How do you filter out feature requests from non-ICP users without hurting engagement?
by•
When you’re hungry for feedback, it’s tempting to listen to every user who has an opinion on what to build next. But recently, we realized that building for high volume free users was actually diluting the core experience for our ideal paying customers.
Saying no to enthusiastic users is tough, especially when you want to keep your community active and engaged.
For founders who have balanced early feedback loops: how do you systematically separate high-value signal from broad feature request noise?
5 views
Replies
The thing that made this visible for me was one cheap question asked up front. My app's short intake quiz asks for whom the song is and an age range. My first four paying users were all 35 or older, while one in five users answers under 18, and the generic search words mostly bring the young ones, making songs for themselves. Two very different products hide in the same signup list. So I would not try to filter people, just tag every request and every behaviour with that one answer you already have, and read the paying segment's column first. The free segment still matters for reach, it just should not steer the roadmap.
Ian, I weight requests by whether that person looks like someone I'd actually try to sell to. free users asking for things my paying customers never mention get a polite thanks and a note in a doc, not a sprint. george's tagging idea is solid, I'd just add a would-I-message-this-person filter on top.