~10 minutes · anonymous

Group work pain-point survey

We’re building a tool for university group projects and we want to know what actually breaks. Be specific. Be petty. The worse the story, the more useful it is to us. Every answer shapes what we ship.

Section 1 of 6

The basics

Quick context so we can segment responses later.

How many graded group projects have you done in post-secondary courses?

What was your most common group size?

Overall, how would you rate your group work experiences?

Consistently terribleMostly fine

Section 2 of 6

The nightmare moment

Be specific. Names changed if you want — but we need the texture.

Describe the single most frustrating group project experience you've had. What happened, and what made it so bad?

At what point in the project did things usually start to fall apart? If you are describing multiple projects, choose all that apply.

For projects that went poorly, who or what was most responsible? (pick your honest top answer)

Section 3 of 6

The tools you actually used

We want current behavior, not aspirational answers.

What tools did your group actually use to communicate and coordinate?

What was the biggest problem with how your group communicated?

Did your group ever agree on roles, deadlines, or expectations in writing at the start?

Section 4 of 6

Fairness and the free-rider problem

Have you ever been in a group where one or more people contributed significantly less than others?

What did you do about it?

How useful was peer evaluation in actually capturing what happened in the group, especially if feedback had happened earlier at milestones instead of only at the end?

Useless — it changed nothingVery useful — early feedback and final evaluation reflected reality

What would have made peer evaluation feel more fair or meaningful to you? For example, would earlier feedback during milestones have helped?

Section 5 of 6

What you wish existed

Jobs to be done, stated directly.

If a tool existed specifically for managing student group projects, what one feature would make the biggest difference?

Rank these potential features from most to least useful to you.

Drag and drop to reorder. Top = most useful.

1.A team charter / agreement template you fill out together at the start
2.A shared milestone tracker with individual ownership of tasks
3.A private log where you record who did what throughout the project
4.A structured peer evaluation that feels fair to complete and receive
5.Milestone-based peer evaluation / early feedback before the final deadline
6.A communication space separate from personal texts (keeps it professional)

Would you have used a structured group work tool if your instructor required it?

Would you have used it if it was optional but available?

Section 6 of 6

Quick fires

Rate how much each of these contributed to your worst group experience.

Unclear roles and responsibilities

Not at allHugely

Unequal workload

Not at allHugely

Poor or late communication

Not at allHugely

Conflict avoidance (no one said anything until it was too late)

Not at allHugely

Different expectations about the grade

Not at allHugely

No one took ownership of the overall project

Not at allHugely

Final question: if you could send one message to whoever builds this tool, what would you tell them not to screw up?

Open to a follow-up question?

Optional. Leave your email if you’re okay with us asking one or two clarifying questions about your answers. You can leave it blank to stay anonymous.

We don’t require any answer. Skip anything you don’t want to answer.