product-feedback-roadmap Stinger

You are the playbook for product-feedback-roadmap-worker-bee. Every invocation should produce one concrete artifact: a platform recommendation, a de-duplication policy, a scored RICE/ICE backlog table, a status-transition policy doc, or a public roadmap posture decision. The research in research/ backs every recommendation.

2026 landscape notes:

• Featurebase is pivoting toward live chat / support. Feedback features may receive less investment. Flag this risk to users choosing Featurebase as their primary feedback tool.
• Canny killed its free tier in 2023. Current plans: Free (limited), Core $19/mo, Pro $79/mo, Business (custom). "Starter" and "Growth" are legacy names.
• Productlane is the clear choice for teams on Linear who want CRM-integrated feedback.
• Frill is per-workspace (not per-seat), making it cost-effective for small teams needing basics.

When this stinger applies

Load for any of:

• Choosing a feedback collection platform (Userback, Canny, Featurebase, Productboard, Frill, Productlane).
• Designing or auditing a feedback collection surface (in-app widget, customer portal, public voting board).
• Establishing a de-duplication discipline for a bloated feature-request backlog.
• Authoring or reviewing a status-transition policy (under review → planned → in progress → shipped → not planned).
• Scoring and prioritizing feature requests with RICE or ICE frameworks.
• Deciding between a public and private roadmap, or designing a hybrid transparency posture.
• Wiring integrations between a feedback tool and a CRM or issue tracker (Productlane + Linear, Canny + Jira, Featurebase + Linear).

Do NOT load for:

• React/Next.js code for an embedded feedback widget — that is react-worker-bee.
• Database schema for a custom-built feedback store — that is db-worker-bee.
• SEO metadata on the public roadmap page — that is seo-aeo-worker-bee.
• Billing integration for premium feedback tiers — that is payments-worker-bee.
• Support conversation surface (Intercom, Plain, Help Scout) — that is live-chat-support-worker-bee. Note: Featurebase is blurring this boundary in 2026; if a user wants Featurebase for both feedback AND live chat, involve both worker-bees.

First action when this stinger is loaded

1. Read guides/00-platform-selection.md — the decision tree and pricing table.
2. Triage the user's request against the six workflow intents below.
3. Open the relevant guide(s) before producing any output.

Folder layout

product-feedback-roadmap-stinger/
+- SKILL.md                              (this file)
+- guides/
|  +- 00-platform-selection.md          (decision matrix: Userback vs Canny vs Featurebase vs Productboard vs Frill vs Productlane)
|  +- 01-collection-surface-taxonomy.md (in-app widget vs portal vs voting board; channel stacks by goal)
|  +- 02-deduplication-discipline.md    (canonical merge workflow, semantic tagging, anti-patterns)
|  +- 03-status-transition-policy.md    (5-status model, entry/exit conditions, notification templates)
|  +- 04-prioritization-frameworks.md   (RICE vs ICE vs MoSCoW; scoring rubric; evolution path)
|  +- 05-public-roadmap-playbook.md     (transparency spectrum; 20% cap rule; no-dates discipline)
|  +- 06-integration-wiring.md          (Productlane+Linear, Canny+Jira, Featurebase+Linear, Userback+Slack)
+- examples/
|  +- rice-scoring-worked.md            (5 real-world requests scored end-to-end)
+- templates/
|  +- rice-scoring-sheet.md             (blank scoring sheet; Reach/Impact/Confidence/Effort rubric)
|  +- status-transition-policy.md       (policy doc template teams drop into Notion/Confluence)
|  +- dedup-triage-template.md          (weekly dedup session facilitation template)
+- reports/
|  +- README.md                         (how audit reports accumulate)
+- research/
   +- research-plan.md
   +- research-summary.md
   +- index.md
   +- external/ (12 curated sources)

Critical directives (from Command Brief)

These apply on every invocation. Full justifications in the Command Brief at ai-tools/command-briefs/product-feedback-roadmap-worker-bee-command-brief.md.

• De-duplicate before scoring. Scoring 14 variants of "export to CSV" as separate items wastes prioritization budget and inflates apparent demand. The canonical merge step must precede any RICE/ICE run.
• Every status transition must trigger a customer notification. The loop is only "closed" when the customer hears back. A status that changes silently does not build trust and does not reduce support volume.
• Never commit public dates on a roadmap. Date commitments on a public roadmap become support tickets the moment a sprint slips. Use quarters, status-only, or "now/next/later" language.
• Scope the platform recommendation to one primary tool per surface. Running Canny for voting AND Userback for in-app widgets AND Productboard for internal scoring produces three drifting sources of truth. The recommendation must pick a primary and demote the others to integrations or deprecate them.
• Always surface "not planned" as a first-class status option. Refusing to say "no" publicly causes backlogs to grow without bound and erodes trust. Honest declination with a rationale is more valuable than indefinite limbo.
• Flag the Featurebase strategic pivot risk. Featurebase is shifting focus toward live chat/support in 2026. For teams choosing it as a primary feedback tool, this warrants a dedicated caveat.

Triage decision tree

User request → Triage intent

"which feedback tool?" / "Canny vs X" / "compare feedback platforms"
  → guides/00-platform-selection.md

"in-app widget" / "feedback board" / "portal" / "which collection surface?"
  → guides/01-collection-surface-taxonomy.md

"duplicate requests" / "same feature requested 10 times" / "de-duplicate"
  → guides/02-deduplication-discipline.md

"feature request status" / "status transitions" / "notify customers when shipped"
  → guides/03-status-transition-policy.md

"prioritize requests" / "RICE score" / "ICE score" / "what to build next"
  → guides/04-prioritization-frameworks.md

"public roadmap" / "should we publish our roadmap" / "roadmap transparency"
  → guides/05-public-roadmap-playbook.md

"Productlane + Linear" / "Canny + Jira" / "integrate feedback with issue tracker"
  → guides/06-integration-wiring.md

Full setup / audit → 00 → 01 → 02 → 03 → 04 → 05 → 06 in sequence