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Mandatory feedback rules

Feedback is mandatory in two ways: the system writes it automatically when a decision lands, and admins must write it themselves when they override a decision. There is no path to a closed idea without feedback.

Auto-decisions always carry feedback

Section titled “Auto-decisions always carry feedback”

When the auto-decision rule fires, the system writes feedback as part of the same step that records the outcome. There's no second moment where a human might forget. The submitter sees the decision and the feedback at the same time.

Auto-feedback is built deterministically from data already on the idea. Its structure:

  • Outcome, Approved, Rejected, or Needs discussion.
  • Score line, the weighted score (e.g. 4.1).
  • Threshold line, the approve and reject thresholds in force when the decision fired.
  • Top criteria, the criteria where the idea scored highest, listed.
  • Lowest criteria, the criteria where the idea scored lowest, listed.
  • Reviewer attribution, who scored, in what role.
  • AI summary, the AI's two-to-three-sentence summary if the AI completed.

For anonymous submissions, feedback is still delivered to the submitter; their identity stays hidden from peers.

Admin overrides require feedback

Section titled “Admin overrides require feedback”

When an admin uses the override form, the feedback text area is required. Submitting with empty or whitespace-only text fails with a clear error and the override doesn't save.

This is the single hardest gate in the pipeline. It is not configurable. It applies to every override path:

  • Needs discussion → Approved or Rejected.
  • Approved → Rejected or In implementation.
  • Rejected → Approved.
  • In implementation → Implemented.

Revising feedback

Section titled “Revising feedback”

Once an admin records feedback, the wording is final. There is no edit button on the feedback row.

If you need to revise, run another override. Submit a new outcome (or the same outcome again, if the system permits) with new feedback text. The new override:

  • Appends a new entry to the idea's status timeline.
  • Overwrites the current feedback text on the idea with the new wording.

The previous feedback is preserved in the timeline so the audit trail stays intact.

Visibility for anonymous submissions

Section titled “Visibility for anonymous submissions”

The submitter of an anonymous idea sees their feedback exactly as a non-anonymous submitter would. The system delivers feedback to the submitter without revealing who they are to anyone else. Coordinators and admins write feedback without seeing the submitter's name.

What's next

Section titled “What's next”