Problem validation: getting started with code owners is hard and confusing
Current State
We need to run a problem validation cycle on the Codeowners feature to understand iterative improvements that we can make to the feature set. This is of medium priority because customers are not attriting nor are we losing prospects but improving this feature will make our user base happy and increase usage of the feature.
Problem Statement
- Users find it difficult to get started with codeowners
- Code Owners is not flexible enough for larger companies which results in gaps in approval chains.
Reach
The reach of this feature is very small - 1.0x
There are ~3,900 projects with codeowner files. There are 2.5B licensed paid projects in GitLab overall.
If we look at merge requests that have approvals associated with them, we can see that less than 1% of all Merge Requests have rules attached generated by codeowners.
Impact
2.0 = High impact
The risk of unapproved, rogue changes is a present threat to all organization. A lot of which implement systems outside of SCM to track/approve changes. Reducing the barrier for entry will mean every qualifying team now can easily reduce risk to unapproved changes and decrease developer time (cost) in setting up the feature.
Improving codeowners would increase product stickiness for companies who are utilizing the feature.
Confidence
50% = Low confidence
We recognize this is a problem for teams of a certain size and conclude the great value the feature has based on interactions with users who both 1)use the feature and 2)like the feature.
Additionally, while the problem is real, the solution may have a "gate-keeper" gap. That is, not all authors are the same users who can approve changes and therefore become code owners. However, a big aspect of the feature is indicating who the expert is on this part of the codebase.
Effort
4 months
A reasonable MVC that uses git history and has no impact until users approves could be constructed by analyzing existing git history.
Links
- Research issue ux-research#1441 (closed)
- Recruiting issue https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ux-research/-/issues/1445
- Opportunity Canvas
This page may contain information related to upcoming products, features and functionality. It is important to note that the information presented is for informational purposes only, so please do not rely on the information for purchasing or planning purposes. Just like with all projects, the items mentioned on the page are subject to change or delay, and the development, release, and timing of any products, features, or functionality remain at the sole discretion of GitLab Inc.