User Feedback

Analytics tell you what users do; feedback tells you why. Kit gives you one capture loop out of the box and the primitives to build more.

What Ships: The Waitlist

The marketing page collects emails before you have a product (apps/web/src/app/(marketing)/_components/waitlist-form.tsx → waitlist.join). It's also your first feedback channel: everyone on it opted in to hear from you - and to be asked questions.

# Who's waiting? (local)
psql $POSTGRES_URL -c 'select email, source from waitlist;'

Build: An In-App Feedback Box

A feedback feature is a CRUD feature with three twists. The schema:

// packages/db/src/drizzle-schema.ts
export const feedback = pgTable("feedback", (t) => ({
  id: t.uuid().notNull().primaryKey().defaultRandom(),
  userId: t.text().references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "set null" }),
  organizationId: t.text().references(() => organization.id, { onDelete: "set null" }),
  message: t.text().notNull(),
  path: t.text(), // Which page they were on
  createdAt: t.timestamp({ withTimezone: true }).notNull().defaultNow(),
})).enableRLS();

The twists versus the todo template:

1. set null, not cascade - feedback should outlive the account that filed it
2. Capture context automatically - path from usePathname(), user and org from the session; don't make users describe where they were
3. Create-only - users submit; you read. One protectedProcedure mutation, no public list

Then follow the CRUD guide: Zod schema → router → mount in root-router.ts → a dialog in the dashboard layout so it's reachable from every page.

Or: Don't Build It

Legitimate lighter options:

• GitHub Issues - if your users are developers, a "Report an issue" link to github.com/you/repo/issues/new beats a form
• A shared inbox - mailto: link with a prefilled subject; fine below ~100 users
• Intercom/Plain/Crisp - chat widgets, when support volume justifies a tool

Close the Loop

Collection is the easy half:

• Review on a schedule - a pile of unread feedback is worse than none
• Reply when you ship something a user asked for; it's the cheapest retention you'll ever buy
• Cross-reference with analytics: feedback tells you what to fix, usage data tells you for how many people

Next Steps

1. Build the feature - CRUD walkthrough
2. Growth - Turning retention into acquisition