Best Practices

1. Lower the Friction

The easier it is to capture an idea, the more ideas you'll capture.

• •Use emoji reactions: A single 💡 reaction is faster than filling out a form
• •Capture where conversations happen: Don't ask people to go to a separate tool
• •Let AI do the formatting: Raw messages become structured ideas automatically

2. Capture Everything, Filter Later

It's better to capture too much than too little. You can always reject ideas— you can't recover ideas you never captured.

• •When in doubt, react with 💡
• •Use the inbox for triage, not the chat channel
• •Include context: who said it, when, and why

3. Train Your Team

Everyone should know how to capture ideas, not just product managers.

• •Share this in your team channel: "React with 💡 to any message that sounds like a feature idea"
• •Engineers often spot technical improvements first
• •Support teams hear customer pain points daily
• •Sales knows what prospects are asking for

4. Triage Weekly (or Daily)

Set aside regular time to process your inbox. A growing backlog is a sign the process isn't working.

5. Use Categories Consistently

Categories help you spot patterns. Keep them simple and consistent.

6. Merge Duplicates Aggressively

Multiple people asking for the same thing is a signal. Merge related ideas to see the full picture.

• •IdeaLift's AI finds similar ideas automatically
• •Merged ideas show "3 people asked for this" context
• •Use search to find related ideas before approving

7. Push to Your Issue Tracker

Ideas should become issues. IdeaLift makes this one click.

• •Connect GitHub, Linear, or Jira
• •When you approve an idea, push it immediately
• •The issue includes a link back to the original conversation

8. Say No (and Explain Why)

Not every idea should be built. Rejecting ideas is as important as accepting them.

• •Be direct: "We won't build this" is better than silence
• •Explain briefly: "Doesn't fit our focus" or "Too complex for ROI"
• •Close the loop: Let the requester know their idea was considered

9. Use Status Sync

When an issue is completed in Jira or Linear, IdeaLift automatically updates the idea status.

• •Enable webhooks in your issue tracker
• •Ideas automatically move to "Shipped" when issues close
• •No manual status updates needed

10. Acknowledge Every Idea

People stop sharing feedback when they feel ignored. Simple acknowledgment keeps the ideas flowing.

• •IdeaLift sends a confirmation when ideas are captured
• •The original author knows their idea was received
• •Follow up when you ship something they requested

11. Share What You Shipped

When you ship something that came from feedback, tell people.

• •Use the changelog feature (Scale plan) to announce releases
• •Post in your community: "You asked, we built it!"
• •Tag the original requesters when possible

12. Assign an Owner

Someone needs to own the feedback process. "Everyone's job" means "nobody's job."

• •Designate a triage owner (usually PM or product lead)
• •Set a recurring calendar block for inbox triage
• •Rotate ownership on larger teams

13. Review Trends Monthly

Look at the big picture, not just individual ideas.

• •What categories are getting the most ideas?
• •Which team members are capturing the most?
• •What's the average time from capture to ship?
• •Use IdeaLift's analytics to spot patterns

14. Connect Multiple Sources

Don't just use one capture method. The best teams funnel ideas from everywhere.