Managing and triaging feedback

Overview

Managing incoming feedback effectively is crucial for building the right features. This guide covers how to triage, prioritize, and manage wishes from submission to completion.

The Feedback Lifecycle

Wishes progress through these statuses:

1. Pending: New submission awaiting review
2. Under Review: Team is evaluating the request
3. Planned: Approved for future implementation
4. In Progress: Currently being developed
5. Completed: Feature has been released
6. Declined: Will not be implemented

Triaging New Feedback

Step 1: Review Incoming Wishes

• Check the Pending status filter daily
• Sort by vote count to identify popular items
• Look for duplicates or similar existing wishes

Step 2: Assess and Categorize

For each new wish, evaluate:

• Alignment: Does this fit our product vision?
• Impact: How many users would benefit?
• Effort: How difficult is it to implement?
• Urgency: Is this a blocker or nice-to-have?

Step 3: Update Status

Change the status based on your assessment:

• Under Review: If it needs team discussion
• Planned: If approved for the roadmap
• Declined: If it doesn't fit (always add a comment explaining why)

Using Filters

Filter by Status

const { wishes } = useWishes({
  filters: {
    status: ['pending', 'under_review']
  }
});

Filter by Category

const { wishes } = useWishes({
  filters: {
    category_id: 'category-123'
  }
});

Filter by Priority

const { wishes } = useWishes({
  filters: {
    priority: ['high', 'critical']
  }
});

Search Wishes

const { wishes } = useWishes({
  filters: {
    search: 'dark mode'
  }
});

Setting Priorities

Assign priority levels to help with planning:

• Critical: Urgent, affects core functionality
• High: Important, high user impact
• Medium: Nice-to-have, moderate impact
• Low: Minor improvement, low impact

Best Practices for Triaging

Respond Promptly

• Acknowledge submissions within 24-48 hours
• Set status to Under Review to show engagement
• Add comments explaining the decision

Combine Votes and Priority

• High-vote items deserve attention
• High-priority items may have fewer votes but critical impact
• Use both metrics for balanced decisions

Decline Respectfully

When declining a wish:

1. Set status to Declined
2. Add a comment explaining the reasoning
3. Thank the user for their input
4. Suggest alternatives if applicable

Managing Duplicates

Identifying Duplicates

• Look for similar titles and descriptions
• Check if the same user submitted multiple wishes
• Use search to find related requests

Merging Wishes

1. Keep the wish with the most votes as the primary
2. Link to the primary wish in the duplicate's comments
3. Set the duplicate status to Declined with a note
4. Notify the original submitter if possible

Bulk Operations

Updating Multiple Wishes

Use the API to batch update status or priority:

// Update all pending wishes to under review
await Promise.all(
  pendingWishes.map(wish =>
    fetch(`/api/v1/wishes/${wish.id}`, {
      method: 'PATCH',
      body: JSON.stringify({ status: 'under_review' })
    })
  )
);

Communicating with Users

Adding Comments

Keep users informed by adding comments to wishes:

• Explain status changes
• Ask clarifying questions
• Share progress updates
• Announce completed features

Setting Expectations

• If a wish is Planned, share estimated timelines if available
• If In Progress, provide regular updates
• If Declined, be clear and constructive

Analytics and Insights

Reviewing Trends

Regularly analyze your feedback:

• Most requested features: Sort by vote count
• Popular categories: Group feedback by category
• User engagement: Track submission and voting rates
• Completion rate: How many wishes move to Completed

Project Stats

Use the project stats endpoint to get overview metrics:

GET /api/v1/projects/{project_id}/stats

Integrating with Roadmaps

Planned Items

Move wishes to your roadmap:

1. Set status to Planned
2. Assign to a roadmap column or phase
3. Set priority based on votes and effort

In Progress Tracking

• Set status to In Progress when development starts
• Keep users updated on progress
• Move to Completed when released

Automation Tips

Auto-Triage Rules

Consider setting up automated rules:

• High votes (50+) → auto-set to Under Review
• Category: Bug → auto-set to High priority
• Duplicate detected → auto-comment and set to Declined

Common Workflows

Weekly Review Process

1. Filter by Pending status
2. Review and triage each wish
3. Update statuses based on decisions
4. Identify top items for the roadmap
5. Respond to user comments

Release Planning

1. Filter by Planned and In Progress
2. Prioritize by vote count and priority
3. Estimate effort for each item
4. Select items for the upcoming release
5. Set In Progress status

Next Steps

• Setting up your first feedback board
• Customizing voting and categories
• Embedding feedback widgets