Triage feedback effectively

Feedback is flowing in. Without a system, it will pile up, you'll feel guilty, and eventually you'll stop checking. This lesson gives you a repeatable rhythm that keeps feedback manageable in 15 minutes a day.

The 15-minute daily triage

Do this once a day, at the same time. Treat it like checking email - not all day, not never, just once.

1. Open the Inbox. Filter by "Open" status to see new, unreviewed posts.
2. Scan each new post. For each one, do exactly one thing:
   • Respond and update status. If you know how to handle it, do it now. Change the status to Under Review, Planned, or Closed. Leave a brief comment.
   • Tag it. If it needs more thought, add relevant tags so you can find it later. Leave it as Open.
   • Skip it. If you need input from someone else, move on. You'll catch it in the weekly review.
3. Move fast. A quick "Thanks, we've logged this" beats a perfect response you never write. Two sentences is enough for most acknowledgments.

That's it. The goal is zero new posts in "Open" at the end of each triage session. Not zero total posts - just zero that haven't been seen.

Batch vs. real-time

It's tempting to react to every notification as it arrives. Don't. Real-time feedback processing is context-switching poison. Every notification that pulls you out of focused work costs far more than the 5 minutes it takes to respond.

Batch processing works better because:

• You see patterns. Three posts about the same issue become obvious when you read them together.
• You make better prioritization decisions with full context, not in isolation.
• You protect your team's focus time.

Turn off real-time notifications if they're distracting. Set up a daily Slack digest or check the inbox at your designated time.

The exception: if you've set up Slack or Discord notifications (covered in Automate your workflow), route them to a dedicated channel that people check deliberately, not a high-traffic channel that demands attention.

The weekly review (30 minutes)

The daily triage handles new feedback. The weekly review handles everything else. Block 30 minutes on Friday or Monday.

Step 1: Check the Stale tab (10 minutes). Open the Stale tab in the inbox. These are posts that haven't been updated recently. For each one:

• Still relevant? Update the status or leave a comment with the latest thinking.
• No longer relevant? Close it with a brief explanation.
• Blocked on something? Change to Under Review and note the blocker in a private comment.

Step 2: Review top-voted posts (10 minutes). Sort by votes. Are your highest-voted posts reflected in your roadmap? If a post has 30 votes and isn't on your radar, either add it or consciously decide not to and document why.

Step 3: Update statuses (10 minutes). Check posts in "Planned" and "In Progress." Has anything shipped? Has anything been deprioritized? Update statuses so the portal reflects reality.

This weekly review is where prioritization decisions happen. The daily triage is about responsiveness. The weekly review is about strategy.

When to respond immediately

Most feedback can wait for your next triage session. Some can't:

• Security issues. Respond immediately, even if it's just "We're looking into this." Move to a private channel if needed.
• Broken features in production. Acknowledge quickly and link to your status page if you have one.
• Enterprise customer requests. If you have high-value customers flagging issues, faster response times protect the relationship.

For everything else, batch it. Users don't expect real-time responses on a feedback portal. They expect to be heard eventually.

Avoiding the backlog trap

If you're reading this with 50+ unreviewed posts already sitting in your inbox, here's how to dig out:

1. Sort by votes, highest first. Start with what matters most to the most people.
2. Triage the top 20. Respond, tag, and update statuses. This handles your most impactful feedback.
3. Bulk-close the rest if needed. For posts older than 90 days with zero votes, close them with a kind message: "We're closing older posts to focus our attention. If this is still important to you, please resubmit or vote on a similar post."
4. Reset your rhythm. Start the daily 15-minute triage tomorrow. Don't let the backlog rebuild.

Build the habit

The hardest part of triage isn't the process - it's doing it consistently. Two strategies that help:

Calendar block. Put a recurring 15-minute block on your calendar. Treat it as non-negotiable as a standup.

Pair it with an existing habit. Check feedback right after your morning coffee, right after standup, or right before lunch. Attach it to something you already do every day.

Consistency matters more than perfection. A 10-minute triage done every day beats an hour-long session done sporadically.

What's next

You have a triage rhythm. Now make your responses count. Next: Write responses users love.

For a deeper look at inbox features, see Triage feedback in the inbox.