New document approvals overview

New document approvals is a wholistic redesign of the existing approvals process that is currently in development for Adobe Workfront. Currently available in limited release, it is designed to be a practical and effective solution for businesses requiring comprehensive stakeholder engagement and version-specific document approvals. Its thoughtful design and purposeful new features facilitate collaboration, role clarity, and version control in the approval process, enhancing efficiency and accountability.

Continue reading below for more information on planned features and releases for New Document Approvals.

IMPORTANT
The content of this article refers to updated document approval functionality that is only available for specific accounts. For information on standard approval processes, see the articles listed in Work approvals.

New features and design goals

  • Inclusive stakeholder participation
    New Document Approvals allow the inclusion of both individual contributors and entire teams in the approval process. Facilitating this broader participation ensures comprehensive stakeholder engagement and fosters a more informed and collaborative decision-making environment.

  • Differentiated review and approval roles
    New Document Approvals is designed to recognize and respect the varying roles within the approval process. By providing the ability to identify and designate reviewers—users who are notified to provide feedback but do not have decision-making authority—the quality of feedback is enhanced while maintaining clarity of final approval authority.

  • Version-specific approvals
    The iterative nature of document development often leads to multiple versions of the same document. New Document Approvals accommodates this reality by providing unique approval chains for each version of a document. This allows users to upload a new version and add new approvers or reviewers as needed, ensuring that feedback and approval are specific to the document version and eliminating potential confusion.

  • Audit trails
    With New Document Approvals, an audit trail of all approval activities is maintained in the activity stream, providing a valuable resource for future reference and compliance.

Release plan

We are making New Document Approvals available to users over the course of several releases. In addition to adding new features, we will also expand the number of accounts for which New Document Approvals are available with each release.

If you would like to have New Document Approvals enabled in you production environment, please reach out to your Customer Success or Strategic Account Manager.

Using New Document Approvals

For users looking to create or manage document approvals, see the articles listed in Set up and manage asset and document approvals: article index

For users looking to review or approve documents for which they have received a request, see the articles listed in Approve and review documents: article index.

IMPORTANT
The New Document Approvals are not supported in the current reporting tool. The All Approvals widget available in new Home and Canvas Dashboards provides the following details about New Document Approvals:
  • Approvals by decision
  • Average approval time
  • Pending approvals
  • Overdue approvals
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