Inbox

When people submit ideas, Next reads each one and groups submissions that describe the same thing into a cluster. The Inbox is the queue of those clusters. Instead of reading fifty separate requests for the same fix, you read one cluster, see how many people and departments asked for it, and decide what happens next.

Every cluster leaves the Inbox in one of three ways: it is parked for later, rejected with a reason, or promoted to the Portfolio, where planning begins.

Before you start

• To open the Inbox, select Planning → Inbox in the sidebar. The number beside it is how many clusters are waiting.
• You only see the Inbox if you triage ideas for at least one department. If you cannot see this page, your organisation may not use it, or your role may not include it. See Understanding roles.
• To park, reject, promote or set an impact type, your role must allow you to make changes in the Inbox. Without it, you can read clusters but not act on them.

Understanding the page

The page has two parts. On the left is the queue of clusters. On the right is the cluster you have selected. When the page opens, the first cluster in the queue is selected for you.

On a phone, the queue and the cluster are separate screens. Select a cluster to open it, and use Inbox at the top to go back.

The queue

Each row is one cluster. It shows:

When the queue is empty, it shows All caught up. When nothing is selected, the right-hand side shows how many ideas are waiting across how many clusters.

Sort and filter the queue

Two buttons at the top of the queue help you find what matters first.

Active sorts and filters appear as chips under the header. Remove a chip to undo it, or clear them all at once.

Read a cluster

Select a cluster in the queue to open it. Its name is at the top, with the triage buttons beside it. Below are three tabs.

Overview

The Overview tab holds the cluster’s details and Next’s analysis.

If the cluster looks like something already in the Portfolio, a Possible overlap callout names the existing item, its ID and how closely it matches. Check it before you promote, so you do not plan the same thing twice.

Under AI Analysis, Next summarises what people are asking for. Its recommendation is shown first, followed by the sections your organisation has chosen for cluster summaries.

Ideas

The Ideas tab lists every submission in the cluster, with the number of ideas shown on the tab. Each row shows the submitter, the idea’s title, its urgency, how well it fits the cluster (as a percentage) and when it was submitted.

Select an idea to read it in full. See Reviewing an idea.

To act on one idea without opening it, select the tag button at the end of its row:

• Park as its own cluster splits the idea out into a new cluster. This only appears when the cluster has more than one idea.
• Move to cluster… moves the idea to another cluster that you choose.
• Reject… rejects just this idea, with a reason.

Activity

The Activity tab is the cluster’s history, newest first. It includes each idea as it was submitted and every action taken on the cluster, such as the cluster being created by Next, ideas moving in or out, information requested from a submitter, parking, rejection and promotion.

Set the impact type

The impact type describes what kind of impact a cluster has. It shows as the coloured dot in the queue, and you can filter on it.

1. Open the cluster’s Overview tab.
2. Select the Impact Type field, or Set impact type if none is set.
3. Choose a value.

Your organisation’s impact types are set in Governance → Planning → Impact types. The defaults are Blocking, Friction and Enhancement.

Park a cluster

Parking sets a cluster aside without deleting it. Use it for ideas that are reasonable but not a priority now.

1. Open the cluster.
2. Select Mark as, then Park.

The cluster leaves the queue and a confirmation appears.

Reject a cluster

Rejecting closes a cluster. You always give a reason.

1. Open the cluster.
2. Select Mark as, then Reject….
3. Choose a reason: Out of scope, Duplicate, Not feasible or Insufficient detail.

The cluster leaves the queue, and the reason is recorded in its activity.

Park or reject several clusters at once

1. Tick the checkbox beside each cluster you want to act on. The header changes to show how many are selected.
2. Select Mark as.
3. Choose Park, or choose Reject… and then a reason.

To clear the selection, select the checkbox at the left of the header, or press Esc.

Promote a cluster to the portfolio

Promoting turns the cluster into a portfolio item, and planning begins.

1. Open the cluster.
2. Select Promote. The Promote to Portfolio dialog opens.
3. Check the Feature name. It starts as the cluster’s name; change it if you need to.
4. Under Owner, choose the person who will drive the item through planning. You are selected to start with.
5. Under Workflow, choose the planning workflow the item will follow. Each option shows its steps in order, and your organisation’s default is marked Tenant default.
6. Under Scored with, choose the scoring model, such as RICE or WSJF. Your organisation’s default is marked Org default.
7. Select Promote.

The cluster leaves the Inbox and a confirmation appears. The new item appears in the Portfolio, on the first step of its workflow.

What happens next

• Parked and rejected clusters leave the queue. Their history is kept.
• A promoted cluster becomes a portfolio item. Its submissions count as the item’s Demand in the Portfolio list, and Next uses them as evidence when it drafts the item’s documents.
• The owner can now start planning. See Portfolio item.

Good to know

• If you open a link to a cluster that has already been promoted or closed, the page says This item is no longer in the inbox. Select Back to inbox to return to the queue.
• A cluster that has already been triaged shows its status instead of the triage buttons.
• If the queue cannot load, select Try again.

Related pages

• Reviewing an idea
• Portfolio
• Submitting an idea
• Idea discussions
• Governance: Impact types
• Governance: Planning workflows
• Governance: Prioritisation