January 2018
Done
Ask a question template: We launched an AaQ template experiment on 12/1/2017. That experiment is done. We will post a summary of the results this month and will continue work in this area with a second experiment that we are still designing.
Review Queue Indicator improvements: We added some optimization for better review queue notifications on lower traffic sites and we reduced false flags by making sure that you're not notified about review queues that need attention if you don't have access to them at your rep level.
Response to top bar feedback pt 1: We fixed a number of small, but annoying issues with the top bar including:
- Made the top bar the same height across all sites (including SO)
- Fixed middle click behavior on the icons
- Added relevant links to inbox and review queue menus
- Brought back the bounce to the indicators on the icons
- toned down colors to reduce emphasis on the search box
- omnipresent help icon
Winter Bash: The hats are now all back in their boxes. You can take them out and admire them, but you can't put them back on.
Site theme standardization investigation: As the investigation on navigation improvements and responsive design progressed, we realized that the current level of theming for some graduated network sites creates a lot of fragility. While most sites have limited theming, a few sites are extensively themed. We evaluated some approaches to theming last month and this month we will engage with the community the future of theming on network sites. The short version is we want to continue supporting individual site themes, but we need to pare down what can be customized so that we can have a consistent experience, a single code base with less fragility and a quicker path to deploying core improvements across the network. We will be communicating later this month more details on the impact and timing of the next steps in this area.
In progress
Response to top bar feedback pt 2: We are wrapping up the final top bar fix based on your feedback. Soon the Inbox, Achievements, Review queue and site switcher menus will progressively render so that people on slow connections have a better experience.
Channels features: TeamDAG is working on a variety of features related for our Channels product. This includes ask a question experience, optimizations for question list views, navigation, channel newsletters, and a long list of other enhancements that will make Channels work well. It is worth a note that while some of this work is only for the private channels experience, many of these features will find their way to all public Q&A sites as well.
Tag subscriptions: We're done specing an improved tag subscription experience that was inspired by our Enterprise product. We will start building this feature so that the public site, enterprise, and Filtered questions functionality can be unified into one coherent experience. Coding will start this month.
Starting in January
Each of the items below describes some work that is planned for the coming month. As needed, we will directly engage the community to help shape the work.
Responsive design: We are wrapping up this investigation and moving into the coding phase. We have a nice prototype that will guide our work. There is an amazing amount of work required to do this right and it's easy to break things. This work will be done in phases starting with the most commonly used experiences. This effort is connected to our navigation improvements and channels work. (Check out what is responsive design for more background.)
Facebook auth updates: Facebook is updating their auth requirements and we need to comply. If everything goes right you won't notice a thing.
