How do your customers see your release notes? A bunch of boring text? Or a meaningful message?
Release Notes are not a technical artifact; they are a communication tool. They communicate the most visible expression of an Increment and play a critical role in transparency, alignment, and trust with stakeholders.
Well-written Release Notes answer one simple question: “What changed, and why should anyone care?”
In Scrum Teams, as the Product Owner is the one who knows the most about the Increment, they usually write Release Notes, with input from Developers. Let’s check the various ways of writing Release Notes.
1. User-Facing (User-Centric) Release Notes — The Gold Standard
This approach describes changes from the user’s point of view, focusing on outcomes rather than implementation. Every item explains how the product behaves differently and what new value is now available. Technical details, internal refactoring, and architectural changes are intentionally excluded unless they directly affect users.
From the Scrum perspective, this method aligns perfectly with the concept of an Increment delivering value. It supports transparency, helps non-technical stakeholders understand progress, and enables Support and Marketing teams to act confidently. In most product organizations, this should be the default approach for Release Notes.
Example:
Release 2.4.0 — December 20, 2025
New
- You can now set shared deadlines for tasks so everyone on the team stays aligned on timelines.
Improved
- Project lists now load noticeably faster, helping you move between projects with less waiting.
Fixed
- An issue that prevented some task notifications from being sent has been resolved.
2. Change-Based (Changelog-Driven) Release Notes
Change-based Release Notes are structured around what changed, usually grouped under headings like Added, Improved, and Fixed. This approach is concise, predictable, and easy to scan, which makes it popular in SaaS products with frequent releases.
While effective, this style requires discipline. Without deliberate rewriting, it tends to drift into technical language. Experienced teams use this format as a container, but still phrase each item in a user-understandable way. When done well, it balances speed with clarity.
Example:
Release 2.4.0 — December 20, 2025
Added
- Shared task deadlines
Improved
- Project list performance
Fixed
- Task notification delivery bug
3. Story-Based Release Notes (Derived from the Sprint Backlog)
Story-based Release Notes are created by reviewing Done User Stories and translating them into release-worthy messages. The strength of this approach is traceability: every line in the Release Notes maps back to a completed Product Backlog Item.
The risk is obvious to seasoned Scrum practitioners. User Stories are often written for the team, not for external audiences. Without Product Owner curation, Release Notes become a list of Product Backlog Items. When the PO actively rewrites and consolidates stories, however, this method works very well in Scrum-native environments.
Example:
Release 2.4.0 — December 20, 2025
- As a user, I can assign shared deadlines to tasks.
- As a user, I experience faster loading when viewing project lists.
- Fixed an issue where task notifications were not reliably sent.
4. Marketing-Style (Narrative) Release Notes
This approach tells a short story about the release: the problem space, the intent, and the overall impact. Instead of listing individual changes, it frames the Increment as a coherent step forward for the product.
Narrative Release Notes are especially effective for major releases, strategic shifts, or customer-facing announcements. However, they should be treated as a complement, not a replacement, for structured Release Notes.
Example:
Release 2.4.0 — December 20, 2025
This release focuses on better team alignment and smoother performance.
Shared deadlines help teams stay coordinated, while performance improvements make navigating projects faster and more fluid.
5. Auto-Generated Release Notes (from Commits or Pull Requests)
Auto-generated Release Notes rely on commit messages, pull request titles, or issue trackers to produce a release summary. From an Agile communication standpoint, this is the weakest option for external audiences.
While automation can help developers and internal teams, it fails to convey value or intent. Commit-level details increase cognitive load and undermine transparency for stakeholders. Experienced teams may use this internally, but never as the primary Release Notes shared outside the team.
Example:
Release 2.4.0
- feat: add shared task deadlines
- perf: optimize project list query
- fix: resolve notification delivery issue
- refactor: clean up task service
Comparison Summary
Final Thought
After years of working with Scrum Teams across different industries, one pattern is consistent:
The best Release Notes are intentional, curated, and user-focused.
The most effective strategy is a User-Facing approach, structured with a simple Change-Based format. This combination respects Scrum principles, scales with frequent releases, and keeps communication clear without sacrificing speed.
Release Notes are not documentation.
They are part of your product’s conversation with the world.
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