The question that finally got my silent users to answer: "Even one letter helps"

Most of our signups never connected their Instagram, and almost none of them told us why. Surveys got ignored. "Why did you stop?" got silence or "it was fine."

Yesterday a tester told me setup "felt smooth." On my side, I could see he never connected his account. So instead of an open question, I sent:

"Was it (a) no Instagram account to use, (b) not comfortable connecting a real account, (c) didn't feel worth it yet, or (d) ran out of time? Even one letter helps."

He answered within the hour: (b). He also admitted his "smooth" only covered the steps before the scary one.

Why I think it worked:

• answering costs one keystroke

• the options name the uncomfortable reason for them ("not comfortable" is easier to pick than to write)

• "even one letter helps" lowers the bar to zero

What we're changing because of it:

• a plain "what we can and can't do with your account" screen right before the Instagram connect

• an optional 3 tap "what's stopping you?" prompt at the step where people hesitate, with a skip button

Question for makers: what's the best question you've found to get honest answers from users who went quiet?