Collecting user feedback is an essential part of any successful business, as it allows companies to understand their customers' needs and preferences, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about their products and services. In today's digital age, there are many ways to collect feedback from users, and one of the most effective is through open online spaces.

According to a recent study we conducted, we found that 40% of approximately 300 SaaS companies are collecting user feedback in open online spaces through dedicated channels. This method has several benefits for businesses, including the ability to reach a wider audience, demonstrate transparency by valuing user input, and gather a large number of responses cost-effectively.

To get a better understanding of how these companies are collecting user feedback in open online spaces, we'd like to highlight some of the most popular methods and tools.

Online Community Management Software

There are several online community management software programs available, such as Discourse, Insided, and Vanilla Forums, that allow businesses to create dedicated channels for user feedback. SaaS Companies such as Zoom, Asana, Docker, and Figma use to collect feedbacks using these services.

For example, Asana offers a community forum built by Discourse that offers features like commenting, voting, and prioritization of ideas, which can help businesses understand which feedback is most important to their users.

Also, Salesforce prioritizes ideas through users' voting and shows the availability / status on their webpage.

Communication Software

Communication software programs like Slack and Discord are also commonly used to collect user feedback. Slack is particularly popular among B2B SaaS companies, while Discord is more suited for businesses in the gaming or web3/developer space.

Linear operates a Slack Community that is used as a customer support channel where users can leave bug reports / product feedback and also ask for help.

Framer operates a Discord Community that also offers localized channels for key customer countries. Users can leave suggestion in the forum channel.

Github

GitHub is a popular platform for developers, and it also offers tools for collecting user feedback. The Issues and Discussions feature allows businesses to create dedicated channels for user feedback.

Github Community collects product feedback in Github Discussions page which is categorized into channels such as accessibility, API and webhooks, etc. This can make it easier for businesses to track and respond to user feedback.

Sentry collects user requests from Github Issues page where it is easier to manage status : open or closed.

Overall, collecting user feedback in open online spaces is a valuable way for businesses to understand their customers' needs and preferences, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about their products and services.

By using the right tools and methods, businesses can effectively gather feedback from a diverse group of users, demonstrate transparency, and get a large number of responses cost-efficiently.