Release notes for a solution (UI) and app (processing)
2023
Note: On TraceLink’s new platform, the app is released independently of the solution, so the release notes for each are independent. This example is for a solution and an app released together.
Context
The US FDA Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) went into its last phase of enforcement in 2023. TraceLink’s US Compliance solution and app implemented the functionality needed for full serialized traceability in the US. These release notes were for the first release of US Compliance, however, the previous version of the app (US Product Track), which only supported lot-level traceability (i.e. not individual serialized item traceability), already existed on TraceLink’s legacy platform. All users of US Compliance were expected to be existing customers of US Product Track.
Differentiating new from old
Beyond just documenting the new UI provided with US Compliance, I needed to make sure current US Product Track customers understood exactly what is different about US Compliance, which parts of the law the new app provides compliance for, and how the processing works. The processing involved 3 different apps, including US Product Track, and required a thorough understanding of how and when data is sent so that I could explain it clearly and succinctly.
Accounting for a new release paradigm
In addition, the Product Management Senior Vice President (PM SVP) was very concerned that our existing customers would be confused about the separation of the solution (i.e. the UI) from the app (i.e. the APIs and processing). Technically, the US Compliance solution is based on the US Product Track backend logic, which means that most of the processing actually is not new or updated. She asked me to make this nuance clear and gave me specific instructions to keep all of the processing information in the app release notes topic.
This request added an extra layer of complexity, because it meant separating out the processing from how the data is represented in the UI. I spent a lot of time and effort trying many different ways to present the information. When I reviewed the release notes with the Services SMEs the first time, they were still confused, but after revising specifically based on the questions they asked, I was able to present an option that made the PM SVP happy and made sense to the Services SMEs.
Skills
Project management, release notes writing, UI writing, use case analysis, processing analysis, applying feedback, working within regulated industries, writing for B2B audiences
Tools
MadCap Flare, Confluence, Jira, Adobe XD, enterprise software, SFTP