Request for Comments: New Support Tracker Worfklow

[Francis J. Lacoste]

Hi,

We are currently overhauling the way users interact with the support tracker. 
I'd like to get feedback on the changes we are planning to make. Feedback 
from users registered as support contacts for Ubuntu or another product using 
the support tracker, as well as users posting support requests would be 
especially appreciated.

The problems we are trying to address
-------------------------------------------------

One of the main problem we have with the support tracker is that users don't 
come back to tell us if the answer to their support request solved their 
problem. Another big problem is that it is hard to see which requests needs 
attention (because there are many open requests and because we do not 
distinguish between requests that have been answered and those that weren't).

Changes to the data model and UI
--------------------------------------------

To solve that and some other problems we are making the following changes:

1) Use more statuses to better model the current state of the request. We will 
now have the following statuses: 
	Open: request needs an answer.
	Answered: request received an answer.
	Answered and confirmed: user confirmed that his problem is solved.
	Needs info: user was prompted for more information.
	Invalid: request isn't a support request (spam, duplicate, etc.).
	Expired: requests didn't received attention and is expired.

2) The status will be changed automatically based on user actions. For 
example, when replying to a support request, there will be a button to  mark 
the comment as an answer to the support (changing the request's status to 
Answered) and another button to mark that the comment is requesting for more 
information from the submitter (changing the request's status to Needs info). 

3) Requests in the Open or Needs info state and that didn't receive any 
comments in the last two weeks will be automatically moved to the 'Expired' 
state. A notification will be sent to the submitter telling him about this 
and we will suggest to him that he provides more information about his 
problem if he wants his request reopened.

4) Request submitter will be able to confirm that an answer solved their 
problem. In the case where there was multiple answer, they will even be able 
to select the particular answer that solved their problem. This will enable 
us to build a base of good answers and to give a karma bonus to the answerer. 
Even if the submitter don't do this, the request will have gotten off the 
Open list (it was answered nonetheless).

These changes should enable us to provide better views on the requests that 
needs attention. Either from the submitters or support contact point of view. 

You can find mock ups of some of the UI changes by taking a look at
http://people.ubuntu.com/~flacoste/support-tracker-workflow-ui.html

Impacts on the email interface
---------------------------------------

These changes have an impact on email interface. In the web UI, the user will 
have to choose a button to indicate what is the intent of his comment. We 
don't have such buttons in the email interface. 

By default, we will presume that an email coming from somebody else than the 
submitter (a support contact for example) provides an answer to the request. 
We will also assume that an email coming from the submitter provides more 
information to reopen a request. 

I think these are sane default, but these could be wrong guesses in some 
cases: 

a) The support contact is actually requesting for additionnal information from 
the submitter.
b) The submitter is actually thanking the answerer because the answer solved 
his problem.

To alleviate b), we will add a message to the notification email asking the 
user to use the provided link if the answer solved his problem. 

To fix a), there are two things we can do

a) Add a command syntax similar to the bug tracker to specify in the email 
that this is a request for more information. 
b) Provide a web UI to support contacts to fix these requests.

If you are currently using the support tracker email interface, please comment 
on the above problems and proposed solutions. 

Thanks for all the input you can provide, it will help use to improve the 
support tracker.

-- 
Francis J. Lacoste
francis.lacoste at canonical.com
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