5 Simple Product Release Notes Examples SaaS Teams Should Follow

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci

The Mona Lisa. The Last Supper. The Vitruvian Man.

Da Vinci knew a thing or two about simple sophistication. He could take a woman's smile and turn it into the quintessential enigmatic symbol. Or take an anatomical drawing and elevate it to a work of art.

Today's tech world has lost the art of simplicity in many ways. We tend to overcomplicate things by trying to do too much, please too many people, and meet too many demands.

We also think we need to sound "smart" in order to impress our customers. And that's where we end up in trouble.

By overcomplicating something as simple as a release note, our customers lose the message we're trying to communicate. Our lack of simple language and form ends up making us sound anything but smart or savvy.

If you're one of those tech firms who have lost the art of sophisticated simplicity when it comes to your release notes, you're in the right place today.

We're going to show you five simple release note examples and then use them to create an easy-to-imitate template. When we're done, your team and your tribe will never have to suffer through an overly complicated release note again.

We may not be able to turn you into the SaaS world's Leonardo, but we can turn creating your release notes into something of an art form.

Simple Release Note Example #1: Discord

Discord knows a thing or two about building simplicity into their release notes. First of all, they have created a special blog just for developers to receive release notes.

Secondly, they use plain, ordinary language. Sure, there's the "tech speak" needed to convey certain messages and to anyone outside the development world, some of what they say is gibberish. But to developers, it's a song they know well.

Lastly, they use some pretty standard blog content creation. Notice the headings they use to separate sections. And the use of both italic and bold fonts to create emphasis and draw your attention to specific portions of the release note.

Release Note Template Takeaway #1: Use simple language and format it so it can be easily read and understood.

Simple Release Note Example #2: Loom

Loom does video and nothing but video. So it's no surprise that their release notes include videos.

That in itself is beautiful simplicity. They also use very straightforward, user-friendly language. Top that off with a friendly, conversational tone, and you might just forget you’re reading and watching a release note.

Like Discord, Loom has created a blog just for announcements and release notes. As with all good release notes, they often link to other documentation or their help center when further info or in-depth knowledge is required.

The use of video in every release note creates content that the marketing and sales guys can use, too. Since each note has its own link, like a blog post does, it's a breeze to announce a new feature via email or social media.

And because video is what Loom does, their release note videos are prime examples of what their app can do, and how easily it can do it.

Release Note Template Takeaway #2: If you can and when you can, don't just tell, show.

Simple Release Note Example #3: Teamwork

Teamwork creates software tools for project management. They currently have four tools on the market. Offering several tools can lead to the need for a lot of release notes, as changes and updates come in multiples.

Their release note page is a UX dream. Let's look at a screenshot of it now.

Notice how you can easily click through the four tools from the nav bar at the top? And then there are the "overview" notes in the Recent Updates section. You'll find links there to full-blown blog posts.

And yes, they use plain language, a conversational tone, images taken from the software's screens, and links to further information.

We also like the “Coming Soon” section of the release note homepage. From this section, customers can keep up with what's just around the bend. The "In Progress" tags are a nice touch, too, keeping the team and tribe informed about what's in the pipeline.

Release Note Template Takeaway #3: When dealing with more than one product, give each product its own section.

Release Note Template Takeaway #4: Create sections for specific changes and updates, an overview of recent changes, and keep everyone informed of what's in the works for the near future.

Simple Release Note Example #4: Whereby

When you think about using release notes as a marketing tool, look no further for excellent examples than Whereby.

This video conferencing software company brands its release notes.

See that "W" in the release note above? Yep, that's their company logo. And that pink color? It’s the background color used for their website's headers and footers, as well as testimonial boxes sprinkled throughout.

They've also gone all out blog post style, and have included videos of their software in action, conversational language, and even incorporated categories and a calendar, so you can easily search for what you are looking for. There may even be some SEO at work.

Release Note Template Takeaway #5: Make your release notes work overtime by serving as marketing assets, too.

Simple Release Note Example #5: Buildkite

Buildkite helps developers test and deploy code. It's not made for a broader, more general audience like Loom or Discord. It's not as mainstream as Whereby or Teamwork. In short, it's just not that "sexy" unless you're a techy developer in need of help.

Their release note page, however, is a thing of real simplistic beauty. It's a simple, easy-to-read, easy-to-scan list by dates. Minimalism at its finest.

It's color-coded, too. Want to find a change made to a feature of the software? Look for the green. Beta testing? Purple. And plain old updates are denoted with orange.

All brand colors are put to good use in creating a user-friendly, to-the-point release note page.

What Buildkite has done is create release notes that are simple, yet stylish. They gave an otherwise dull affair a bit of shine. And quite honestly, it's more than you might expect from such a plain Jane company with a rather un-shiny product.

Release Note Template Takeaway #6: Very simple can become sophisticated when it represents the brand and the product well.

Release Note Template Checklist

Let's review what you've learned about creating interesting, eye-catching, user-friendly release notes from our five release note rockstars.

Your release notes should:

• Be written in plain, easy-to-read language
• Show, not just tell
• Include categorization when dealing with more than one product
• Present past, present, and future updates
• Create marketing opportunities as well as keep users informed
• Represent the brand and its products well

The handy table below also shows how our examples have used various elements to create simple yet sophisticated release notes.

ReleaseNotes Software and Your SaaS’s Release Notes

At ReleaseNotes, we do one thing and only one thing: release notes. When you buy other software to help manage your SaaS, you often get things you don't need, can't use, or simply don't want.

With us, you get just what you want and need. Only the good stuff you can use, using a simple process that creates impressive results. And it's priced accordingly. Simply sophisticated, or at least we think so.

We can provide you with video embedding so you can show as well as tell. We can incorporate color coding, brand elements, and any of the other aspects of really great release notes that we've discussed today.

We’ll even provide email and social-ready release notes, so you can broadcast your updates anywhere, to anyone, and look good doing it.

Here's what a satisfied user has to say about us and our product.

Let ReleaseNotes take care of communicating your updates so you can take care of your team, your tribe, and your product. Together, we can create a work of art Leonardo would be proud of.