Community Initiatives

iECHO is built with the ECHO community, not just for it. Across the year we run a set of open initiatives where partners help decide what we build, test it before it ships and learn what is coming next.

Join an initiative See how it works

Free to join, always

Open to partners, hub teams and participants

Four ways to take part, from an hour a year to ongoing

Four ways to take part

Pick the one that fits the time you can give.

Once a year

iECHO Connect

Our flagship annual virtual conference: what was built, what is next and stories from partners.

Learn more ↓

Every two months

iECHO Collaborative

A working session where partner hub teams and the product team prioritize enhancements together.

Learn more ↓

Before each major release

iECHO Beta Program

Early access to new features inside your own account, weeks before everyone else.

Learn more ↓

When a new design is ready

Usability Testing

Try clickable prototypes with a designer, one-on-one, before a line of code is written.

Learn more ↓

How your input becomes a feature

Each initiative meets a feature at a different point in its life. Together they mean the community has a say from the first sketch to the release notes.

  1. 1

    Design

    Usability Testing

    You try a clickable prototype and we fix what confuses, while it is still a drawing.

  2. 2

    Build

    iECHO Beta Program

    Partner hubs run the feature for real, and fixes land before general release.

  3. 3

    Prioritize

    iECHO Collaborative

    Every two months, partners and the product team decide what comes next and hear what happened to earlier suggestions.

  4. 4

    Share

    iECHO Connect

    Once a year the whole community sees what shipped, what it changed and the roadmap ahead.

iECHO Connect

Our flagship annual virtual conference and the one moment in the year when the whole community comes together around the platform. It is where we share what has been built, what we learned from it and where iECHO is heading next.

  • Live demonstrations of the year's new developments
  • The upcoming roadmap, including what we decided not to build and why
  • Partner stories from programs running at scale
  • Open Q&A with the product, design and support teams
Format
Virtual, multiple time zones
Open to
The whole ECHO community
Cost
Free
About iECHO Connect
Illustration of the ECHO community gathered around a virtual conference screen
Illustration of partners working together around a table

iECHO Collaborative

A bimonthly gathering of key partners who use iECHO day to day. It is a working session, not a presentation: partners bring what is and is not working in their programs, and we work through it together.

  • Partners share how they use iECHO, including the workarounds they have invented
  • The product team brings open questions before decisions are locked in
  • Enhancement requests are proposed, discussed and prioritized together
  • We report back on what happened to earlier suggestions
Format
Virtual working session
Open to
Partner hub teams using iECHO
You bring
Real experience of running programs
About the Collaborative

iECHO Beta Program

An early preview of new features, so you can try them with your own programs and share ideas while there is still time to act on them. Beta partners see functionality weeks before it reaches everyone else.

  • Early access switched on for your organization, with a short guide to what is new
  • Use it in your real programs or in a test program if you prefer
  • Report anything that breaks, confuses or is missing, straight to the team building it
  • Fixes land before general release, and we tell you which of your points made it in
Format
Inside your own iECHO account
Open to
Partner hub teams
You bring
Honest feedback within the release window
About the Beta Program
Illustration of a laptop with early access switched on and a rocket taking off
Illustration of a prototype screen examined through a magnifying glass

Usability Testing

Long before a feature is built, it exists as a set of visual designs. Usability testing is your chance to try those designs and tell us where they confuse, slow down or simply miss the point, while changing them is still cheap.

  • A short session with a designer, one-on-one, over video
  • A clickable prototype and a realistic task, such as scheduling a session
  • We watch where you hesitate; nothing you do is wrong, the design is what is being tested
  • Your feedback goes straight back into the design before development starts
Format
One-on-one video, 30 to 45 minutes
Open to
Any iECHO user, technical or not
Preparation
None
About Usability Testing

Other ways to shape iECHO

Share feedback

Report a problem or suggest an improvement at any time through the feedback form.

Vote on feature requests

See what others have asked for, add your vote and submit ideas of your own.

Follow release notes

See what shipped in each release, including the changes that came from this community.

Partner Learning Trainings

Join a training session covering the ECHO Model and how to get the most out of iECHO.

Help build the platform you use

Tell us which initiatives you would like to take part in and we will bring you into the next round.

community@iecho.org Send feedback instead