New Product Features are Driven by User Needs
JMP users have diverse needs and we actively listen to them to find out to see what features they want to see in upcoming releases of our products. Historically the channels through which we receive these feature requests are also diverse, including:
- Formal feedback sessions with users
- Sales engagements with users
- 1:1 Direct conversations with users
- Technical Support
- JMP User Community discussions
- JMP User Community wish lists
The variety and volume of feature requests we received provide with a rich pool of ideas we can pursue to improve and delight our customers and to allow us to maintain and grow our customer base.
But with that volume of feature requests comes the matter of how do we handle all of the incoming information and then use that information to evaluate, prioritize, and plan for upcoming release what new features and solutions we will provide in our products?
Wish Lists are the Way to Request New Features
User Community wish lists are our preferred way to intake and organize the flow of new feature requests. We currently have several wish lists on the Community:
- Public Wishlist: open to any external Community member, but not for internal JMP personnel
- Internal Wishlist: for JMP employees
- Private Wishlists in specific Community spaces for strategic customers
Improving How We Manage and Use the Wish Lists
In Q2 of this year, we evaluated how well we are using these wish lists. We discovered several issues:
- Wishlist requests had often gone unaddressed. Because of this, users may feel like they are unheard or ignored.
- Wishlist items often did not have enough information to allow us to evaluate the request
- We did not have well-defined process for tracking and evaluating these feature requests
To address these issues we have implemented a new approach to managing the Wish Lists and feature requests. These include:
- Updated Status Categories for Wish List posts that more closely match the process we intend to use for tracking these requests.
- Regular review and assessment of Wish List posts: Product Management is using an update process where every new wish list item is acknowledged, and, when appropriate, a Jira issue for the wish list request is created.
- Product Management is reviewing new and outstanding Wish List items on a regular basis. This review includes getting clarification and more details from the person who posted the wish, examining current JMP capabilities to determine if the request can be currently met, doing competitive product research, working with development to research and evaluate the value and complexity of the new feature, and deciding along with our development team if this new feature should be included in our future product roadmap.
You can read more about this new process on this Product Management Confluence page. We will also seek to continue to improve our approach as we implement this process.
What About the List of Historical Wish List Items?
As part of this work, we categorized and analyzed the historical unaddressed wish list items. A JMP Live report is available where you can see the summary of that work. While we do not plan to apply our new process to every single one of these past requests, we are using the overall themes and categories discovered in this analysis to inform our future roadmap. Going forward, we will begin to archive many of these historical requests and trim the total number of viewable wish list items on the Community.
Are We Still Using our Other Channels for Product Ideas?
Absolutely! We will still have our direct discussions with users at Discovery Summits and other meetings, as well as continue to receive feedback through Customer Care and Technical Support. However, please review the recently updated Submitting Product Feedback page for more details on best practices for sharing new product ideas and feedback.
Summary
This new approach for managing the Wish Lists will ensure that JMP users know that their input has been heard and addressed. More importantly, this rich resource of product feature ideas will be better organized and summarized, making the wish lists even more valuable to us as we develop our future product roadmap. If you have feedback on this new approach you can comment below or reach out to @SamGardner or @mia_stephens.
