Putting feature requests to a vote feels fair, and it usually is. It also sets an expectation the moment you do it: people assume that what gets the most votes gets built. If that is not how you work, and for most teams it is not, the time to say so is before the first vote, not after the first disappointment.
Here is what to settle first.
Decide what a vote means#
A vote on Would be nice is a sign of support: "I want this too." It is not a ballot, and it does not oblige you to build anything. Say that plainly in your board's description, in your own words. For example: "Votes help us see what matters to you. We weigh them with effort and fit, and we explain every decision."
That one sentence prevents most of the arguments that votes can start.
Keep votes simple#
Each person has one vote per idea and can withdraw it while voting is open. There are no downvotes. That is deliberate: a downvote mostly measures who disliked something enough to click, and it turns a board of ideas into a contest between people. If an idea is a bad fit, it is better to say why than to let it be voted into the ground.
People can vote for as many different ideas as they like, so a vote shows what someone wants, not the one thing they would pick above all others.
Decide who can post and vote#
Anyone who signs in can vote on a public board. Before you share the link, decide how much you want to review:
- Reviewed (the default): ideas wait for a moderator before they are public. Good when your audience is large or new to you.
- Open: ideas appear straight away. Good for a small group you know.
- Trusted people skip review on a reviewed board; Blocked people cannot suggest, vote or comment on it.
For a request where it matters who is asking, a reviewer can limit voting on an idea to people who share their email with you, at the moment the idea is published. Use it sparingly. Most ideas are better with every voice counted.
Decide when voting stops#
Voting stays open while an idea is Open, Selected or In progress, because support for planned work is still worth knowing. When an idea is Done or Declined, its votes freeze: nobody can add or remove one, and the count shows the support it had when you decided.
This means you can close a question without deleting anything. The idea, its votes and its comments stay readable, and comments stay open for follow-up questions.
Decide how often you will answer#
The single biggest factor in whether people keep voting is whether they see decisions. Pick a rhythm you can keep, such as reviewing the top ideas once a month, and write it in the description or in a board announcement. Then keep it.
A short checklist#
- The description says what a vote means and what it does not.
- The guidelines ask for one idea per post and a reason.
- You chose Reviewed or Open on purpose.
- You know who will move ideas to a status, and how often.
See how software teams and open source projects run a board in Would be nice for feature requests. For what to do when the most popular idea is not next, read why the top idea is not always built first.
