These allow users to access other areas of monday.com’s support materials for more in-depth information and further assistance, if needed. LaunchNotes is the easy way to securely connect various audience(s) with the product development lifecycle in a personalized and automated way. This may be just the version number or a specific name given to the update. Make it short and catchy and try to name it something that conveys what the update is about. Release notes also act as a direct line of communication with your power users and loyal customers.
- In this article, we’ll look at what release notes are, who should write them, and how you and your users benefit from good release notes.
- When you’re crafting your release notes, stick with simple, plain language and skip any heavy technical jargon.
- They can also encourage users to leave reviews and feedback and gather user feedback on new features before releasing them.
- They are your business’s opportunity to show users that you care and that consumers have the latest version of your product.
- It also helps them in avoiding customer complaints about bugs and errors.
Remember, you’re writing for humans, and tech-speak can get in the way of delivering your message. Connect with your customers on a deeper level by getting creative with your release notes — inserting a little personality can go a long way toward creating more faithful users. For many, release notes are extremely technical documents that are drawn up by developers for developers. However, if you take a user-centric approach to release notes, it provides an opportunity to drive awareness of new features and showcase the value of your product.
It’s easy to get very involved and start describing the whole history of your tool. It’s much more visual and concise than most other changelogs. PDF is a good option if you need to share your updates with external stakeholders or use them in official statements. The layout and formatting stay consistent, and it looks presentable. When you’re adding a major new feature, make sure to give this announcement the attention it deserves. Release notes are also an opportunity to link to additional help docs and remind users where they can find support resources.
They have to constantly track version changes that may have any other dependencies. Automated Release Notes (ARN) from Amoeboids can resolve this issue by helping them grasp these changes with the help of dedicated release pages and in-app widgets. This also facilitates the recording of customer feedback on release notes and helps organizations gauge their perception.
Tips for Creating Successful Release Notes
They rush to put something—anything—together to check the “release notes” box of that particular development cycle. Appcues can help manage the weary chore of writing release notes. Their in-app user engagement platform can help take the most technical task and simplify it for your teams while skipping the part where you barrage your IT department with requests. You can make your release notes very specific and relevant to your users this way. They are likely to react much more positively to your updates and new features with segmentation. The developer then links its website where it has a section on a support subdomain dedicated to all patch notes and updates.
The ease-of-use UiPath offers with its table of contents feature makes the navigation of the release notes even easier. If users have questions about past releases, they can easily access the release notes table of contents. Keeping these running lists shows customers that a product is in a constant state of improvement and that recent changes clearly build on older upgrades. It also tells customers that the company behind the product listens to its customer feedback and is dedicated to providing the best possible customer experience. By the time many SaaS product teams reach the end of a release cycle, they treat the release notes as an afterthought.
Release notes and changelog examples
In truth, however, release notes can play a vital role in the overall product experience because they provide a valuable opportunity to communicate with customers and your broader market. When done well, https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ they have the potential to nurture engagement and increase customer loyalty. This way, you can ensure you’re only sending notifications when it’s an update that is going to be relevant to users.
In-app widgets offered by tools like Rapidr can provide your users with a quick summary of the latest changes in your app without overwhelming them with information. They can also encourage users to leave reviews and feedback and gather user feedback on new features before releasing them. Beamer helps improve user engagement with an easy-to-use newsfeed and changelog.
Release notes, or changelogs, are crucial for the overall release process. Overview —The overview should discuss the product’s history and why changes are needed. Are you making changes because of product bugs or flaws or based on customer feedback? If your changes are based on customer feedback, make sure you mention the feedback or customer request. This helps send the message that you’re keeping customer suggestions in mind during your updates.
The format of your release notes should be a balance of meaningful content and a reflection of your brand’s voice. Below are five examples of great release notes and an explanation of how you can emulate them to make a bigger impact with your next update. Users will become numb when asked to read or scan a wall of text. Keep things organized and segmented by using subheads, drop-down menus, bullet points, and paragraph breaks.
Moreover, they’ll familiarize your users with the new features quicker. Next time they log in, they’ll remember the visual and know how to use the new feature. You can manually keep track of the changes you make to each version. You’d need to maintain a separate file where you add entries for each release, including the added features, changes, and bug fixes. Version control systems like Git allow you to generate release notes based on commit histories.
The final version that is released must be vetted and finalized by your product manager or technical team. The important task of writing release notes could be assigned to an individual or even a dedicated team, depending on the size of the organization. In smaller organizations, the product manager takes on this crucial task and must have a thorough understanding of technical issues and the skill to present them simply. Are users informed of a new feature (or features) & bug fixes? By the time most SaaS product teams are at the end of a release cycle, they treat the release notes as an afterthought.
Think about your audience when writing release notes and update messages. Do you average user really wants to know about the technical details or do they just want to know in plain language what’s new? Technical jargon should have a place but not where you generally present updates for all your users. When you’re crafting your release notes, stick with simple, plain language and skip any heavy technical jargon.
Every new release can change the way users engage with your service or platform, make sure that they know how to face those changes and entice them to see each launch as a great opportunity. The few companies out of the release notes the game, are getting behind. Each new change is listed separately, and once clicked on, more detailed information about that change appears in the same modal. Include visual aids such as videos, GIFs, and screenshots to add visual aspects to your release notes, allowing you to walk users through more complex information in an easier-to-understand way. Making release notes available inside your product using in-app messaging such as tooltips or pop-ups creates higher visibility, giving users a better chance of adopting them in a timely manner. The goal of release notes is to educate your users on product changes, so they should focus on the new advancements to your product.
We’ll cover different types of product release notes and changelogs, their importance, and best practices. We’ll also showcase some examples and templates, discuss changelog management tools, and help you get the most out of your feature announcements. Product updates, app updates, status updates, or new features come into play here as well. A business can’t implement a new feature or changes to a software product without informing the user of the changes they’ve made. Product release notes act as an user guide to inform users of everything that’s changing, why, and what new benefits this brings the consumer.