Bulk create ideas

Users could only create ideas one at a time. There was a platform level CSV importer built that Jira that didn't work well for JPD. It wasn't going to get investment that quarter. The pressure was to ship something on import, and do it fast.

The stated problem was: how to enable users to import ideas from third-party tools? The real problem was: how do new users get started quickly on their own ideas? Those are different questions.

Mapping fields from a CSV is technically complex and adds friction at the exact moment users need to feel momentum. The data didn't justify investment in solving this complexity. The reframe changed the scope.

Instead of building an importer, we shipped a 'bulk create' that let you copy-and-paste multiple lines of text directly into the view. Each line becomes an idea.

That also changed the conversation with PM, engineering and leadership. Instead of shipping a drastically scoped down CSV importer that would disappoint users, we landed a solution that users could use to get started quickly.

The feature shipped within the quarter. In the first six weeks, 1,640 bulk-create events across 500 users. Usage spiked at the 50-idea limit. You can read that as a signal that demand exceeded the cap.

A year later, engineering and PM were still scoping the CSV importer. Proving the bulk-create path was the faster route, that at the very least, unblocked getting started for some new users.

Sometimes, simple is best. Scoping out a complex solution under time pressure would have cost users the simple utility to bulk-create ideas. The evidence that this was the right call is the alternative was still being scoped after a year.

Design and prototypes shape the crucial conversations. An importer is abstract, until you can get a feel for it, along with the decisions (and trade-offs) that need to be made.