⚠️ Canny Ideas is currently in closed beta
To apply for access, please start a chat or email us at support@canny.io
Overview
Canny Ideas helps teams stay organized internally by structuring ideas using a clear hierarchy (parent-child relationships).
Benefits
More strategic roadmapping
Better organization and filtering
Prioritize better with context (e.g. by MRR impact)
Easier navigation for large product teams
Maintains simplicity for end-users
Fully integrated with your existing Canny portal
How it works
Canny’s new Ideas feature introduces three new concepts: Groups, Ideas, and Insights. These rely on nested relationships. This helps your team visualize and organize work more effectively.
📂 Groups: Broad categories (e.g. product areas)
Act like folders
Groups are used for broad categories like product areas, themes, or ongoing initiatives
Up to 3 levels of nesting
Sub-groups are optional nested breakdowns (e.g. initiatives)
💡 Ideas: Specific, actionable tasks or features
Work items or features with clear deliverables
Can also be nested up to 3 levels
Sub-ideas are smaller components of an idea
💬 Insights: User interest in an idea
Comments from users logged by Autopilot
Manual observations added by Canny admins
Compared with Agile framework:
Agile product development refers to methods that teams build products in short iteration cycles. Below are the new concepts in Canny and their equivalent Agile terms:
Canny | Agile Equivalent | Notes |
Group | Theme/Domain | Broad area of focus |
Sub-group | Initiative | High-level goal/objective |
Idea | Epic/Story | Action items that have deliverables |
Sub-idea | Story | A specific task that contributes to a bigger epic. Usually have individual owners and are tied to sprints. |
Examples of Hierarchies:
Group: Product Onboarding
Sub-group: Signup Flow
Idea: Streamline account creation
Sub-idea: Show progress bar
Sub-idea: Add more 3rd party options
Group: Design
Sub-group: UI/UX
Idea: Dark Mode
Sub-idea: Admin dashboard dark mode toggle
Sub-idea: Default to browser settings for end-user dashboard
Ideas vs Posts
A post is the external view of an idea. Posts are always connected to an idea. The post is the user-facing aspect, whereas the idea is meant for internal use by your team.
FAQ
Do I have to use the idea database to manage feedback?
No. This is an optional tool, but it is a core part of Canny’s offering. You can use Canny without using the idea database, however.
Can I still use the public portal?
Yes! Every post will map to an internal idea.
What’s the limit for nesting?
3 levels for both groups and ideas.
Things to note
If Canny Ideas is enabled, Autopilot will create ideas instead of posts based on client interactions. Autopilot will no longer create posts or take any actions visible to end-users.
No actions taken on the Ideas page in Canny will reflect in your Canny portal.
You cannot link multiple posts to the same idea. Posts and Ideas are 1-to-1. Make it a sub-idea vs linking multiple posts.
Creating a new post creates a new idea. The default state for these will be “needs triage”
“Boards” grouping is similar to “Groups” for ideas.
Ideas are strictly internal. They cannot be shared outside of the admin team.
Changing the status of an idea does not change the status of posts linked to that idea. Ideas are only internal.
Have feedback?
We'd love to hear from you, especially during the beta!