{"id":255216,"date":"2025-12-15T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/?p=255216"},"modified":"2025-12-13T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T23:07:07","slug":"behind-the-scenes-of-the-visual-studio-feedback-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/behind-the-scenes-of-the-visual-studio-feedback-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the scenes of the Visual Studio feedback system"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here on the Visual Studio team, our top priority is making your coding experience smoother and more enjoyable. And that begins with truly listening to your feedback. We understand that sometimes sharing your thoughts can feel like tossing bug reports and suggestions into a black hole. It doesn\u2019t feel good, and we get it.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the good news: over the past year, we\u2019ve resolved more bugs reported by users and delivered more requested features than at any other time in Visual Studio\u2019s history. We believe in being open about what happens to your feedback, so in this post, we\u2019ll pull back the curtain and show you exactly how your input is processed and how it directly influences our work.<\/p>\n

So, grab your favorite warm drink, settle in, and join us for a behind-the-scenes look at how your feedback truly shapes the future of Visual Studio.<\/p>\n

Every bug report or feature request you submit on developercommunity.visualstudio.com<\/a> becomes a ticket in our system. We mirror that ticket in our internal Azure DevOps setup and assign it to the right team.<\/p>\n

\"Picture1<\/a>
Figure 1: The public ticket on Developer Community on the left, and the internal ticket in Azure DevOps on the right<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

We treat your feedback with the same priority as our internal tasks, triaging and prioritizing it to align with our goals and direction. In other words, who created the issue doesn\u2019t matter. If the issue is important and impactful, we consider it.<\/p>\n

\"Picture2<\/a>Figure 2: Internal and external tickets are triaged together in the same view in Azure DevOps<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, what makes a feedback ticket important and impactful? Your engagement on the Developer Community directly influences what we work on next. We assign an internal Score to every ticket based on community traction, impact, and severity. Each vote increases the ticket\u2019s Score and highlights issues or ideas the community cares about. It\u2019s important that you upvote existing tickets and add more context rather than submitting a new ticket for the same issue. Comments add context and boost the Score, helping us understand the issue or feature request\u2019s importance. Comment on existing tickets to add more context to the issue or feature request. It all helps.<\/p>\n

\"Picture3<\/a>
Figure 3: A bug ticket with votes and comments<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

As a ticket\u2019s Score<\/em> rises, it can automatically escalate in priority – low, medium, or high. Medium and high-priority bugs come with Service Level Agreements (SLAs). High-priority tickets are targeted for investigation within a week, while medium-priority tickets have a longer but defined timeline.<\/p>\n

Priority isn\u2019t just about votes and comments, though. Our teams weigh the Score against factors like technical complexity and alignment with goals, such as performance, reliability, and accessibility. A high Score doesn\u2019t guarantee top priority, but it\u2019s a major factor.<\/p>\n

This system ensures that feedback from our users shapes the IDE, and that we catch bugs as early as possible. Some bugs require immediate attention, especially regressions and issues affecting key tenets like performance or accessibility.<\/p>\n

\"Picture4<\/a>
Figure 4: The option to rollback to a previous version in the Installer<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Regressions – cases where something that used to work breaks – are typically high priority because they disrupt your workflow. If you ever need to rollback to a prior release due to a regression or critical issue, it\u2019s crucial to let us know. After you complete the rollback, Visual Studio asks you to submit feedback describing what led you to revert and the specific problem you encountered.<\/p>\n

Your input is invaluable for helping us identify, prioritize, and resolve regressions quickly so we can prevent similar disruptions in future updates. Bugs affecting core tenets like performance<\/strong> or accessibility<\/strong> also get quick attention. A slowdown in the IDE or an accessibility issue that limits usability? We prioritize those to keep Visual Studio smooth and inclusive.<\/p>\n

To help us address your feedback as quickly and effectively as possible, here are some tips for writing a ticket that stands out and speeds up resolution.<\/p>\n