Building in Public: How to Turn User Feedback into Your Roadmap

Why Build in Public?

As indie makers, we used to build in secret, ship, and hope users loved it. That rarely worked. Now we build in public, involving users every step of the way.

But "build in public" isn't just tweeting screenshots. It's creating a feedback loop where users shape your product and see their ideas come to life.

Step 1: Make Feedback Easy to Give

Most founders wait for users to email feedback. But 95% of users with opinions never email. Lower the barrier:

Add a Feedback Widget

Embed a feedback board directly in your app. Users see it, think "oh cool", and submit ideas without leaving your product. Collectic's one-line embed makes this trivial.

Share Your Public Board

Put your feedback board link everywhere: footer, settings page, help docs, email signature. Make it impossible to miss. Tweet it monthly.

Accept Feedback Everywhere

Users will still email, DM, and Discord message you. That's fine. Import it all into Collectic so everything lives in one place. The AI handles deduplication.

Step 2: Let Users Vote, Not Just Submit

Voting is the secret weapon. When users see others' ideas, three things happen:

• They vote instead of submitting duplicates (less noise for you)
• They discover features they didn't know they wanted
• You get quantitative data on what matters most

One vote is more valuable than one submission. It's validation without extra work for you.

Step 3: Prioritize with Data, Not Gut Feel

Now you have votes. How do you decide what to build?

Use the Priority Formula

Collectic automatically scores ideas using votes, ARR impact, and effort. This surfaces the features that will move the needle most per hour of work.

Add Effort Estimates

Tag each idea as Small, Medium, or Large effort. Be honest. This helps find quick wins - high-vote features you can ship fast.

Consider Strategic Fit

Data isn't everything. Sometimes you need to build infrastructure before features. Sometimes you chase a specific market. Use priority scores as input, not gospel.

Step 4: Make Your Roadmap Public

Here's where building in public gets powerful. Show users your kanban board:

• Backlog: Ideas we're considering
• Planned: Committed to building soon
• In Progress: Actively building now
• Released: Shipped and live

Users see their ideas move across the board. They feel heard. They stay engaged. They become advocates.

Step 5: Close the Loop When You Ship

When you move something to "Released", Collectic automatically:

• Emails everyone who voted on that idea
• Adds an entry to your public changelog
• Drafts a tweet announcing the feature

This is the magic moment. Users who requested a feature get a personal email saying "hey, we built what you asked for." Open rates are 70%+. Click-through rates are 40%+.

These users become your biggest fans. They tell friends. They tweet about you. They submit more ideas because they know you listen.

Real Example: How I Built Collectic

Collectic itself was built this way:

• Launched with basic feedback board
• Shared URL with indie maker communities
• Got 200+ feature ideas in week one
• AI found 47 duplicates automatically
• Built top 3 voted features first
• Emailed voters when each shipped
• 30% converted to paid within a month

The public roadmap created trust. Users knew exactly what was coming and when. They stuck around because they had skin in the game.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

After watching hundreds of founders use Collectic, here are the traps to avoid:

Don't Build Everything

Users will request features that don't fit your vision. That's okay. Archive them or add a note explaining why not. Saying no is part of building in public.

Don't Over-Commit

Be conservative with what you mark as "Planned." Only commit when you're sure you'll build it soon. Breaking promises kills trust faster than anything.

Don't Ghost Your Board

If you create a public board, keep it updated. Move cards, ship features, respond to comments. A stale board with no activity makes users think you've abandoned the product.

The Compounding Effect

Building in public with user feedback creates a flywheel:

• Users submit ideas → you build them → users feel heard
• Happy users tell friends → more users → more good ideas
• Better product → more revenue → more time to build → better product

This compounds. The founders winning in 2025 aren't the ones building in secret. They're the ones co-creating with their users in public.

Start today. Create your feedback board. Share it. Build what users want. Watch what happens.