Skip to main content

Voices Matter: Building a Better Ideation Process

  • May 23, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 107 views

erica.kuhl
Gainsight Employee ⭐️

One of the hardest things about community ideation is balancing transparency with reality.

Votes matter. Comments matter. But product decisions are rarely as simple as “top voted idea wins.”

So we’re evolving the ideation process for our Customer Communities to make it more structured and a lot more transparent. 💫

Here’s what you can expect:

  • Votes and comments continuing to serve as important signals for demand and use case
  • Prioritization based on multiple factors - strategic alignment, technical complexity, and customer impact at scale
  • Better communication around where ideas stand and how decisions are being made
  • Internal quarterly reviews with Product Managers to ensure ideas are consistently evaluated

I’ve seen this firsthand over the years building community programs - sometimes the ideas with the most votes are absolutely the right next move. Sometimes a smaller request unlocks something foundational that benefits everyone later.

Neither is wrong. It’s just the reality of building products thoughtfully.

Every idea contributes to the bigger picture, whether it surfaces a widespread pain point, validates an existing direction, or helps shape future priorities.

We’re also taking a broader look at how ideation works across all of our products, with the goal of creating a more consistent, transparent, and thoughtful experience for the entire community.

It’s really hard to do this well. But we’re committed to getting better with every iteration.

 

1 reply

CyJervis
  • Contributor ⭐️⭐️
  • June 5, 2026

Love seeing this direction! 

Having participated in and managed ideation programs myself, I have two quick tips that might help the CC evolution:

  • Prioritize Focused Ideation Sessions: While open ideation has its place, targeted sessions around features you are actively working on can be incredibly powerful. It invites customers into the design process and allows you to close feedback loops faster. (An excellent potential feature update for Customer Communities!)

  • Give General Ideas a "Shelf Life": Unchecked backlogs can quickly become graveyard spaces. Setting a timeline, like 6 months, for open ideas to gain traction or be closed keeps the community fresh. Adding an encouraging prompt at closure to resubmit allows users to reframe their use case with updated wording and rally fresh momentum.

Looking forward to seeing how your changes unfold.