DEEP Release Plan

Background

We’re releasing a new, out of beta, version of DEEP which will have an overhauled look and feel and user experience. Coming later this year there’s also going to be some neat additional features such as an analysis module and we’ll be integrating a new set of Natural Language Processing features which will make it easier to tag using standard humanitarian frameworks.

It will be a phased approach through early to middle of next year, and what we’ve compiled below is our current release timeline. Some features we will be holding off implementing in the new platform for reasons as described below. Over the coming weeks we’ll be releasing some videos showing you what the new platform looks like, and soliciting feedback from certain users. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us on our Skype/Slack channels or [e-mail].

Initial Release 

Trying to lockdown an exact date for a major software release is really like herding digital cats. While we do release features incrementally, the first out of beta release will be a major update to both the interface and also our data models that we use. So, it unfortunately can’t be rolled out piecemeal and will need to come largely in one fell swoop. We’ll keep you updated on when we may expect this to happen.

Project Creation	Geo Areas	Setting up and using geographic areas
	Project Details Updates	Improvements to the project setup flow
	Analysis Frameworks	We are changing around some of our tagging widgets, and removing some ones that were never used
Tagging	Sources Page	"Entries" and "Leads" are being combined into one single page, which we (and interviewed users) think is a really nice idea
	Tag On The Fly	Within this sources page, you'll be able to directly edit the tags of your documents without having to go into the main tagging page
	Tagging Flow	There's been some tweaks to how tagging actually works, more info to follow
	Entries Cards	We have implemented a card viewer for entires, similar to how the current version of DEEP can show Leads in a card format
	Comments/Verification	The ability to add comments and verify tags has been better integrated into the platform
	Bulk Upload	The bulk upload, and lead upload page, have been simplified
Other Modules	Exports	The export logic and formats will stay the same (for now), but with an updated interface
	Assessment Registry	For users of the assessment registry, this will be in the first release, but an updated UI will come at a later day
	Notifications	Similar behavior as the current platform, just a new design
	Clean Up User Roles	We'll be simplifying user roles
	Dashboards - Replica Of Current Hard Coded Version	For users of the dashboard, we will be implementing the same version in the new version of DEEP, however you'll be able to do some light customization of how it relates to your framework. Later on, we will make this module more performant and also customizable to different frameworks.
	Load Screen Updates	When pages are loading in DEEP, we'll show some basic animations as opposed to the current text we have now
	Explore Section - Slightly Improved	The current "Explore" page in DEEP will be implemented in a new UI and with better performance; see below for what will happen next year

Q1 2022

Once the first release is out, we’ll start getting more user feedback and make some changes, however we also have a few other things for release up our sleeve. The bulk of the analysis module and NLP systems are already complete, and we may be able to do a pre-release of these earlier to select users and projects.

	Assisted Tagging (NLP)	When you tag using common humanitarian analysis frameworks, DEEP will provide recommendations to you for where your tags should go
	Unified Connectors	We will briefly take down the Connectors feature in DEEP as we work on deploying a more advanced and cohesive version of the tool
	Updated Email Templates	When you get emails from DEEP, they'll look mighty fresh
Analysis Module	Cloning Behaviour	Units of analysis will be able to duplicated
	Exports	Analysis will be able to exported into an interpretation sheet - there's a lot more that we need to do with the export, but for now this will cover the bulk of use cases
	Graphs	Some nice graphs will give you insight into what is contained in your entries at a high level

 

Q1-Q2 2022

In our crystal ball, we foresee these features coming out. At the end of the video above, you can see the content for the explore section.

Dashboards - Customizable	The dashboard capabilities of DEEP will be able to work with any framework and be able to be tailored to your projects specific needs
Explore Section - More Fancy	We'll be taking the explore section and making it much visual and more interactive

When the stars align...

...maybe we’ll see these features again in DEEP. Or maybe not. There’s lots of parts of DEEP that were never used which we’re going to put on hold until further notice. If this really breaks your heart, please let us know and we can make it right. But seriously, if any of these are critical to your work, it would be helpful if you let us know.

Questionnaire Builder	There is a feature, probably hidden to most, that allows for you to make a survey in DEEP based on your analysis framework. We're currently figuring out if this will stay in DEEP, or somewhere else on the internet
Category Editor	A seldom used feature of DEEP that we'll make dormant for the time being
Tabular Data	Over the years that this feature has been in DEEP, it has received hardly any use. Content that has already been tagged will be available on the platform, but until further notice the quantitative features of DEEP will be put on hold.
Entry Groups	Did you know that you can group your entries? Bet you didn't. In fact, hardly anyone did. So, we'll be holding off on this feature for the time being.