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Track Ideas for Upcoming Product Releases

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

  • Describe how the results of a prioritization cycle are used when planning upcoming releases.
  • Find status updates from Salesforce product managers for ideas.
  • Find ideas that have been added to the product roadmap through prior prioritization cycles.

A Pause for Celebration

At the end of the 2-week prioritization cycle, results are posted on the IdeaExchange. Jose goes back to the site to see where his idea landed on the list. He’s delighted to see that his idea is in third place. It earned 20,000 more coins than the fourth idea on the list, dragging and dropping calendar entries. That means his idea is going to be developed… right? Pause. Not so fast.

An example of cycle results on the IdeaExchange Prioritization page. It lists ideas in descending order of total coins allocated

While Salesforce product teams intend to start working on the top prioritized ideas, it’s important to use the planning portion of the release process to validate assumptions, ensure that dependencies are in place, and confirm that the team can still deliver a quality feature within the estimated timeframe. Refreshing the roadmap typically takes 3 to 4 months after the prioritization cycle closes. So Jose must be patient a little bit longer.

Check the Status of Ideas

When the status of an idea changes (for example, when a team decides to develop an idea), the product manager typically adds a comment to the idea. If you’ve opted to receive notifications, you’ll know when this occurs.

When the product teams conclude release planning and move into the development phase, product managers change the status of top prioritized ideas to In Development. These ideas are declared winners on the Prioritization page in the Winners section on the IdeaExchange. The Winners section also shows the estimated availability of each prioritized feature in the product.

Ideas on the prioritization list that don’t move into development are moved back to Open status. Product managers still keep in mind how the idea was prioritized as they begin to think about releases even further out. And if the open idea is at the top again and is something the team can start to work on in the subsequent development cycle, it will likely land on the next cycle’s prioritization list.

A Cause for Celebration

Jose notices that a Salesforce product manager updated his idea. It’s now In Development! He goes to the prioritization section of the IdeaExchange and sees that his idea has indeed been declared a winner. During release planning, Wanda confirmed her assumptions and concluded that she can deliver the feature at the end of one development cycle.

The Winners section of the IdeaExchange Prioritization page shows information cards for the winning ideas from the latest prioritization cycle

Linda from Cloud Kicks also sees the status update on Jose’s idea. Knowing that the development cycle typically takes 4 months, and seeing the estimated availability date on the winners page, Linda decides she’ll provide Jose with a moment of instant recognition herself. She prints out a photo of an auditorium full of people clapping their hands and sticks it on Jose’s monitor while he’s at lunch. Upon returning from lunch, Jose smiles, knowing that he and the community have helped shape Salesforce products, and that in 4 months, his sales reps will be smiling too as they celebrate their milestones in Salesforce.

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