Summary
Directly experiencing research with customers has a powerful focusing effect on teams and decision-making. This case study describes how we created a massively scaled customer research program at Autodesk, in coordination with our large user conference, Autodesk University in Las Vegas, and how we then synthesized and shared the customer insights back with our employees. This program has helped cross-functional teams make better product decisions, deepen customer empathy, and break down silos. We’ll share lessons learned and the keys to success of this program that invites anyone in the company to conduct customer research.
Key Insights
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Autodesk's diverse products create silos that hinder customer insight sharing.
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The voice of the customer program helped break down these silos by promoting collaboration among different teams.
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The annual Autodesk University conference provided a unique environment for engaging with customers and conducting research.
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The program democratized customer research, enabling employees from various roles to participate and learn directly from customers.
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Employee participation in research increased understanding and empathy towards customer needs across the organization.
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Synthesis of insights and sharing back to teams is critical for ensuring customer feedback translates into actionable improvements.
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Finding executive sponsors is essential to legitimizing and advancing research initiatives within a large organization.
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Creating clear structure and templates improves the quality of research outputs and helps staff effectively share their findings.
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Incorporating customer feedback into product development fosters greater innovation and alignment with user needs.
Notable Quotes
"Our products are powerful and complex, and our goal is that our customers can use them end to end."
"Customer understanding gives teams focus and enables them to solve the most important customer problems."
"The more we can open our arms as design to our cross-functional partners, the more successful we will all be."
"What if we could fully combine customer research at the Autodesk University conference?"
"This shift removed friction and allowed many good conversations in a short amount of time."
"The voice of the customer really became a platform for us to do research at AU."
"By 2016, we created the Idea Exchange, changing how we structured customer research."
"We are seeing this established as a part of our culture at Autodesk."
"The track lead program has been the most impactful in helping scale our research efforts."
"Let’s make this a year-round program for continuous engagement and feedback."
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