Default all GitLab Team Members to the new Personal Homepage

Problem to solve

• We want to change the default homepage to the new personalized homepage for all users as part of GA.
• We want to start with rolling this out for internal users to gauge reaction before committing to this path for GA.

Proposal

• When a GitLab Team Member visits the homepage for the first time (/), render the new personalized homepage regardless of their default homepage setting
• Show a prominent message at the top of the page welcoming users to the new homepage experience, and that provides a prompt for users to return to their previous default
• Update the positioning of the homepage option in the user preferences menu, as well as the field label and default text.

Optional additions for the external launch:

• Petition to get the homepage added to the "what's new" drawer.

Open questions

• When do we actually change their default setting?
  • Automatically after the page loads
  • After they explicitly choose to accept the new default
  • Some other, more novel approach

Figma