After some coordination with bigWham, I am proud to announce the arrival of the Features Panel. This Panel will be drawn from handpicked community members, those who have proven thoughtful and intelligent and laden with constructive criticism. The Panel will consist of at most ten members, and those names will be released as soon as they are determined.
With the Panel, we will be officially marking the end of the Guaranteed Suggestion Implementation program. While largely considered a success, and I loved being able to interact with community members- there were simply too many "good suggestions" that weren't being implemented in a short enough amount of time. It took 8 months to crank out 4 suggestions- we hope to get that amount within two months, preferably one. Be assured that you can still contact me to promote ideas, and I will make sure they get their proper attention. Also be assured that the old nominations thread is the first place the Panel will be looking for Suggestions to pass up the ladder.
New Pipeline:
COMMUNITY PHASE:
Beginning with a new suggestion:
a) As the suggestion gains popularity, any member from the Features Panel will be able to bring the suggestion up for discussion in front of the Panel.
b) Once brought up for discussion, the Panel will keep an eye on the suggestion for outstanding criticism, as well as discuss to avoid potential problems with the suggestion. After discussion, it will either be approved by the panel or dismissed.
c) If dismissed by the Panel, no further discussion will continue until a significant development is made in the suggestion or the site to make the suggestion viable. If approved, it will be forwarded to Administration.It will again be dismissed or approved in a second step.
d) After Administration approval, the Suggestion will move onto the Implementation Phase.
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
As soon as Administration approves the suggestion, a community announcement will be made. This will allow a one week minimum for the community to be informed and involved as to what is going on.
a) Coding will begin upon Administration approval,and it will be released into Beta testing ASAP. Once in testing, Beta testers and Panel members will experiment with the suggestion, and make sure it works as it is supposed to per the suggestion.
b) While in testing, the Features Panel will be actively monitoring and engaging Community Reactions. IF THE REACTIONS ARE LARGELY NEGATIVE, TESTING WILL STOP AND THE SUGGESTION WILL BE DISMISSED. This is a safeguard to prevent an unpopular suggestion from being implemented. Because of this, please keep in mind what your comments may do- we would much rather work with you to "fix" a suggestion rather than have to table it.
c) Once Beta testing is complete, the Panel will provide an ETA of release (modeled by Administration), as well as the final details of the suggestion (including screenshots if appropriate).
I do apologize that GSI will be taken away. I loved it, but it doesn't work well with timelines. It takes too long to get a significant count- often BW had the suggestion coded and Beta testing well before voting officially ended. This way we still get community input but don't have to spend weeks polling- instead we can use it making sure the suggestion comes out just right!
