At first glance, the open-ended follow-up to a rating question seems like a formality: “Why did you give that rating?” It appears simple enough. But in tools like Yabble, this seemingly minor detail can make or break your entire research study. And when the question is too vague, the responses will be too – leaving teams guessing instead of acting.

Yabble is designed to help you gather quick, AI-assisted consumer insights, but it still relies heavily on the quality of your input. If your 'Why Behind the Rating' prompt isn't written with purpose, you may end up with feedback that’s:

• Too surface-level to explain real drivers of behavior
• Repeated across respondents without variation
• Lacking any diagnostic value to inform next steps

Vague Prompts Create Vague Responses

Imagine you ask respondents to rate packaging design and then follow it with: “Why did you give that score?” The responses you get may look like:

"It was fine." "Just not my style." "I liked it," or "It was okay.”

These aren’t wrong – they’re simply not helpful. They don’t reveal what specifically worked or didn’t, which elements to keep, or what to fix. And without those insights, teams can’t confidently iterate or defend recommendations.

Where DIY Market Research Runs Into Trouble

DIY tools are super efficient at collecting feedback. What they can’t do (yet) is detect when a poorly worded prompt is compromising data quality. That’s where insight professionals – like SIVO’s On Demand Talent – often step in to guide strategic question design, especially for diagnostic research. They know how to write with purpose: tapping into behavioral logic, contextual cues, and even emotional proximity to gain deeper insights.

Why Prompts Matter More in AI Tools

AI research tools like Yabble summarize and analyze open-ended data. If the raw responses are shallow, even the best algorithms won’t find meaningful patterns. Garbage in, garbage out – but in deceptively polished dashboards. Writing strong rating prompts is more than just copywriting. It’s about aligning questions with objectives, emotional drivers, and message clarity.

When misaligned prompts create confusion, research can lose impact and credibility. But with just a few improvements, your DIY research can start delivering insights that feel like they came from a full-service market research agency – especially if seasoned experts help fine-tune the approach.

Writing a strong 'Why Behind the Rating' prompt doesn’t have to be complicated – but it does require thoughtfulness. The goal is to move beyond basic validation (“I liked it”) to real diagnostics (“The color made the product feel higher-end, which made me more likely to purchase”).

Let’s take a look at examples to see what separates a weak prompt from a strong one in DIY market research tools like Yabble.

WEAK Prompt: “Why did you give that rating?”

This generic version is the most common – and often the most problematic. It puts the burden on the respondent to decide how deep to go. Without a clear focus, they’ll usually keep it brief or vague.

Likely responses:

• “It was fine.”
• “I liked it.”
• “Not for me.”

None of these tell you why something landed (or didn’t).

STRONG Prompt: “What specific element of the design influenced your score the most, and why?”

This gives direction. It signals the kind of feedback you want: concrete, actionable, detail-driven.

More useful responses might be:

• “The logo color blended too much into the background, making it hard to read.”
• “The texture made the product feel premium – that’s why I gave it a 9.”

The difference is night and day. Strong prompts invite relevant, deeper insights that can be directly applied to creative revisions or product improvement.

Other Effective Diagnostic Prompt Examples

• “What feelings did this message bring up for you, and why?”
• “Which part of this concept worked well or not for you, and what made you feel that way?”
• “What made you choose that score specifically – was it the tone, visuals, or something else?”

When to Bring In Expert Help

Crafting smart prompts gets easier with experience – but most teams don’t have the time to workshop and revise them at every turn. That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent can help. These consumer insights experts understand what makes prompt design effective and can step in to:

• Refine Yabble question guides for better response quality
• Train internal teams how to write stronger diagnostic questions
• Support live DIY research projects to ensure actionable insights

As AI research tools and DIY platforms become more embedded in business operations, teams need support that keeps speed without sacrificing quality. With the right prompts – and maybe a little expert help – your open-ended responses can go from generic to genuinely insightful.

Writing a great rating question means very little if the follow-up prompt—designed to uncover the "why behind the rating"—falls flat. In tools like Yabble, where AI-driven analysis relies on textual inputs, vague or poorly written diagnostic prompts can directly reduce the value of your research output.

So, how do you write an effective diagnostic prompt that delivers deeper consumer insights and improves the overall clarity of your findings?

Start with Specificity

Vagueness is the enemy of useful data. Avoid generic prompts like “Why did you rate it that way?” or “Please explain your score.” Instead, anchor the question to the topic being measured. Make it about the experience, perception, or expectation that led to the rating.

For example, compare the following:

• Weak Prompt: “Why did you give that score?”
• Stronger Prompt: “What specific part of the signup experience influenced your score?”

The second prompt gently guides the respondent toward actionable feedback that can be tied to specific parts of the experience.

Incorporate Contextual Clues

Diagnostic prompts should remind respondents of the exact moment or element they’re reacting to. Context clues can help boost recall and generate more meaningful responses. For example:

“Thinking back to the moment you first used [Product X], what factors played into your score?”

Using simple context like timeframe (e.g., “first use”) or feature reference (e.g., “signup process”) leads to deeper, more vivid responses.

Emphasize Emotion and Expectation

Feedback becomes more insightful when you understand the emotional triggers or unmet expectations behind a low score—or the delight behind a high one. Try framing prompts to unpack this, such as:

“What disappointed you or fell short of your expectations that led to a lower score?” or “What exceeded your expectations and influenced your high rating?”

Questions that nudge toward emotion or expectation tap into the ‘why’ that leaders can act on.

Keep the Wording Human

Even though you’re using an AI research tool, respondents are human. Prompts should sound natural and avoid robotic phrasing. Aim for conversational clarity over technical polish.

For example: “Tell us more about what stood out to you” is often more productive than “Please elaborate on your evaluation criteria.”

Test and Improve Over Time

One of the biggest benefits of DIY platforms like Yabble is agility. Use that well by testing slight variations in prompts to find what works best. Monitor the quality of open-ended responses and iterate.

Strong diagnostic prompts improve Yabble feedback accuracy and reduce “blank box” or irrelevant answers. With small adjustments, you can consistently get better open-ended responses that support stronger business decisions.

DIY market research tools like Yabble offer speed, cost-efficiency, and control—which is why teams across industries are embracing them. But there’s a common pain point teams often encounter: running into vague, confusing, or low-value results after investing time into the platform. This is rarely because the tool is flawed—it’s usually because the setup or questioning isn’t optimized.

So when should a team consider partnering with outside experts to ensure DIY tools deliver the insights they need?

1. When Feedback Feels Superficial

If you’re consistently getting comments like “It’s fine,” “Does the job,” or “I just like it,” you’re not alone. These surface-level responses are often the result of broad or misaligned prompts. Bringing in consumer insights experts can help you reframe these prompts to spark richer, more diagnostic feedback.

2. When Internal Capabilities Are Stretched

Insights teams are often lean—especially in fast-paced or startup environments. Even the best researchers can’t do everything, and DIY platforms can create more work without streamlining it unless questions are crafted correctly. On Demand Talent can step in here with niche expertise or surge support, without long-term hiring commitments.

3. When You’re Testing Strategically Important Concepts

Not all studies are equal. If you’re using Yabble to refine a critical messaging strategy or test product-market fit, the stakes are high. Here, even small wording changes in the prompt can have a big impact on the quality of responses. Experienced professionals bring the rigor needed to design sound diagnostic research and interpret outputs with clarity.

4. When You Need to Build Team Capability

DIY tools are powerful, but they’re still just that—tools. If your team is new to Yabble (or AI-driven research in general), external experts can act as coaches. They won’t just write questions—they’ll help your team learn how to improve Yabble feedback accuracy over time, creating a long-term benefit.

Bringing in an expert doesn’t mean giving up control. It often means getting better control—of your time, your resources, and your research results. And with access to flexible, fractional talent, you don’t need to overhaul your team to level up your insights game.

Struggling to generate valuable feedback from your Yabble surveys? You’re not alone. Many teams find that while DIY insight tools offer speed and convenience, they also require research expertise to unlock their full potential.

That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent comes in. We connect you with experienced market research professionals who know how to ask the right questions, write diagnostic prompts, and guide your research to serve your business goals.

Flexible Support That Fits Your Needs

Whether you need temporary capacity, niche expertise, or strategic guidance, our On Demand Talent model flexes with you. Unlike freelancers or consultants, our professionals integrate seamlessly into your teams and processes—so your research stays on track without missing a beat.

And because we can match you with a seasoned researcher in days (not months), you can keep moving at your pace—even when priorities shift or timelines are tight.

Expertise Across All Research Tools

Our talent understands not just Yabble, but how to get the most out of all leading AI research tools. Whether you’re working with machine-generated summaries, thematic text analysis, or dashboards, our experts help guide interpretation and ensure the data answers your business questions, not just populates a chart.

Build Long-Term Capability, Not Just Short-Term Fixes

We don’t just jump in, fix a survey, and walk away. Our On Demand Talent are collaborative partners who help your team build skills and confidence in tool setup, prompt writing, and results interpretation. If your goal is making DIY market research faster and smarter for your team, we’re here to make that vision real.

From Fortune 500s to Fast-Growing Startups

Our On Demand network spans industries and company sizes, with professionals who’ve led studies in product innovation, brand tracking, UX, diagnostics, and beyond. One fictional example: A mid-sized tech company using Yabble to test early product concepts brought in On Demand Talent from SIVO who reworked vague rating questions and prompts. As a result, the team saw a 3x improvement in usable commentary and was able to pivot faster based on real consumer feedback.

The bottom line? With On Demand Talent, you don’t have to choose between speed and quality. You get both—on your terms.