Release Notes Are Essential for Product Adoption
It’s only natural for businesses to broadcast their excitement to the world whenever they release a new product or update an existing one. Months of hard work and tons of espresso can go into new construction, and in that time, the team hopes to see an increase in the number of users, the level of participation, and the number of milestones reached.
So, how do you let people know about these new features? Tumbleweeds after a blog post, unread alerts, and emails. You wait for the effect, only to be let down if the expected surge in use never materializes. Conventional methods of announcing new features are ineffective, but they don’t have to be.
In this article, we’ll show you Why Are Release Notes a Key Feature for Product Adoption that encourages consumers to embrace new features and generates buzz.
So, What Exactly are Release Notes?
In general terms, release notes are a description of everything that has happened across your product since its release, and they serve as a reminder to the client of what’s new inside your products.
Additionally, release notes can serve as a way to communicate with your customers. These are especially crucial to include when emphasizing a change that would actually affect a consumer’s experiences with your product.
The release notes for your business serve as a reference for your customer to what’s new and noteworthy in the business, whether it’s a major update, a patch to a feature that was recently broken, or a modification to how it appears.
Why Are Release Notes Important in Product Management?
Many businesses see release notes as a tedious afterthought when introducing a new version of an existing product. Release notes have mostly replaced disclaimers and other legalese in the context of software updates.
We’ve all learned to disregard them because of how badly they’re written and how little thought was put into how they’d be received by the real human who has to read them.
In reality, though, release notes can serve as an integral part of the product experience by giving you a chance to interact with consumers and the general market. There is potential for them to boost engagement and strengthen relationships with customers if done well.
Include These Aspects in Your Release Notes
Although release notes don’t have a universal structure, they should be formatted consistently with how your firm does things.
Newer product releases can have more detailed release notes than those for patches and updates. Similar to any other product-related paperwork, uniformity is crucial.
They often include some form of the following:
- Header
- Overview
- Purpose
- Issue Summary
- Steps to Reproduce
- Resolution
- End-User
Impact - Support Impacts
- Notes
- Disclaimers
- Contact
Want to get started with them now? Read the Best Release Note Examples!
Release Notes Are Super Important – Why? Here are 7 Reasons to Clear the Air!
Within the context of the release schedule, release notes are not a step that can be skipped. They are a critical need because they allow you to demonstrate to potential consumers and existing users that your staff is always working to improve the product, actively listening to feedback and using it.
There are several advantages to producing release notes for each release:
-
Reason 1: Release Notes Set Adequate Customer Expectations
Unexpected product changes that disrupt users’ established routines are one of the primary causes of consumer dissatisfaction.
When it comes to utilizing your product, the last thing you want is for a client to find themselves in a task related without understanding what has altered or how to traverse the new scheme.
You can play defense versus user indignation by providing comprehensive information to users and educating them on why this adjustment is beneficial for them.
This might reduce the number of support tickets in situations of lesser severity. In more severe circumstances, this can assist in averting the loss of customers.
-
Reason 2: Customers Feel Valued/Heard
The quickest and simplest method to cause a customer to cease utilizing your service is to give them the impression that their feedback is being ignored and that they are yelling into a space.
A release note or product release can serve as an individualized memo to customers to let each other know that your squad is listening to their worries, is working diligently to incorporate their comments, and is vigorously attempting to correct any troubles that they can be experiencing to improve the product greatly.
This can reassure users that your team is actively attempting to create high-quality protein for them. In the product announcement, you should express gratitude to your customers for their input as you continue to develop and improve your product. You can read about the Airtable release notes to learn what we’re talking about.
-
Reason 3: Release Notes Provide Education to the Users
Increasing the likelihood of a user’s satisfaction with your business can be accomplished by keeping them apprised of product upgrades and recommending best practices.
You need your consumers to get the most value possible out of your business, and the release notes can be an excellent platform for teaching them how to make the most of any new improvements that have been made.
Provide your users with supplementary guides and resources so that they can learn more about the newly released product, how it integrates into previously established processes, and new ways that they can use the product.
-
Reason 4: Release Notes Create Excitement
One of the essential things you can do is to find ways to maintain your clients’ interest in and enthusiasm for your product. If users no longer see value in your offering, they would quickly move on to the next greatest idea.
Users can respond to these announcements, allowing you to gather real-time input. You now have a crystal clear grasp of the things that consumers truly care about and find important as a result of this. This data can also aid with prioritizing features that will be added in the future.
Release notes are a fantastic tool for re-engaging people periodically and displaying what’s fresh new in your product. This can be accomplished by informing them of the changes that have been made.
-
Reason 5: Convert New Customers
When prospective new consumers look at your product, they like seeing it always being enhanced and updated. They want to utilize something forward-thinking that will survive for a long time and won’t force them to move their data to another solution in the long term.
Because of this, you can demonstrate to potential customers that your development staff can be relied upon by consistently releasing release notes in a location that is accessible to the public.
-
Reason 6: Release Notes Show Progress
Release notes are a dynamic document demonstrating the daily effort put into your products by you and the group by keeping a record of all the fascinating facts you and your staff have altered and revised.
This isn’t only helpful for re-engaging dormant accounts; it demonstrates to all users that your staff is committed to enhancing the service they’re paying for.
One advantage here is commonly disregarded: When it’s evident that the team is always trying to enhance the product, users are more likely to be patient and understanding when they run into problems.
Customers will have faith in your ability to deliver on their requests if you regularly keep them informed about product developments. Because consumers will immediately see the enhancements you’ve made, customer happiness will rise as a direct result of your work.
-
Reason 7: Release Notes Improve Product Utilization
When consumers know what new features have been introduced, they are better prepared to seek and experiment with them. This encourages customers to sign into your app, experiment with other features, and eventually use the product more often. You can also read about the Shopify API Release here to get an idea.
Here are Your Long-Awaited Tips to Help You Write Release Notes
-
Tip 1: Show Honesty! Readers Value That
It’s wonderful to see progress, no doubt. The question is, “What are they?” Rather than just stating, “we corrected an issue.”
You can elaborate by adding something like, “we solved a bug slowing down X feature whenever Y occurred.” Those having problems with it will be relieved to hear that you’ve resolved the issue.
-
Tip 2: Don’t Miss What It’s About (Some of us Have Done that in the Past!)
Here we have Tumblr in 2015 as an example. They have updated their version 4.3.1 information. It was humorous, and word spread like wildfire on Reddit.
Still lacking, however. Explaining what changed in version 4.3.1 would be a nightmare.
-
Tip 3: Don’t Forget to Engage Your Customers…
Not every new feature warrants a release note’s attention; some of them can be rather dull. How then can you get others to notice them?
Keep the voice of your brand consistent. If your writing style tends to be lighthearted, that’s great; keep it up. Similar to how you shouldn’t use humor in the release notes if the overall tone is serious.
The Bottom Line: Don’t Be Too Afraid to Showcase What Your Product is About!
Users and communities can get to know your organization and its culture via release notes. Use humor, strike a conversational tone, and reward those who study the fine print with Easter eggs.
Customers will become more devoted, and your company will stand out from the crowd if you use release notes to demonstrate your company’s unique character. In a nutshell, release notes explain what a new version of a product can accomplish or what was changed in a previous version.
