How to Handle Huge Design Changes and Bugs Introduced in a Major Version Update
Build, test and release quickly, consistently.
Whenever you release a new major version, people will complain. People will rant. People will encounter bugs.
Because something changed in their workflow, people will naturally cry wolf.
Not all people will understand what you and your team are going through.
The work involved to push out a major change in design and structure.
But remember, cream rises to the top. Sure, not all redesigns work but if you really understood your userbase then you designed it to be better for them, they just don’t know it yet.
So the big day comes, you release it, high fives all around. You’ve tested it for 6 months and you’re pretty confident of the update.
Then in comes 1000 support tickets.
Then the 500 crash logs starts coming in…
It’s very easy to just fall in despair.
BUT DON’T BE.
This is the time you show your resilience.
You and your team should be expecting it and you should quickly organize the critical fixes to the not so critical ones. You only have so much time in the day but trust me, with the teams talking with each other, you’ll be able to do wonders each day.
The dev team should also work closely with the support team at this stage. Trying to replicate bugs, being patient with users, understanding what’s happening. You are causing them grief but you want to get that fixed up as soon as possible to make it up to them. That’s the sign of a great team, a great company willing to make it right and serve their users.
Trust me, it will pass.
Build, test and release quickly, consistently. In a week, you’ll be smooth sailing.
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