# Theme Taxonomy Review: Clean Up Duplicate and Stale Themes Find duplicate, vague, oversized, and stale feedback themes in Deck, decide one fix for each from real counts and quotes, and apply only what you approve. - URL: https://getdeck.io/playbooks/taxonomy-review - Author: Matt Teixeira - Published: 2026-11-01 - Updated: 2026-11-01 - Stage: Taxonomy ## How Do You Clean Up Feedback Themes? Check every theme against four tests: duplicate, vague, oversized, and stale. Merge duplicates into the clearest theme, give vague themes a product-area name and description, split oversized themes along their subthemes, and keep or archive stale ones. Base each call on counts, dates, and real quotes, not on theme names alone. ## Why Theme Lists Drift Out of Shape Deck adds a theme whenever new feedback fits none of the old ones. After a big import or a few months of syncing, you have two themes for the same area, a “General” bucket nobody reads, one giant theme that covers half the product, and themes that went quiet last year. The counts stop meaning anything. ## How Deck Finds the Themes That Need Fixing Deck already holds the evidence for each decision: insight counts, the date of the latest insight, subthemes, and the quotes behind them. The review checks every theme against four tests and proposes one fix for each problem. Nothing changes until you approve it, and Deck archives themes instead of deleting them. Deck features used: - [Themes](https://getdeck.io/product/themes) - [MCP Server](https://getdeck.io/product/mcp-server) ## How to Review Your Theme Taxonomy in Deck ### 1. List Every Theme with Its Counts Open Visualize → Themes. Note each theme's insight count and whether it is growing or fading. Include the empty themes. ### 2. Find the Duplicates Look for themes with similar names that cover the same product area. Open both and compare the quotes in Theme Insights. If customers say the same thing in both, they are duplicates. ### 3. Flag Vague Themes A name like “General,” “Other,” “Issues,” or “UX” does not say a product area. Neither does a feeling or a solution. Flag each one for a new name and a description that says what belongs. ### 4. Check the Biggest Themes for Several Areas Open the largest themes and read the Subthemes card, on the Starter plan or higher. When the subthemes belong to different product areas, the theme is oversized and should be split. ### 5. Spot Stale Themes Find themes with no recent insights or none at all. Visualize → Subthemes sorted by Sudden Changes shows sharp drops. A quiet theme can still be valid, because a fixed problem also stops new feedback. ### 6. Apply the Fixes You Approve Rename themes from the title on each theme's Overview page, and merge duplicates in Visualize. Splits and archives run through Deck MCP. Never archive a theme that still has insights. Merge it into the theme that should hold them. ## Review Your Themes with Your AI Agent You need: - Deck MCP connected to your agent - Customer feedback already in Deck Your agent starts with the `explore_themes` tool. Paste this prompt into your agent: ```text Use Deck MCP. Fetch and follow https://docs.getdeck.io/docs/agents/workflows/taxonomy-review.md ``` Full agent workflow: https://docs.getdeck.io/docs/agents/workflows/taxonomy-review.md ## Theme Cleanup Checklist ### Theme Cleanup Checklist ```text ## Theme review | Theme | Problem | Deck evidence (count, latest insight) | Fix | |---|---|---|---| | [Theme name] | Duplicate / Vague / Oversized / Stale | [Deck count], [date] | [Merge into X / Rename / Split / Keep / Archive] | DUPLICATE [ ] Same product area, same quotes in both themes [ ] Merge into the clearest name, then fix its description VAGUE [ ] Name is a product area, not "General", "Other", a feeling, or a solution [ ] Description says what belongs and what does not OVERSIZED [ ] Subthemes span more than one product area [ ] Split one area into a new theme STALE [ ] No insights in the last 180 days, or 0 insights [ ] Has insights: keep, or merge into a broader theme [ ] 0 insights: keep, or archive BEFORE APPLYING [ ] Each merge and each archive approved one by one ``` ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How often should we review themes? After every large import, and from time to time as feedback arrives. Deck creates a new theme whenever feedback fits none of the current ones. ### Should we archive a stale theme? Only if it has no insights and no place in your taxonomy. A quiet theme can still be valid. If it still has insights, merge it into the theme that should hold them. ### Can a merge be undone? Not fully. A merge moves every insight to the target theme and archives the sources. Restoring a source theme brings it back empty. ### Does the review cost credits? No. The theme tools spend no credits. Subthemes, which help you decide where to split a theme, need the Starter plan or higher. ### When do subthemes update? Not right away. Deck rebuilds subthemes on the next weekly synthesis run, so the groups catch up after your changes. ### Can my AI agent run the review? Yes. With Deck MCP connected, paste the prompt on this page. The agent checks every theme against Deck's counts, dates, and quotes, shows you one table of fixes, and asks before it changes anything. It asks again for each merge and each archive. ## Related Playbooks - [Theme Taxonomy Design: Build Themes from Your Own Feedback](https://getdeck.io/playbooks/design-taxonomy.md): Design a theme taxonomy from your product areas and real customer quotes, then apply it in Deck with clear names and descriptions, by hand or with your agent. - [Sort Uncategorized Feedback into the Right Subthemes](https://getdeck.io/playbooks/sort-uncategorized-insights.md): Find the insights in each Deck theme that no subtheme holds yet, decide where each one belongs, and place them only after you approve the plan. - [Customer Feedback Audit: What Your Team Actually Knows](https://getdeck.io/playbooks/workspace-audit.md): Audit every feedback source, integration, and theme in Deck, find the gaps, and get one next step for each. Run it in the app or hand it to your AI agent.