I think I may have misunderstood the purpose of the feedback category — thanks for clarifying. Now that I get it, I’d like to suggest something for the Community itself: it could be really useful to have a space for proposing new AS features, with voting/polling or another way to gauge interest in potential improvements. It would give both users and product teams a better sense of what the community values, while still complementing the official request process.
Would it make sense for me to move this suggestion to the Forum Feedback section? I did look around to avoid duplicating an existing suggestion.
Just moved from the original topic, where a workaround was provided. My answer is still the same:
the official request must be handled using the local office.
But I’m open for discussion on how the Community can help, and what you—or better to say, any B&R Community users—expect from the Community in direction of AS features proposal, or any product proposal.
I don’t think the absence of further discussion necessarily reflects a lack of interest. In my opinion, this feels like a topic that requires ownership from B&R to move forward; without that, there isn’t much the community can realistically drive on its own.
How can B&R Community help with the definition of new AS Features?
Any thoughts are welcome. Special category? Each new feature, a new discussion? Voting to see if the feature is truly interesting? What is the minimum number of votes, etc.? For sure (as Community project owner), I can take ownership and start looking for a solution if one exists, and begin discussions with product owners (Community was not intended for new feature requests; we have a special process for that). But on the other hand, I’d be interested in any other thoughts. Maybe someone will bring up a smart idea I can’t see right now—and I’d really like that.
Conversely, no discussion means to me that perhaps people aren’t looking for this at B&R Community.
I can easily imagine a community contributing to the long-term improvement of an engineering tool. Certainly, one has to carefully consider whether to promote a wish list where many things ultimately don’t get implemented because there might be a desire for a feature in the software, but the effort involved simply isn’t worth it. Or whether one can actually succeed in making real improvements transparent for all users of the software, and give these things weight and focus. I’m curious to see how others view this. Software companies often have a “user voice” program where suggestions or requests can be submitted; the community then provides feedback or adds to the suggestions. Ultimately, however, the manufacturer decides what goes on the roadmap for the benefit of all users.
My experience with product requests at B&R is this: clarifying and evaluating a PR through all the relevant departments at B&R usually takes several months or even years.
Very often, the feedback is that a feature won’t be implemented because it’s not relevant to other users.
I also frequently hear from the community that other users are asking for similar features.
Therefore, I think @Frederic_Boyadjian’s idea is very valuable. Product managers could assess which features are relevant to the majority of the community and which aren’t, and use this information for prioritization.
This could be helpful in relieving the product management team.
Challenge for BRCommunity, without any promise about the final result.
I will start thinking about what we can do in the Community for new AS Features definition if this discussion gets at least 20 votes. (1 vote = 1 unique user) who would be interested in this kind of “functionality” and discussion at BRCommunity.
One small thought: surfacing the challenge a bit more prominently might help, as being at the bottom of the thread makes it easy to miss for people who would otherwise be interested.
Either way, I’ll help promote this in my own capacity. Thank you @kovarj for giving this initiative a shot.
Thanks for all the thoughtful comments and likes so far — clearly this resonates with more than just a few of us. This post is about exploring whether the B&R Community could be consulted within this environment for future developments and orientations, to complement the current methods.
For clarity: the forum’s vote counter is used to gauge interest. Voting is done via the Vote button under the post title (left side), and a 20-vote threshold has been proposed for the idea to be considered.
I asked for 20 votes; at the moment we have 25. So, as promised, I will check if we also have interest from Automation Studio management about it. I’m thinking about a private group where only registered users with a higher level and interest in helping us with this definition will have access. I think you understand that this kind of discussion cannot be public. Do you agree? At the beginning I will invite all people who voted for this feature.
Thanks for the update — it’s great to see this idea surpassed the threshold (currently 29 votes). Good to hear you’ll check internally with Automation Studio management.
Regarding the private group: yes, that makes sense for topics that require confidentiality.
At the same time, one of the original goals of this proposal was to engage with the community as a whole. So I think it would still be valuable to keep some aspects public as well (improvement proposals, polls on priorities, etc.), in parallel with the smaller confidential group. The two approaches don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Looking forward to the next steps, and happy to contribute.
So topic is closed.
— let’s get the vote out!