Product update: Roadmap 2025

Hey, community! 👋 With the release of version 0.30 just around the corner, it’s time for a new product update. In this post, we’ll share information about:

• The 2025 release calendar

• Ongoing developments

• Tech governance in the internal regulations

Release Calendar

Following the release of version 0.30, we’re already working on 0.31, with a primary focus on updating Rails to version 7.2, as 7.0 is reaching its end of life. Our goal is to have this update ready in the following months. This won’t be as big a release as 0.30, as the main priority is the Rails upgrade, but it will still include several new features already in development, keep reading to find out more!

📣 Important announcement: Starting in October 2025, we will discontinue support for version 0.27. This marks 18 months since the release of version 0.28, and we believe there has been ample time to migrate to newer versions that include Decidim’s updated design. Just a reminder: we actively maintain the latest two versions of Decidim.

Ongoing Developments

Our current strategic priorities focus on strengthening Decidim’s technical foundation while enhancing the user experience. We are committed to reducing technical debt to keep the codebase clean, maintainable, and aligned with the latest standards. At the same time, we are continuously improving the UI of the new design, both in the frontend and the admin panel, to make Decidim more intuitive, accessible, and visually consistent.

Regarding this year’s roadmap, here are the features we have planned:

Features grouped by funded projects

Interoperability and Open Data improvements (funded by Metagov & Barcelona Supercomputing Center)

Some of these features started to be implemented last year, and we are now in the final stages of development. You can read more about each project in these blog posts:

• Decidim and BSC collaborate to enhance open data capabilities

• New project to improve Decidim’s interoperability: CSV export & import

You can also check out the detailed issues on GitHub: https://github.com/orgs/decidim/projects/24/views/19?query=is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc

Decidim Revamp (funded by NLNet)

This project focuses on consolidating core functionalities, fixing critical bugs, and improving code maintainability after years of continuous development. Some key areas include:

• Accessibility improvements: Conducting an audit and implementing necessary changes, including user tests by our UX designer.

• Improved modularization: Reviewing the Processes and Assemblies modules to assess merging possibilities.

• Code clean-up: Removing outdated functionalities and optimizing front-end menus, the admin dashboard, and attachments.

• Updated documentation: Identifying outdated content and unifying terminology before publishing a refreshed documentation site.

👉 Read a summary on our blog: https://decidim.org/blog/2025-02-14-decidim-revamp-platform-consolidation-and-improvement-with-ngi-support/

Elections component (funded by the Spanish Ministry of Labor & Social Economy)

After experimenting with various voting modules (both with and without cryptography) and engaging with organizations that need such mechanisms for governance, we are developing a new component called Elections. This will be an improved iteration of the old Consultations module, allowing for voting without cryptographic mechanisms. Organizations needing cryptographic security can still use the Vocdoni integration.

UX improvements (funded by Diputació de Barcelona)

This year, another major Catalan institution, the government of the province of Barcelona, is joining efforts to support the sustainability of the Decidim Association through several activities, among them:

• UX research and usability improvements: we will conduct user research to identify usability enhancements, following a structured research plan. This will include workshops, focus groups, or interviews with Decidim participants across platforms, as well as sessions with platform administrators to gather feedback on improving the admin dashboard. Findings will be compiled into a report and shared with the community, followed by prioritization of key needs in alignment with the Association’s goals.

• Design System development: we’ll audit existing design elements (colors, typography, buttons, etc.) and address inconsistencies. This will inform the creation of a unified design system, including reusable component libraries.

Features agreed upon with the community & stakeholders

We’ll also be developing the following improvements based on agreements with the community and stakeholders:

Decidim Fest 2024: Implementing features prioritized in the last roadmap sync session:

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17897

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17898

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17910

European Commission: Developing the following improvements:

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17809

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17810

Generalitat de Catalunya: Integrating these features into the core repository:

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17973

• https://meta.decidim.org/processes/roadmap/f/122/proposals/17971

Tech Governance in the Internal Regulations

As you may know, we are currently running a participatory process to define Decidim’s internal regulations. One key aspect involves how we collectively build the product roadmap, and we plan to start applying this framework once it’s approved at the next General Assembly.

To align with this new approach, we’re also conducting a spring clean-up of outdated GitHub issues. This includes:

✅ Issues related to the old UI (already resolved with the new design)

✅ Issues referring to deprecated functionalities

We’ll be grouping these for review before closing them. Expect updates through the usual channels when we schedule the review sprints!

And that’s all for now! As always, feel free to share your thoughts, feedback, or questions. Let’s keep building Decidim together! 💜🚀