If you submitted a new feature request and it took months before you heard anything, that's very frustrating, there are reasons behind it. Especially you look at it and thinking that it is a very simple request!
Please keep in mind that a new feature request from idea to release has a lot of steps, to ensure the quality of the release, it might looks like a simple tasks, but each new feature needs to go through these steps:
Developing a new feature from idea to release involves several key stages, each requiring careful planning, execution, and evaluation. Here’s a streamlined overview that you might find aligns with MSPbots' ethos of efficiency and automation:
1. Idea Generation and Capture
Source: Ideas can come from anywhere—user feedback, competitive analysis, internal brainstorming, or market trends.
Capture: Use a platform to log and track these ideas, ensuring they're accessible and can be prioritized.
2. Evaluation and Prioritization
Feasibility Study: Assess technical feasibility, resource availability, and potential impact on the market and existing product ecosystem.
Prioritization: Utilize a framework (like RICE: Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) to prioritize features based on their potential value versus effort required.
3. Requirements Gathering
Define Scope: Clearly outline what the feature will and won’t do.
Stakeholder Input: Gather detailed requirements from stakeholders, including potential users and technical teams.
4. Design and Prototyping
UI/UX Design: Draft design prototypes, focusing on user experience and interface.
Feedback Loops: Conduct user testing with mock-ups to gather feedback and iterate on the design.
5. Development
Agile Methodology: Break the work into sprints, allowing for flexible adjustment as the feature is built.
Continuous Integration and Testing: Ensure code is tested and integrated regularly to catch and fix bugs early.
6. Quality Assurance
Automated and Manual Testing: Employ both automated tests for efficiency and manual testing for nuanced user experience issues.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Involve a beta group or end-users to validate the feature against real-world scenarios.
7. Documentation and Training
Documentation: Update product documentation and create user guides or release notes for the new feature.
Training: Provide training for internal teams, especially support and sales, to ensure they understand the feature’s benefits and functionalities.
8. Release
Soft Launch: Consider a phased or soft launch to a limited audience to gather initial feedback and make adjustments.
Monitoring and Support: Monitor the feature’s performance closely post-release and be ready to provide immediate support to address any issues.
9. Post-Release Evaluation
Gather Feedback: Collect and analyze user feedback to understand the feature's impact and any areas for improvement.
Performance Metrics: Review the feature’s performance against the initial goals and metrics set during the prioritization phase.
10. Iteration and Continuous Improvement
Iterate Based on Feedback: Plan for future iterations of the feature based on user feedback and performance analysis.
Continuous Learning: Document lessons learned and integrate these insights into future feature development processes.
This process is iterative and cyclical. After release, you'll often circle back to the beginning to refine existing features or develop new ones based on ongoing insights and feedback. Implementing automation and utilizing business intelligence can streamline many of these steps, particularly in areas like testing, feedback collection, and performance monitoring, ensuring that your team remains focused on high-value activities.
Look at the Microsoft Teams feedback channel, https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/0651d149-eb27-ed11-9db1-000d3a4d92e4, it has been more than a year, I want that feature badly, and I think that it should be simple, but yet, after almost 40K user voted for it, a year later, it is still not even in the development plan.
Depends on how complicated the feature is, that process could be a couple of weeks to a couple of months, plus we also have a huge backlog as most of the software company do, we will give you an ETA once we finish the step 3.
We are working on some kind of voting feature to help us prioritize the new feature request, based on how many people vote and how detailed design we can get, how much work that we need to put in.