Xojo roadmap 2016 ?

General
21

You could implement a system in the forum here where anyone who whines about something not showing up gets a demerit that shows up next to their name for 3 months after the episode :wink: Nobody will want to have a whiny icon next to their name so they won’t do it :wink:

22

Somehow I doubt the icon would be adequate :stuck_out_tongue:

At XDC we do try to say “here’s a high level view of what we intend to tackle in the next year”
That too immediately gets “and when can we expect it?”.
Often other attendees respond with “when it gets here” or something to remind the questioner.
But it happens every time :slight_smile:

Hence we do tend to be gun shy.

I honestly dont know what the answer is.
And I’ll confess that prior to me joining Xojo way back when I did exactly the same.
So its something I definitely understand from both sides.

23

If we’re implementing new forum features I want one:

When posting:

|---------------------------------------------|
|                                             |
|      Hi, did you read the manual yet?       |
|                                             |
|                           [ No ] [ Yes ]    |
|---------------------------------------------|

If you click Yes and anyone links the documentation you get a nice little flag in red text next to your name (like the Unverified flag) that says “Has not read the manual”

24

that is an entirely different topic :stuck_out_tongue:

25

Still on some level it’s got to be nice to have so many users that are so eager for your next release and to know what goodies you’re going to share with them at that point :wink:

26

Knowing what is being worked on for future releases is more helpful than being left in the dark because we can plan, at least to some degree. Please do keep us informed as to what is planned and approximately when it might be delivered.

27

If (high sense of entitlement) and (impatience) and (total lack of open mindedness) then _ be very careful about what you say

28

Maybe you join conference and ask them in person?
Offering a beer at the bar may lead to more details


29

How do you plan for “we’re working on 64 bit” ?
Without a lot more detail of whats involved and what it might affect you can’t really plan for anything beyond “we’ll have to do this at some point”
Same for “Retina”

And that starts the slippery slope of “hey you guys promised”

30

It is

31

Customers like roadmaps. It gives them reassurance. If product X is not at least planning for feature Y (64-bit or whatever) then customer Z needs to start researching other products at some point. Especially true for business customers.

But you know what? The flip-side is true, it’s a useful marketing tool for you guys. It keeps us interested, keeps us onboard. You would never have an XDC keynote in which you just reviewed the previous year. You’re naturally going to talk about the future.

I would personally favor a high-level roadmap document with no timelines - a sketched outline of the future for the product.

32

[quote=253997:@Norman Palardy]How do you plan for “we’re working on 64 bit” ?
Without a lot more detail of whats involved and what it might affect you can’t really plan for anything beyond “we’ll have to do this at some point”
Same for “Retina”

And that starts the slippery slope of “hey you guys promised”[/quote]
Simply knowing that it’s coming and an idea of when could help us determine if we are to use Xojo or another tool for an upcoming product, project or feature.

33

What also would help is using the status field better in Feedback. From the Top Cases, only 2 are listed as ‘Scheduled’. The rest as ‘Reviewed’ and some as ‘N/A’.
Or add a status ‘Never going to happen’ for things like (from what I understand) Android support.

34

Let me reiterate what I said earlier

[quote=253978:@Norman Palardy]
At XDC we do try to say “here’s a high level view of what we intend to tackle in the next year”
That too immediately gets “and when can we expect it?”.
Often other attendees respond with “when it gets here” or something to remind the questioner.
But it happens every time :slight_smile:

Hence we do tend to be gun shy.

I honestly dont know what the answer is.
And I’ll confess that prior to me joining Xojo way back when I did exactly the same.
So its something I definitely understand from both sides.[/quote]

35

[quote=254103:@Marco Hof]What also would help is using the status field better in Feedback. From the Top Cases, only 2 are listed as ‘Scheduled’. The rest as ‘Reviewed’ and some as ‘N/A’.
Or add a status ‘Never going to happen’ for things like (from what I understand) Android support.[/quote]

Just FYI android support isn’t “never going to happen”
More like “not right now”

Top cases doesn’t mean “Xojo MUST do this”
It means “customers have indicated they’d really like this” but there can / could be reasons we cant do it right now
64 bit apps was like this
There was a lot of infrastructure etc that had to be reviewed etc before we could start
And sometimes there are things we have to do some investigations before we can even say “yeah this is plausible”

36

[quote=253978:@Norman Palardy]At XDC we do try to say “here’s a high level view of what we intend to tackle in the next year”
That too immediately gets “and when can we expect it?”.
[/quote]
So like I said, don’t put a timeline on it. Don’t suggest it will be “in the next year” or it will go alpha in a certain quarter and so on. Have a roadmap overview document that you point us moaners and speculators towards every time someone asks the question.

You guys get the marketing benefit from it.
We get insight into your thinking and direction.

I’d value that but YMMV.

37

Just so we’re all clear
This isn’t my call to make and the powers that be MAY chose to do otherwise
My experience over more than 15+ years being sometimes a customer & sometimes an engineer has been that “Roadmap” turns in to “but you promised” and 

Been there done that seen it happen every year with or without timelines
So you’ll forgive me if I’m leery

38

“We are planning a feature in Xojo that will write code for you!”

Don’t ask when though.
You don’t care when it’s coming.
Just that it is.

39

I like “we’re planning stuff for sometime later” :stuck_out_tongue:

40
All of this would be so much easier if you just didn't make any mistakes like engineers or doctors.

Going back to bug fixing