Businesses and their customers work best in relationships. And relationships thrive with good communication.
Think about how many times you’ve used a SaaS app and thought, “This process would work so much better if the designers did X, Y, or Z.”
Making it easy for users to share their feedback and feature requests benefits you both. They get the features that help them do their jobs better, and you get loyal customers and their honest feedback.
It’s a win-win!
In this guide, you’ll learn about feature requests and what makes them effective tools.
We’ll also share seven examples with you — some that are great and some … well, that aren’t so great. We’ll end by showing you why you need a software management platform like AnnounceKit that streamlines the whole process for you.
Table of Contents
- What Makes an Effective Feature Request?
- 7 Feature Request Examples
- Why Proper Software Is Necessary for Feature Requests
- Elements of Successful Feature Request Submission Platforms
- How Properly Managing Feature Requests Can Help You Keep Up With Customer Demands
- Collect, Centralize, and Streamline Feature Requests From Your Customers With AnnounceKit
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What Makes an Effective Feature Request?
Have you ever submitted a feature request or other feedback to a company and never received a response or any type of follow-up? Not only is it frustrating, but it’s a surefire way to lose confidence in the company whose services you are using.
Knowing that a business is listening to them gives the customers confidence in the company and incentive to keep coming back.
So, if you care what your customers have to say, and you want them to know that you care, you’ll make the feature request process as easy and streamlined as possible.
To get the most from customer feature requests, make sure they are designed:
- To show how your customers use your product
- To give customers a way to share what they expect from your product
When your customers are using your product and getting what they expect from it, that shows your team you’re on the right track. It also means you gain the trust of your customers, making it more likely for them to share feedback and insights that benefit everyone touched by your service.
Standardized templates are an effective and efficient way to gather feedback. Templates work best when they include a place for:
- The user’s contact information
- The title of the feature they’re requesting
- A thorough description of the new feature (or improvement of a current feature) and how it would work
- An explanation of how the feature will solve particular problems; and
- A way to include attachments or links (to examples or research) that may be helpful to your product team
In addition to these tips, consider ways to make it easy for your team to sort through the requests. You don’t want your team spending their valuable time reading the same feedback from 30 different product users.
You could prompt users to scroll through previous entries to see if their idea has already been submitted and give them a way to “vote” to show they are also suggesting the same improvement.
Another option is to create drop-down lists of topic options that can help customers submit their requests in the right category. This is also a huge step in helping your team arrange feedback in a manageable way.
Some common types of feature requests that you might find in one of those drop-down lists include:
- Suggestions for product improvements
- Requests for bug fixes
- Requests for new features
Quick Setup, Easy to Use, and Many Integrations
Manage your product announcements from a single place and easily distribute them
across multiple channels.
7 Feature Request Examples
Looking at some examples of feature requests can help you see what to do and what not to do.
We’ve compiled a list of seven popular platforms and will show you what the feature request process is like for each of them.
Some of the processes are similar, while others might be considered too complex or even too simplistic.
Check out the examples yourself to see what you can glean for your own business’s feature request process.
#1: Asana
Asana is a popular work management platform that helps teams organize, track, and manage their workflows.
Submitting Asana feature requests involves using their forum page. Here’s how it works:
- Join the forum by signing in with your Asana login credentials.
- Choose the language forum for your area (they offer six language options).
- Scroll down through the “Categories” to find the box labeled “Product Feedback.”
- Scroll through previous entries and vote on ones that mimic your feedback.
- Click the “Share an Idea” box to open a form where you can share your specific request or idea.
At the top of the list of user topics, you’ll see a box with recently updated changes Asana has made based on customer feedback.
Discussion threads follow each forum submission. Some comments are made by other product users, and some are from Asana representatives.
Asana’s setup makes it easy to filter through forum threads to find the topics that may interest their users.
#2: Spotify
If you want to suggest new features to your favorite on-demand music supplier, here’s how to give Spotify an idea of what you’d like to see from them in the future.
Similar to Asana’s forum, Spotify uses a community board to gather feedback.
Simply go to the community board to make suggestions and vote on suggestions of other users. When particular feedback entries get enough votes, they are sent to the Spotify team for review. You must be logged in to submit an idea or vote.
Once logged in, users enter the title of their idea and scroll through the list to see if an idea similar to theirs has already been posted. They can vote for similar ideas or submit a new idea at the bottom of the page.
#3: Google Workspace
Google Workspace allows users to utilize integrated apps like Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar and streamline their work processes and collaboration efforts.
Google Workspace feature requests are similar to the two already mentioned, using a community space and ways to vote on previous ideas.
To make a request with Google Workspace, users can follow these steps:
- Login in the Google Workspace Ideas Community. (Users will have to send a request to get access to the Community page if they haven’t already.)
- Search ideas already posted to see if the suggested idea already exists (or search for ideas under “Ideas for Product Category”).
- Vote for similar ideas by clicking “Submit” to share new ideas. (Hint: Create a product category to make the idea easier for other users to find — and vote for.)
- Post the idea for other members to find and vote for.
#4: Zoom
Zoom’s feature request platform is also similar to Asana, Spotify, and Google Workspace. Users share feedback and new feature ideas by sorting through a list of other users’ prior submissions and voting on them or creating a new thread.
Users must be signed in to leave feedback.
The template for leaving feedback may change depending on the type of feedback or the topic of the feedback.
For example, for “developer-specific” feature requests, the template includes the following questions for the user to answer or prompts for comment:
- Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
- Describe the solution you’d like.
- Describe alternatives you’ve considered.
- Additional context
If feedback doesn’t require a template, users can leave general comments or questions to be answered by the Zoom team.
#5: Pinterest
The Pinterest feature request platform is different from the previous examples in three ways:
- Logging into an account isn’t necessary to leave feedback.
- There is no way to see the comments of other users.
- Pinterest informs its users that there is no guarantee of a response to their feedback.
Informing your users that you may not respond to their feedback doesn’t leave much room for trust or the belief that the company is really interested in what their users have to say.
Pinterest users who still want to give Pinterest their feedback — knowing it might not be addressed — can do so by completing the form with the following fields:
- Have an idea for us?
- What do you like most about Pinterest?
- What’s your email?
- So we can get your feedback to the right people, how do you use Pinterest? (A list of options is provided in a drop-down list.)
For a better chance of getting a response to feedback, users are encouraged to click on “Contact Us” to be directed to the Help Center. There, users can give information about themselves, the problem, and details, along with a place to review their entries.
#6: Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams, a messaging app for an organization, provides a way for users to give feedback. It does not provide a way for Teams users to see others’ feedback or vote for ideas that are similar to their own.
To give Microsoft Teams feedback or new feature ideas, users can follow these steps:
- Log in to the app.
- Select the Help icon at the bottom left of the screen.
- Select “Suggest a Feature” and summarize feedback in the box provided.
If you have a newer version of Microsoft Teams, you can access the feedback submission page by clicking on the three dots at the top of the page next to the profile picture. Click on “Help” and then “Give Feedback.”
#7: Hootsuite
Hootsuite leaves much to be desired when it comes to an easy way to leave a feature request.
To give customer feedback to Hootsuite, users will need to visit the Hootsuite help center. Once there, they can sift through articles with similar content to their feedback. If none of the articles are helpful, users can scroll further down the page and choose to get in touch with customer support.
You can do that in three ways:
- Send a message from the Hootsuite dashboard.
- Email an account representative (if you have an Enterprise plan).
- Submit a request via a form that includes a place to include attachments.
Hootsuite does guarantee that a support team will respond to user submissions.
Why Proper Software Is Necessary for Feature Requests
Feature request submission and management can be messy or streamlined, depending on the tools you have at your disposal.
The best feature request tool you can possess is software that:
- Helps you keep data feedback all in one place
- Utilizes built-in tools for notification and data-gathering
- Is motivated by product enhancement; and
- Makes feedback an ongoing and easy-to-manage process
That’s what you’ll get when you choose AnnounceKit.
Our feature request platform allows you to manage customer requests and decide which ones should receive the highest priority. Our solution is easy to use, making it possible for you to engage with your customers directly and regularly.
Quick Setup, Easy to Use, and Many Integrations
Manage your product announcements from a single place and easily distribute them
across multiple channels.
Elements of Successful Feature Request Submission Platforms
It’s easy enough to create a form with fields consumers can use for feedback. But that alone won’t cut it.
To make feature request platforms serviceable, they should include the following elements:
- Shareability: Feature request feedback should be easily shared with shareholders and team members.
- Centralization: Keeping all feature request data in a centralized location keeps them organized so your team can see, prioritize, and manage each project through the entire product development process.
- Communication: Let users know how important their feedback is and provide clear instructions on how to leave suggestions on a user-friendly interface. Respond to suggestions, being honest about how you review and manage requests.
- Prioritization: Know how your company will prioritize the feedback you receive. Using questions like the following can help prioritize requests:
- Does the feature feedback line up with the vision of the product?
- Are the ones giving feedback from our broader target audience?
- Will the new feature or change enhance user experience?
- Will the upgrade help to achieve the goals of the business?
How Properly Managing Feature Requests Can Help You Keep Up With Customer Demands
Keep customer satisfaction and product enhancement at the forefront of your business by making the most of feature request management software, a platform that:
- Helps you drive product updates: AnnounceKit’s solution lets you manage and prioritize requests and engage with customers directly.
- Provides a way to solicit user feedback with in-app notifications: This feature is included in AnnounceKit’s software, and it makes it easy for you to let users know when their requested feature is released.
- Integrates with other systems: AnnounceKit syncs with other tools to make it easy to push new features through the production pipeline.
You can have all of this and more when you choose AnnounceKit for your feature request management software.
Collect, Centralize, and Streamline Feature Requests From Your Customers With AnnounceKit
Build trust with customers, communicate product updates, and initiate feature adoption with AnnounceKit.
With AnnounceKit’s software platform, you can engage with your customers on another level with more effectiveness while enhancing your brand and building your business.
With our software, you’ll:
- Make a way for customers to get product updates in your app.
- Share product updates and release information on a standalone public page.
- Centralize requests and allow customers to vote on the features they like.
- Be able to reach customers across various communication channels like email and Slack.
- Get AI writing assistance to announce your products with less time and effort.
Request a demo or get started today for free.
Quick Setup, Easy to Use, and Many Integrations
Manage your product announcements from a single place and easily distribute them
across multiple channels.
