Consider replacing "Next x Releases" milestones with ones more firmly rooted in the calendar
Currently we use the "Next x Releases" (i.e., %"Next 3-4 releases") milestones as buckets to collect items for the future that have not already been selected for a specific release. This has a couple challenges:
- They are rolling, so in theory all the time things from %"Next 4-7 releases" should be moving into %"Next 3-4 releases" depending on which day they were created.
- Also because they are rolling, if you're interested in one of those features then you have to do a bit of math to figure out exactly how far away something is.
- Because of the above, it's easy to lose track of things and have them sit in these buckets for too long.
What I propose instead is that we create and use similar buckets, but ones firmly rooted in time. For example, at this time of year we might have something like:
- 11.6
- 11.7
- 11.8
- Q2 2019
- 2H 2019 (not sure if this is better/worse than just having Q3 and Q4 already set up.)
- Beyond this we could consider a full year 2020 bucket, but maybe those are really just direction items.
We could also consider special milestones like "Summit 2018", but maybe that's another topic.
This still gives us a nearsighted roadmap, but with the key difference of it being fixed in time. This has a couple benefits:
- Because the buckets are fixed in time, you don't need to manage ongoing flow from one to the other (unless things truly move)
- It's clear when to refine each bucket. As you approach the next quarter, you know it's time to take those issues in the next quarter bucket and assign them to specific releases. Or, if the next year is getting closer, it's time to break the year's issues down into quarters.
- Automatically generating year outlook lists on the direction pages (i.e., here) would be possible instead of having to do this manually.
Feedback and discussion welcome!
cc @gl-product
Edited by Jason Yavorska