An replace on current launches and the upcoming roadmap.
Last quarter, I shared learnings from our generative AI exploration and the way it formed our perspective for the approaching 12 months. As we proceed to discover methods during which AI/ML accelerates developer productiveness, we stay dedicated to doing so thoughtfully and purposefully to help the core values of Stack Overflow: human connection, collaboration, and data sharing.
Our objectives are centered on constructing and supporting a wholesome ecosystem of energetic customers and group contributors. Most guests to Stack Overflow are looking for an answer to their drawback. How may we assist them try this in a extra productive and environment friendly means? Additional, Stack Overflow’s progress is straight tied to group contribution. How may we make data creation simpler, extra inclusive, and a extra collaborative expertise—all whereas sustaining a excessive bar for content material high quality? These are among the questions we’re asking ourselves as we make progress in opposition to our objectives.
Earlier than I cowl what’s coming subsequent, I wish to have fun among the notable launches final quarter.
- Staging Ground – An area to get suggestions on questions earlier than they’re posted. This sandbox setting is designed to attach new askers with skilled group members. Profitable beta rounds confirmed promise that this function set supported new askers and improved query high quality. This function is now usually out there to new askers and eligible reviewers.
- Stack Overflow Jobs – In partnership with Certainly, we launched a brand new model of Stack Overflow Jobs! This experiment is a devoted area that places 1000’s of highly-relevant tech jobs on the fingertips of builders and technologists. We stay up for understanding the worth this brings the tech group over the course of this check.
- Image Service Migration – We introduced picture internet hosting in-house. This was a multi-phased venture that resulted in a seamless transition to a brand new picture importing service, migration of present photographs to the brand new service, up to date picture uploaders and structure, and URL conversions throughout thousands and thousands of present photographs.
- The Annual Developer Survey – This 12 months we requested acquainted questions on your expertise, but additionally had some new questions on what embedded programming expertise you might be utilizing and what AI moral duties are most vital to you. Information assortment was simply closed and our analysts are reviewing 1000’s of knowledge factors to uncover this 12 months’s insights. Keep tuned!
- Reducing sign-up friction – Our sign-up flows wanted a tune-up. The sign-up expertise was inconsistent throughout the community and customarily outdated with pointless steps. We wish to make becoming a member of the group simple! Final quarter we frolicked working a sequence of optimization experiments and chopping pointless steps to clean out the stream for brand spanking new customers, leading to a lift in sign-ups throughout the community.
- Neighborhood Asks Dash – Giving again to the Neighborhood. We’re excited to have kicked off a quarterly occasion the place we’re giving again to our energy consumer and moderator group. All of our Neighborhood Merchandise groups are carving out a devoted week to handle small options requests, non-critical bugs, and basic quality-of-life enhancements. This quarter, our Neighborhood Administration staff led the cost in triaging and prioritizing points. In future iterations, we hope to associate straight with group members on this course of.
- Scaling Staging Floor – Bringing Staging Floor to basic availability was just the start. We’ve acquired insightful feedback and might be iterating on the expertise to enhance and scale the function. Our finish aim is to help all new questions via Staging Floor. Our instant focus this quarter is to help Reviewers inside Staging Floor—the oldsters volunteering their time to assist new askers draft higher questions. We’re additionally constructing in additional goal and direct measures of high quality for questions going via the Staging Floor, past proxy metrics resembling query survivability and query success charges. Lastly, we might be engaged on new incentives to acknowledge and reward reviewer contributions, straight supporting our scaling efforts.
- Bettering Answering – We wish to make it simpler for reply seekers and data specialists to share the data they’ve (and are gaining!). In spite of everything, each query that goes unanswered represents somebody who nonetheless wants assist. Our analysis and design staff has been uncovering problems and pain points around answering. We imagine that rushing up the answering course of will create worth throughout the group and shut data gaps, and we’re in search of methods to do that by dissecting the reply stream, understanding the context of answerers, and offering instruments and experiences that help the method.
- Consumer Activation – Bettering new consumer success. The overwhelming majority of holiday makers to Stack Overflow are passive content material customers. Builders get caught, they search the issue throughout the online, and land on a Q&A pair that helps them get unstuck (rinse and repeat as many occasions as wanted). Whereas this definitely is one approach to discover your answer, we imagine we are able to improve consumer worth by delivering a extra customized expertise to customers. Some parts of this effort embrace optimizing sign-up flows, creating simpler methods for customers to work together with content material that’s related to them, and creating a customized homepage to assist customers onboard and uncover related content material.
As all the time, we’re excited to share learnings as we go and worth your enter alongside the best way. When you’d like to offer your enter, we invite you to hitch the dialog on meta.stackexchange.com, meta.stackoverflow.com, or opt into our user research list.
