Compare Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES).

Short answer

NPS measures customer loyalty and willingness to recommend the product. CSAT measures immediate satisfaction with a specific experience or service. CES measures how easy or difficult it was to complete a transaction.

Explanation

NPS asks, "How likely are you to recommend our platform to a friend?" and groups users as promoters, passives, or detractors. CSAT asks, "How satisfied are you with this feature?" on a scale of 1 to 5. CES asks, "How easy was it to complete this transaction?" It is most closely associated with usability and future customer loyalty because reducing effort is central to a successful experience.

Common mistakes

• Relying on NPS as the only measure of interface usability; loyalty is also affected by pricing and marketing, not just the interface.
• Sending CSAT surveys at an inappropriate time and distracting users while they are completing a critical task.

Follow-up questions

• How do you measure Task Completion Rate and Time on Task, and what do they tell you?

Sources

• Nielsen Norman Group — NPS and Other Loyalty Metrics in UX