Approval Workflows
The next feature within feature workflows was approval workflows. Approval workflows enabled teams to request a review and explicit approval before changes could be applied.
User needs and research
Approvals and reviews are an important process for customers who rely on change management systems. Some of our users needed an approval process in order to continue using LaunchDarkly. This feature was a must-have to support.
The two main use cases we need support were:
Make approvals required for any changes to flags or settings within Launchdarkly. This supports customers who need an approval mechanism.
Allow approvals to be opt-in for folks who wanted a review process that is similar to a peer-review.
Much of the designs for approvals leveraged what I designed in scheduled changes. The exceptions to that were the needs specific to approvals such as:
Requesting approval and selecting to notify the reviewers, along with the corresponding email.
The review screen and its multiple states.
Designing for multiple phases
The approvals feature was broken down into multiple release phases. The goal was to release the simplest version, test it, and in the meantime iterate on future versions. The simplest version did not allow users to comment on requests, just approve/deny. I worked with the product manager to set requirements and designs for each phase. Our tech lead helped us determine what would be feasible for each phase as well.
Quick User Feedback
As a rule of thumb, if I was stuck or the tripod could not arrive to a consensus on a design direction then I would take the questions to our users. Quick internal surveys and rapid usability testing helped me gather data and insights on how to move forward. When in doubt, test.
Releasing Approvals
Approvals was released incrementally in 2020. For some of our clients, approvals proved to be the sticking factor for LaunchDarkly. While some of the functionality of a more mature approval process was lacking it still proved to be an invaluable piece in the feature workflows world.
