I have a link to the Discord server on the web page and I always have that open. Once every week or two someone will ask me something, usually really basic, about how to use the system. Mostly it seems like they want to make sure there is support for the product. So the questions are usually easy to answer.
People do also occasionally message me with feature requests or put them in the public room.
I will say though that the times I have directly asked groups of users what product or feature to build, I have mostly received crickets. Before I built the main product I practically begged a couple of Discord communities to tell me what they needed/wanted. It took awhile and I got a single response. I built that and then had everyone else in the community tell me how badly they had needed it.
I don't know what it is really but it can be like extracting teeth. But the sort of leaders may eventually give feedback.
People can be very relucatant to share feedback in groups for fear of their ideas being shot down publicly.
I don’t understand the appeal of Discord for feedback. As a user I have to sign up, figure out your channel structure and rules and then publicly post with no context on whether what I am asking has been asked before (and there is no way I’ll spend time searching endless posts to see if it has).
It’s possibly the worst experience for a user that just wants to share some feedback and engage with the product creators in a somewhat private setting.
There is a search field, and you can pin posts. Also about half the time people just click on my name and message me directly.
I'm on there because all of the different communities from developers to creators in this ecosystem are on there.
You are kind of implying that something like a forum or FAQ would be better. A forum would be nice but the search feature would end up making it about the same as searching a forum. But the thing is, 90% of the questions they ask are self-evident from the UI or explained in the Help section that is right on the form.
I think a lot of the people that message directly or in the chat are looking to interact with a live person as much as they are interested in the answers. They want to make sure there is someone available to help in case they run into a problem. And/or they feel like asking questions is going to be easier than having to search or read instructions that are in the web app already.
People do also occasionally message me with feature requests or put them in the public room.
I will say though that the times I have directly asked groups of users what product or feature to build, I have mostly received crickets. Before I built the main product I practically begged a couple of Discord communities to tell me what they needed/wanted. It took awhile and I got a single response. I built that and then had everyone else in the community tell me how badly they had needed it.
I don't know what it is really but it can be like extracting teeth. But the sort of leaders may eventually give feedback.