by Eunice Chang
On the Monday before Autodesk University (AU) officially kicked off, the AutoCAD UX team was hard at work brainstorming and co-designing with end users. We were piloting a new methodology, coined the AutoCAD Design Jams, where we collaborated with users to envision the AutoCAD experience in five years. After breaking up into small teams composed of 2-3 users and 2 AutoCAD UXers, we developed concepts that focused on three main topics. The pilot was wildly successful. Not only did our participants roll-up their sleeves to build out and present concepts that would be useful for them, we also had a couple folks from the software development (SWD) team join in on the action! Some of the feedback we received from our participants after the Design Jams included:
- “What I enjoyed about the event was the ability to collaborate with likeminded peers in my industry and forward thinking product designers and programmers. This validated that Autodesk is not only actively listening to current customer feedback, but also looking ahead into future trends as it relates to computing technology.” - Shobit B., Principal
- “I think that the session was nothing less than a rare and probably singular opportunity to voice our hopes and needs for future releases of the software. I've been using Autodesk products for 23 years and this has been the sole opportunity I've had to speak directly to team members who had direct effect on the user experience of AutoCAD. – Curt M., Owner/Editor
- “It was the coolest event I had in AU :-)”– Basam Y., Digital Design Group
- “I had a great time dreaming the future and creating a wish-list of what I would want in AutoCAD.”– Arzan W.
And in the words of one of the AutoCAD SWD participants: “It was refreshing to talk with customers, listen to their experience, their problems and how they envision a solution from Autodesk… I personally feel empowered and energized when I know my work is helping somebody specific. The Design Jam Session gave me [this] rare opportunity.”
Given the positive feedback, we hope to run more AutoCAD Design Jams in the future and will continue to include SWD!
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