent picks one number on the same scale.
02Should I use a 5, 7, or 10 point scale?
Fiuto offers all three. Five reads quickly and suits a light check where you only need a rough direction. Seven picks up finer differences between people who broadly agree. Ten gives the most room and is the usual choice for how likely someone is to recommend something. Pick one and keep it, because scores taken on different scales are not comparable.
03Can I run an NPS style question in Fiuto?
Yes. Choose the 10 point scale and turn on the zero-based option, which makes the scale run 0 to 10, the eleven-point scale net promoter score surveys use. Fiuto does not have a feature called NPS. It reports the average score and how the answers spread across the scale, so if you want the NPS number itself you work it out from that spread.
04When should I use a rating scale instead of a ranking question?
Use a rating scale when you want each item measured on its own and it is fine for several items to score the same. Use a ranking question when you need relative priority and want people to make a trade-off. A rating scale can tell you five features are all valuable. A ranking question tells you which one to build first.
05Do I have to label the ends of the scale?
No, the low and high end labels are optional. They are worth adding anyway. Without them, each respondent decides for themselves what a 3 means, and you inherit that inconsistency in the results.
06Can respondents skip a rating scale question in Fiuto?
Yes, if you leave the question optional. Respondents then see a skip option instead of being held on the question. Make it required when the number is the reason the study exists.
07Does Fiuto recruit people to answer the rating scale question?
Yes. Describe the audience you need and Fiuto recruits it from Prolific's global panel, with demographic filters and the total shown before you order. You can also share the study link with your own users, customers, waitlist, or community, and the two kinds of run stay labelled separately.
08Do AI respondents go through the study before real people?
Yes, on every plan including Free. Up to five AI respondents work through the study first so you get a read in minutes and catch an unclear task early, and up to two of them can be AI experts in conversion, usability, copy or SEO. Then real people answer the same study, recruited from Prolific's global panel or reached through your own link.
09Can I create and launch this study from my coding agent?
Yes. Fiuto's research assistant works in the app, over MCP from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Lovable, v0, Replit and Bolt, and over the API. It creates, launches and reads back the study on every plan including Free.
10Does Fiuto run AI interviews?
AI interviews are an upcoming feature, in development now, and this page will list them the day they are out of alpha. Until then Fiuto runs unmoderated studies across 18 methods, with AI respondents first and real people after.