Don’t leave ideation running in the background of the community, drive people to it during fixed time periods.
Many companies are disappointed by the quantity and quality of ideas they receive from members. This is because they launch an ideation tool and leave it running for any members to suggest any idea at any time.
Instead of getting a good set of ideas, they often get something which better resembles a list of complaints (isn’t every complaint also an idea of what to improve?).
A better approach is to run specific ideation campaigns for a short time period.
Take a specific feature every few months and give members only a week to suggest their best ideas. In week two let members vote on which ideas they like best. In week three you select the top 3 ideas for your panel of judges to determine the winner.
You will find you get a lot more ideas and a lot better ideas if you limit when members can suggest ideas and make it more of a competition.
Don’t just leave your ideation tools running in the background.
