In Accept Mission, a funnel represents the process of managing ideas or projects from the moment they are submitted until they are either implemented or archived. Funnels are the backbone of structured innovation. They allow you to visualize the journey of ideas and projects in stages, assign responsibility, capture important data, and make evidence-based decisions.

You can access the Idea Funnel in multiple ways, depending on your role and access rights:

Once inside a funnel, admins can access the edit mode:

Idea funnels help your organization collect, evaluate, and follow up on ideas in a consistent way. They:

When well-configured, funnels speed up decision-making and ensure no valuable ideas are lost in the shuffle.

There are several types of funnels you can set up, depending on your innovation process:

Each funnel type offers a unique view of progress and prioritization. You can tailor your funnel layout to match your organization's rhythm and governance needs.

In InnovationLand, a fictional theme park, a funnel called "New Attractions Funnel" has been set up to collect ideas for future park experiences. Employees submit ideas like new rollercoasters, interactive shows, or themed restaurants. Each idea is enriched with descriptions, images, target age groups, and estimated budgets. Then, the ideas are scored by the innovation board using a custom scorecard. Finally, top-scoring ideas are reviewed and the best ones are selected to move forward into a project funnel for implementation. This structured funnel helps InnovationLand make smart, data-driven decisions about which ideas will have the biggest impact on visitor experience and park revenue.

When you edit a funnel, you’ll find several tabs—each with its own purpose and set of configuration options. Here's a quick summary of each tab and its main function:

Define the core identity of your funnel: name, owner, department, dashboard visibility, and notification settings. This tab is all about ownership, alignment, and visibility in reporting.

Design the stages (or steps) that ideas move through. Lanes help visualize the workflow and allow you to assign responsibilities at each step.

Set up the scoring system used to evaluate ideas. Define scoring categories, criteria, and how different users contribute to evaluation.

Choose which scoring items populate the X and Y axes in the graph view. This helps plot ideas based on value vs. effort for prioritisation.

Add your own data fields to capture specific information like business unit, theme, or readiness level. These fields can be used for filtering and analysis.

Control who can submit, view, edit, or score ideas in this funnel. Define security and permissions for internal and external contributors.

In the following chapters, we’ll explain each tab in detail—what it does, how to configure it, and how InnovationLand (our example theme park) uses it to manage innovation effectively.

Define the core identity of your funnel: name, owner, department, dashboard visibility, and notification settings. This tab is all about ownership, alignment, and visibility in reporting.

The settings in this tab are foundational. They define the funnel’s visibility across your organization, ensure accountability by assigning ownership, and determine how results are reflected in dashboards and analytics. Configuring these elements correctly helps align the funnel with the right department and make sure it supports your reporting goals and follow-up process.

Each setting influences how your funnel is used and how stakeholders interact with it. Linking to a project funnel automates handovers. Department assignment ensures ideas are correctly attributed, and dashboards give leadership the right insights at a glance.

InnovationLand’s innovation team created a funnel titled “New Attractions Funnel.” The funnel owner is the innovation manager, and the funnel is linked to the “R&D” department so they can track department-specific activity. They enabled dashboard visibility so management can see funnel performance in KPI reports. When an idea reaches the “Approved” lane, it automatically moves to the “Project Execution Funnel,” streamlining the transition from idea to implementation. They also enabled notifications so the idea submitters are kept in the loop as their ideas progress.

The Lanes tab allows you to define the stages that ideas pass through in your funnel. These stages (or columns in the Kanban view) represent the different phases of your innovation workflow—such as intake, review, selection, approval, or rejection. The lanes determine the visual structure of your funnel and create a shared language for how ideas progress.

Using lanes provides clarity and transparency. It helps teams know what to do next, who is responsible, and where an idea stands. Lanes also power reporting and ensure that ideas move through a consistent process.

Each lane can be configured using six tabs. Each tab contains specific elements that define the behavior and experience of that lane. Here's an overview of each configuration tab and its components:

In this tab, you define the core settings of a lane:

This tab is used to provide additional guidance and internal context:

This tab allows you to pre-define certain idea values when an idea enters the lane:

This tab allows you to define tasks that should be created when an idea enters this lane:

This tab controls notifications related to this lane:

This tab allows you to celebrate successes:

In InnovationLand’s "New Attractions Funnel," the lanes are configured as follows:

This setup ensures every idea is handled consistently with automated follow-up, clear expectations, and the right feedback at every step.

The Scorecard tab allows you to define how ideas will be evaluated within the funnel. It ensures a structured and consistent approach to scoring and comparison, helping decision-makers prioritize the most promising ideas. The scores also influence how ideas are displayed in the graph view (bubble chart), helping identify high-impact, low-investment opportunities.

A well-defined scorecard is essential for generating useful insights in dashboards and making decisions based on clear criteria.

When editing a funnel, go to the Scorecard tab to manage the scoring setup.

Each funnel uses the company-wide score configuration. From this tab, you can control:

Only parent scores can be turned on or off per funnel. Child score items are defined at the company level and automatically follow the selected parent structure. The scoring system is therefore consistent across all funnels, while still allowing funnel-specific customization of which parents are used.

In the "New Attractions Funnel" in InnovationLand, the following parent scores are activated:

These three parent scores are shown in the funnel, and their position in the scorecard reflects the order set by the admin. All three are used in the graph view to compare ideas on value vs. investment, helping InnovationLand make well-informed decisions about which ideas to move forward with.

The Graph Settings tab determines how ideas are visualized in the graph and bubble chart view. This view is a powerful decision-making tool that helps teams prioritize ideas based on their relative value and required investment.

By mapping scores to a 2D plane (and optionally a third dimension for bubble size), the graph enables quick identification of high-potential, low-effort ideas—or the reverse.

In this tab, you define which parent score items are used in the graph view:

Only parent score items can be selected for the graph axes. These parent scores must be enabled in the Scorecard tab to appear as an option here.

This setup ensures that visual prioritization is consistent with your scoring method.

In InnovationLand’s "New Attractions Funnel," the graph settings are configured as follows:

This view allows the InnovationLand team to visually identify the most exciting ideas that require the least investment. It supports better and faster decision-making by showing which ideas have the best return on effort.

The Custom Fields tab allows you to add additional structured information to ideas. These fields help capture important context that is not covered by standard fields. This data can be used for filtering, sorting, and reporting.

Custom fields make it easier to tailor the funnel to your organization’s strategy, goals, and terminology.

In this tab, you can:

Custom fields are created and managed in the global company settings. In the funnel, you decide which of those fields are relevant and visible for this specific process.

These fields can include:

In the "New Attractions Funnel," InnovationLand has activated the following custom fields:

These fields are used in reporting and help teams filter and group ideas by relevant strategy or theme. The order was arranged to guide users from general to specific when they open or edit an idea.

The Access tab allows you to control who can access the funnel and interact with its content. This includes defining the visibility and permissions for both admins and users. By configuring access correctly, you ensure that sensitive innovation processes are properly secured, and the right users have access to the right funnels.

This is especially important when working with department-specific funnels or when involving different user groups with varying roles in the idea process.

The Access tab is divided into two main sections:

When either Admin or User Access is set to Private, you can define specific permissions below:

This structure allows you to keep company-wide funnels open to all while limiting sensitive or department-specific funnels to a closed audience.

In the "New Attractions Funnel" of InnovationLand:

This ensures that only those involved in attraction development can submit, review, and manage ideas—keeping the process focused and secure.

The Notifications tab allows you to configure which email messages are triggered when an idea enters a specific lane. These notifications help keep relevant users informed at key moments in the funnel. This setup improves follow-up and engagement by ensuring the right people are notified without manual messaging.

The communication is managed through Accept Mission’s Dynamic Mail Templates feature. These templates allow personalized, lane-specific emails to be sent to specific target groups based on predefined rules.

For each lane in the funnel, you can configure one or more notification triggers:

Target groups can include:

Only one mail template can be selected per lane entry trigger, but each message can be configured to include dynamic fields (e.g., idea title, link, status).

In InnovationLand’s "New Attractions Funnel":

This setup helps InnovationLand automate communication throughout the funnel and keeps contributors informed and motivated.

The Celebration tab allows you to configure a visual celebration that is triggered when an idea enters a specific lane. It is designed to create motivation and recognition for contributors by celebrating progress within the funnel. This feature helps maintain momentum and reinforces engagement throughout the idea journey.

By setting up celebrations in key lanes—such as selection, approval, or implementation—you acknowledge participants and show appreciation for their contributions.

For each lane, you can enable a celebration animation:

There are no custom messages linked to this feature. The celebration is shown directly in the user interface and is visible to the idea owner when they access their idea.

In InnovationLand’s "New Attractions Funnel":

These visual celebrations help InnovationLand encourage creative participation and reward users for contributing valuable ideas.