per-issue chat windows
Problem to solve
decrease feedback loop time when working collaboratively on an issue, by allowing real-time chat right on the issue page.
Intended users
User Personas
Further details
- Use "chat" to allow ad-hoc groups to work on issues without the delay involved in email cycles
- Record group conversations directly in GitLab so that they are not "stuck" in email, and are visible to future users.
Proposal
I would suggest that each issue come with a chat window, where users could work collaboratively, and the history of the chat would be included with the issue. Issues tend to be related with ad-hoc groups, and chat would cut down the cycle time. For instance, something like this:
- Steve in Support creates a new issue.
- Sasha the Software Developer is assigned the ticket, and asks Steve for some clarifications. This might go back and forth for a while.
- Sasha proposes a solution, and invites Delaney, Parker and Presley to approve the solution and development schedule
- Once completed, Sasha can ask Steve to confirm that the issue has been addressed.
During all this, the chat history is saved.
- Dave is hired as a new developer.
- Steve reports another issue, which is related to the first issue
- Dave can review the chat logs from the first issue and see the history of the conversation, decisions that were made, and alternatives that were discarded during the prior development cycle.
Permissions and Security
I would assume anyone with access to the GitLab instance could be included in a chat.
Documentation
Um, I'm in over my head here.
Testing
This would definitely require cross-browser testing.
Users that are more comfortable with email than chat might want to continue using that (especially if they want to include non-GitLab users, like Charlie the CEO), which would set up multiple streams of communication, which would tend to get out-of-sync.
this would definitely require cross-browser testing
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
Each issue has a chat, and a chat log, and we get faster cycling on issues.
Links / references
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