What is a feature request?
A feature request is a customer's ask for something new in your product, or for a change to something that exists. The most useful requests say what the customer is trying to do and how they manage today, so your team can weigh the need behind the ask.
The ask and the problem behind it
Feature requests arrive everywhere: in support chats, sales calls, survey comments and emails. “Add a PDF export” tells you what someone asked for. “I send the report to my manager every Friday and copy it by hand” tells you the problem, and there may be a better fix than the one requested.
Requests show where your product falls short for the people already using it. Counted and grouped, they separate the needs many customers share from the ones a single loud account raises, and they point to the gaps that could make customers leave.
The work has three parts: collect requests with their context, group and count them so the size of each need is clear, and tell the people who asked when something ships. Skipping the last part teaches customers that asking changes nothing.
- Also called
- Feature suggestion, product idea, enhancement request
- Comes from
- Feedback buttons, surveys, support chats, sales calls
- Useful when it has
- The problem, how they cope today and how much it matters
- Ends with
- A decision, and a note to the people who asked
How to collect feature requests
Ask in the product, at the moment a need comes up, and ask for the problem as well as the request. A feedback button covers anything at any time. A short survey after someone clicks a feature that isn't built yet measures interest before you build it, a test often called a fake door.
Requests also hide in other surveys, such as the answer to “What could we improve?” in an NPS survey or a cancellation survey. Read those too, since customers rarely file a request where you expect it.
Feature request questions to ask
Three questions turn a wish into something a team can weigh: what the customer wants, what problem it solves and how they handle it today. Add one about how much it matters, with an option that flags a request that could decide whether a customer stays.
- “What would you like us to add or improve?”
- “What problem would it solve for you?”
- “How do you handle this today?”
- “How often would you use it?”
How to prioritize feature requests
Count before you rank. Group requests by the need behind them, and count how many customers asked and which plans or segments they come from. A request asked loudly by one customer and one asked quietly by fifty look different once counted.
For trade-offs, ask customers to rank a short list or split 100 points across it. A list of wishes shows what people want, and points show what they would give up for it.
Say 50 customers split 100 points across three requests. Calendar sync gets 2,100 points in all, an average of 42 per customer, PDF export 35 and dark mode 23, so calendar sync leads by a clear margin.
- Calendar sync
- 2,100 points, average 42
- PDF export
- 1,750 points, average 35
- Dark mode
- 1,150 points, average 23
- All three
- 5,000 points from 50 customers
Feature request vs bug report
A bug report says something that exists doesn't work as it should. A feature request asks for something that doesn't exist yet, or for a change to how something works. The line blurs: “the export drops my filters” may be a bug or a missing option, so read the problem before you file it.
| Feature request | Bug report | |
|---|---|---|
| Says | Something is missing or could work better | Something is broken |
| Example | “Add calendar sync” | “The export button does nothing” |
| Weighed by | How many customers share the need | How badly it breaks things |
| Goes to | Product planning | The team that owns the code |
How to close the loop on feature requests
Keep a status on each request, such as open, planned, in progress or done, and keep the name and email of everyone who asked. When a request ships, tell those people directly, in an email or in your release notes, so they know asking leads somewhere.
Close the loop on the requests you turn down too. A short note that explains how you decide, and points to a way to do the task today, keeps the customer asking.
Collecting feature requests in Usertick
Start from the Feature request or Integration request template, then place it where requests happen: a side button in your web app, a link in your changelog or help center, or a survey that opens when someone clicks a feature marked Coming soon (on 1 survey on Free, on every survey from Starter). Call identify with the user's ID and traits such as plan, so each request carries the person and the account.
Usertick reads every written answer, in any survey, and files the ones that read as ideas in the inbox's Ideas folder, each under a theme from your organization's list. Filter them by theme, plan or any trait you pass, and give each request an owner and a status: Open, Planned, In progress, Resolved or Archived.
On every plan, a workflow opens a Jira or Linear issue for each request or for each theme, and the issue's status, priority and assignee sync back to the response. Usertick keeps requests private to your team and has no public roadmap or voting board.
Mistakes to avoid with feature requests
Small choices that keep the results useful.
- 01
Recording the ask without the problem
“Add an export” gives you one fix to build. Ask what the customer is trying to do, since the problem may have a better answer.
- 02
Treating every request as equal
Ten requests from one account and ten from ten accounts mean different things. Count who asked, and from which plan or segment.
- 03
Promising every request
Saying yes to each ask builds a product for no one in particular. Thank people, explain how you decide, and be clear when something isn't planned.
- 04
Forgetting who asked
When a request ships, the people who asked are your best audience. Keep their names and emails with each request and tell them.
Frequently asked questions
It names the problem as well as the solution, and says how the customer handles it today and how much it matters to them. A request with that context can be compared with others and weighed fairly.
Inside the product, at the moment a need comes up, with a feedback button or a short survey. A link in your release notes or a help article reaches people reading about what is new.
Thank the customer, explain that you weigh requests by how many customers share the need, and say whether it is planned. If there is a way to do the task today, point them to it.
No. Usertick collects requests privately and counts them by theme for your team. Each request keeps the person's details when your app passes them with identify, so you can tell them yourself when it ships.
Yes, in Usertick on every plan, from 3 themes per category on Free to 8 on Pro and Business. Add your own theme under Settings → Analysis, let the AI draft it from a description, and see how many of your last 100 written answers it would have caught before you save it.
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