28 Nov Release Notes Automation
Release Notes Automation—A Strategic Investment
— Anurag Srivastava
Whether developing a software or updating it, the need for seamless and efficient processes has never been more critical. One area that often demands a significant amount of time and resources is the creation of Release Notes.
A Release Note is a technical documentation created and published with the launch of a new product or an updated version of an existing product.
As software evolves through various iterations and updates. Keeping stakeholders informed about the changes becomes a crucial aspect of project management. This is where Release Notes automation emerges as a game-changer, offering a plethora of benefits that extend beyond mere time savings.
Release Notes Dilemma
In the ever-changing environment of software development, companies are racing to deliver products to customers at unprecedented speeds. As software development teams increasingly adopt Agile methodologies and embrace continuous delivery, the demand for swift and responsive documentation has become paramount. However, this paradigm shift brings with it a significant challenge: the decreasing time available for the meticulous preparation of documentation, including crucial components like Release Notes.
The Release Notes dilemma is an intricate challenge faced by software development teams, where the demand for a comprehensive and accurate documentation collides with the need for rapid and dynamic updates.
Problem
Failing to update the product documentation according to the release can lead to confusion and an increase in support calls. The following figure demonstrates a typical workflow in the case of missing information.
Content from various sources
As the release day approaches, changes are made until the last minute, stemming from diverse sources within the development pipeline. The Product Manager contributes new feature descriptions, the Developer implements feature enhancements and fixes defects, and the QA Engineer ensures the validation of both features and fixes. To add a layer of finesse, a Technical Writer steps in to provide an end-user perspective and craft the content in a professional language.
Factors behind the problem
The challenges associated with creating comprehensive and timely Release Notes stem from a variety of factors within the software development ecosystem.
For example,
- 11th hour hand-over to the documentation team — not enough time for documentation before the release
- Last minute changes expected by the documentation team
- Documentation writers’ involvement in tracking solution changes — practical problems
- No benchmark on how much detail is detailed enough
- Collaboration across cross-functional teams
Possible Solution
Addressing these factors requires a strategic approach that may involve the adoption of automation tools recognizing the importance of comprehensive and timely Release Notes in the overall software development lifecycle.
Automated production of Release Notes
In response to this challenge, documentation teams are recognizing the imperative to automate the documentation production process. This transformative approach allows the documentation team to efficiently compile, organize, and refine content from various sources. The result is a quick, efficient, and stress-free preparation process.
By automating the production of Release Notes, the documentation team can ensure that product users have timely access to complete, high-quality content. This not only addresses the challenge of last-minute changes but also enhances the overall user experience by providing clear and up-to-date information on the latest software updates
More time to documentation writers means…
- Better quality documentation
- Easy reference for customers when needed – lesser number of incidences customer asking for help
- Lesser number of personnel involved to train the customers ‘once again’.
- Time saved for customers as well as support teams
- Improved Customer Satisfaction!
Embracing Release Notes Automation (RNA) offers a transformative solution to the persistent problems arising from Agile methodologies, continuous delivery demands, last-minute changes, cross-team collaboration, diverse information sources, resource constraints, and the limitations of manual processes.
Highlights
- Automates export of Release Notes content from JIRA to the Documentation platform.
- Multiple hotfixes (HFs) released every month.
- 20-30% of the documentation writers’ time goes into mechanical copy-paste and formatting. RNA saves this time!
- Release Notes JIRA Plugin
Current Scope
- Current solution addresses Release Notes documentation during HFs as well as General Availability (GA).
- Needs JIRA query for those issues for which the Release Notes is required as well as the authentication for both JIRA and Documentation platforms.
- All the export is done by RNA.
- Identify and add sections to the content automatically
- Intelligently adjust the formatting and styles depending on the kind of content.
Benefits and Business Value
- Saves time for documentation writers, hence, more time for the writers to create quality content. Let’s have a look at the hours utilized by a tech writer without RNA in place.
- This means that half a resource (at the least) is being utilized in these mechanical activities, which can be now saved by using RNA.
- Quality documentation has a direct correlation with Customer Satisfaction.
- Saves time for Support teams, Developers, QA engineers, and Product Managers.
JIRA RN Plugin
- Sorts the issues from a filtered JIRA view. Summary of the issue types that the RN plugin takes from the filtered JIRA view and sorting, depending on the issue status:
- Creates an HTML view of the RN entry for visual verification.
- Sends the information to the Documentation platform.
Conclusion
The benefits of automation extend beyond mere efficiency gains; it ensures accuracy, consistency, and timely delivery of comprehensive documentation. By automating the production of Release Notes, organizations empower their documentation teams to focus on value-added content, enhance collaboration among development stakeholders, and adapt seamlessly to the dynamic nature of software releases.
Ultimately, the shift towards automation is not just a response to the challenges at hand but a strategic investment in optimizing workflows, improving user experiences, and staying competitive in the ever-evolving landscape of software development.
About the Contributor
Automation enthusiast, technology documentation writer, and build and deployment expert who embraces opportunities to build, grow, and improve the documentation and related strategies with fair reasons and available tools.
He has worked with documentation, build, and deployment teams in his career at industry-leading organizations. His innovative strategies and execution of product documentation and document build systems have had a far-reaching impact on enterprise documentation delivery in general. He is capable to bring a unique balance of product and technical understanding to the documentation team.
Current Role: Manager, Technical Documentation
Company: Model N
City: Hyderabad, India
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