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Use your roadmap as a changelog

Show customers what you've shipped with a public roadmap view, and let the people who asked know automatically.

Written by Marina Salmon

Your roadmap already knows what you've shipped. With a dedicated view, it can double as a changelog your customers can browse, and the people who asked for each improvement can hear about it the day it ships.

1. Mark what's released

Roadmap projects carry a status field you define yourself. Make sure it has a value for shipped work, such as Released:

  1. In the roadmap, click Manage fields.

  2. Open your status field (or create a single select field, for example State) and add a Released option.

  3. Set it on projects as they ship.

A Quarter or Release single select field is a nice addition, so you can group what shipped by period.

2. Create a changelog view

  1. Create a new roadmap view, for example Changelog.

  2. Filter it on your Released value.

  3. Group projects by period or by product area, whichever reads best for your customers.

  4. In the card options, show the caption and the public description: that's the text your customers will read, so write it for them, not for your team.

See Build your product roadmap for views, fields and card options.

3. Publish it

Click Share on the view and set Share to the web to Yes. Apply a theme so it looks like your product, then link it from your app, your help center or your newsletter, or embed it on your website. See Share a public roadmap with customers.

You can keep your forward-looking roadmap and your changelog as two separate views: one for what's coming, one for what's shipped.

4. Tell the people who asked

A changelog is great for everyone; a personal heads-up is better for the people who asked. When the discoveries behind a project move to a shipped state, Harvestr can notify the teammates who submitted the feedback, so your Sales and Support teams can go back to their customers.

Turn on the The linked discovery changes status event in Settings > Notifications, and pick your shipped state, or Any Completed state. See Close the loop with feedback loop notifications.

Tips

  • Write the public description from the customer's point of view: the problem you solved, not the tickets you closed.

  • Add a thumbnail to the projects worth celebrating.

  • Keep internal notes in the private description: it never shows on the public view.

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