Notifications for Users regarding the frequent updates in Heidi
A
Amanda Brown
User wanted to be notified in advance about an upcoming update and what it includes.
Created by Daniel Medecielo
Heidi Team
Thanks for sharing this — totally get how frequent updates can be disruptive if they land unexpectedly.
We’ll pass the request along to the team. A couple quick questions to help us shape it:
1) How would you prefer to be notified (in-app banner, email, or both)?
2) How much notice is most helpful for you (e.g., 24 hours, a week)?
3) What info would you want included (what’s changing, any workflow impact, downtime, links to release notes)?
Also, are you thinking about notifications for major product changes only, or every update (including small fixes)?
A
Amanda Brown
Heidi Team
Please see below responses:
1) How would you prefer to be notified (in-app banner, email, or both)? Email notification.
2) How much notice is most helpful for you (e.g., 24 hours, a week)? Three items; A. Is there a fixed scheduled release cycle? To manage the application I would expect a regular release cycle, so that we can plan a recurrent schedule for the timing of deploying the updated version, B. If there are updates outside of the scheduled updates I would expect these are due to inadequate testing during Release Management – I accept however that issues cannot be completely avoided, but with appropriate testing during a scheduled internal release cycle they should be minimised. With this being said, we should be notified of any urgent updates affecting the security and stability of the application, and, C. Can Heidi set up the application to update itself automatically?
3) What info would you want included (what’s changing, any workflow impact, downtime, links to release notes)? All information you’ve mentioned; Changes to the interface, new functionality, what existing functionality could be impacted (you mention workflows, and we will also need information on any and all impacts), Downtime – if the application will be unavailable we must be notified well in advance, Release Notes are necessary for us to know what has changed, and the impact of any changes.
It would also be very helpful to publish a roadmap regarding expected changes in the pipeline.
This week we have seen a new version of the application almost every day.
Also, are you thinking about notifications for major product changes only, or every update (including small fixes)? Both, as we need to know what changes are being deployed – for our staff to be aware of any changes in interface, functionality, etc… and we need to determine the value of spending time to deploy small fixes which may only be related to functionality, and not critical as not impacting security or stability.