Test early v4.0.0 release notes with users - Githubissues

alphagov / govuk-frontend

GOV.UK Frontend contains the code you need to start building a user interface for government platforms and services.

https://frontend.design-system.service.gov.uk/

MIT License

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Test early v4.0.0 release notes with users #2351

Closed vanitabarrett closed 3 years ago

vanitabarrett commented 3 years ago

What

Test the first few entries in the v4.0.0 release notes to get feedback from users. We should aim to test a few different 'types' of changes, for example: removing a deprecated class; a bug fix which requires a user to make changes to their code or setup.

Why

We want to find out if users understand what changes they need to make from the release notes we've drafted for v4.0.0.

Who needs to know about this

Technical writer; user researcher; developers

Done when

[x] Drafted a few entries for the release notes which we can test with users
[x] Include find out about breaking changes https://github.com/alphagov/design-system-team-internal/issues/514
[x] We've tested the release notes with some users and gathered feedback
[x] Identified tweaks/changes we need to make following that feedback

kellylee-gds commented 3 years ago

Agreed there wasn't value in doing this as we think biggest challenge to users will be navigating the release notes which we will test as part of #2352

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

Reopening after discussion with @m-green, because:

there's inherent value in doing user research on release notes
we've no proof users have trouble navigating

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

Google Doc for the content of these 'test' release notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zXF8tRgbRJm8863-laNLB9ZcB4AbWdkNI-IGDtCth2U/edit#

Just the one fix in it so far (#1963.) Will add others over the next week.

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

@RosieClayton Our users normally read our release notes on GitHub. Does it make a difference that we'll be sharing Google Docs with them, i.e., is that a different experience compared with what they're usually used to?

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

@vanitabarrett Have updated draft doc with content about a non-breaking change. It's under 'Optional changes' at the end of the doc.

RosieClayton commented 3 years ago

@EoinShaughnessy I think having the release notes in a Google doc will be a good way to get feedback on the release notes directly. Is there an option to do a preview version of the release notes? I don't think it should make too much difference as we want feedback on the content more than anything. And we can ask any other questions too.

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

@RosieClayton Ah cool, yeah that's a good point about getting feedback on the content, etc. For a preview version, I was thinking maybe we could just share copies of this draft doc, once we've added all the content we need to, and it's been through the 2i review process.

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

I've shared a draft of release note content for the accordion changes with the team.

When I've actioned any feedback, I'll add the release note content into the draft release notes for testing with users.

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

Have moved this issue out of 'Blocked', as we've been adding content to the draft doc. It now has all 4 things we agreed to add, and might be near-ready to share with users once it's had a final review. See: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zXF8tRgbRJm8863-laNLB9ZcB4AbWdkNI-IGDtCth2U/edit#heading=h.icv1a7bx25ly

EoinShaughnessy commented 3 years ago

We've now gathered user feedback and identified these issues for addressing in the release notes:

give more detail about change involving $govuk-border-width-form-element-error variable
explain reason for optional change, to help devs who might be unfamiliar with coding for accessibility

I'll create a new issue to cover these updates.