Devlog #2: The Multi-Product Navigation Problem

Overview

Jetson is an autopilot for customer feedback that processes Help Scout inboxes, automatically categorizing conversations into bugs, feature requests, and documentation, then syncing with GitHub.

We built it to solve the challenge of managing support across multiple SaaS products.

This Week’s Focus

The development team concentrated on debating navigation architecture for users managing multiple products, addressing how to display both aggregate data and product-specific information without creating confusing interfaces.

The Core Problem

When users operate multiple SaaS products with separate Help Scout mailboxes, they need a “bird’s eye view of all bugs” alongside the ability to drill into specific product data.

A standard sidebar becomes unwieldy—six products generate 24+ menu items, creating significant UX friction.

Navigation Approaches Evaluated

Mailbox Switcher (Slack-style)

A dropdown for product selection offers cleanliness and focus but breaks mental models when viewing aggregate data.

Sidebar with All Mailboxes

Collapsible product parents with child items don’t scale well, causing cognitive overload from visual noise.

Top Navigation with Breadcrumbs

This approach sacrifices persistent navigation context and challenges mobile users accustomed to hamburger menus.

Implementation Strategy

We plan to test distinct navigation options featuring:

• Separate overview pages with aggregate metrics
• Product-specific dashboards
• Analysis of user preference for overview versus product-focused views

We’re using organizationId as the architectural anchor instead of individual user accounts.

Onboarding Innovation

The final onboarding step will analyze a recent conversation and display classification results, showing users “this bug report that came in yesterday” to create immediate perceived value.

Technical Decisions

Queue System Elimination

Originally planning Bull and Redis, we pivoted to Node.js worker threads on the same server instead, eliminating Redis complexity for the MVP phase while maintaining GRPC infrastructure readiness.

Not Building

• Help Scout documentation replacements
• Time-saved metrics
• Distributed architecture

Dogfooding Approach

We’re establishing our own Help Scout account and embedding feedback collection on jetson.help, enabling the team to test our own product before launch.

Business Considerations

Currently tracking expenses via Google Sheets and evaluating Sentry for session replay. Incorporation is pending until securing paying customers or pursuing grants.

Timeline & Next Steps

Beta testing targets September 1st with a user managing six Shopify apps. Key validation points include:

• Determining whether users prioritize overview or product-specific dashboards
• Testing onboarding effectiveness with real examples

We invite potential testers with multiple products and crowded Help Scout mailboxes to contact [email protected].