Allow "submit review" in combination with adding approval
Implementation issue for 🎨 Design: Add comment and approval as part of c... (#350394 - closed)
Please refer to epic for more information
Note This issue is marked blocked
as it relies on Add MR-wide comment as part of a merge request ... (#244044 - closed) to be implemented first (or at the same time)
Original description
This is an actionable insight from the UX Department: MRs experience async critique research (insight).
Problem to solve
Today, for a reviewer to approve an MR after reviewing it, they must navigate to the MR “Overview” tab, find the “Approve” button, and click it. Another way is to use the /approve
quick action when submitting a comment, if the reviewer knows about it.
Generally, a reviewer's decision to approve an MR happens when finishing reviewing the MR, and that moment is usually linked to publishing a comment or submitting a batch of comments. If we are able to link and place the Comment and Approve actions closer together, we should be able to increase the speed of reviews.
Proposal
Add “Approve” option when commenting on an MR or submitting a batch of comments (review).
Intended users
User experience goal
The user should be able to approve the MR when leaving a comment or submitting a batch of comments, thereby reducing the time it takes between reviewing and approving the MR.
Permissions and Security
Only project members that can approve the MR will see this option.
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
- The time between leaving a comment or submitting a review and approving an MR is reduced.
- The usage of the “Approve” button in the MR widgets is reduced in favor of the option introduced in this issue.
Further details
A developer writes a number of review comments on the MR. She goes to complete her work, and hits the friendly "Finish Review" green button at the bottom of the page. She forgets that she must also go back to the top of the page and additionally "Add Approval".
Another developer also comments on the MR. He finishes his work, and returns to the top of the page to add his approval to merge. There is no indication that he forgot to additionally submit his comments, and the MR originator proceeds to merge with the approval but never seeing any of the comments, which are now lost.
Proposal
If the UI has open but unsubmitted review comments, the "Finish Review" flow should also give you the choice to additionally add approval at the same time. The "Add Approval" button instead behaves the same as "Finish Review", perhaps with the "and approve" selected by default. This requires the reviewer to consider the action of submitting comments and approving (or not) as a single action and does not allow you to forget.