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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Large enterprise companies like Autodesk face silos caused by product lines and global distribution that hinder shared customer understanding.
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Early Autodesk University research efforts were fragmented and resource-intensive, requiring dedicated coordination to scale.
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Creating visible, approachable research spaces (e.g., researchers in lab coats) encouraged customer engagement but later needed adjusting to be less intimidating.
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Involving non-researchers, such as marketers and legal teams, democratized and expanded the impact of customer research at Autodesk.
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Executive sponsorship by Maria Judice was crucial in elevating customer research to a strategic company-wide initiative.
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Organizing research insights into thematic tracks aligned with business goals helped make the data relevant and actionable across teams.
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Track leads, skilled at synthesis and facilitating conversations, are the secret ingredient to scaling and deepening research impact.
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Simple, structured reporting templates empower novices to share useful insights without requiring formal research expertise.
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Post-conference online share-outs ensured research learnings were synthesized, widely distributed, and not lost in busy work environments.
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Continuous, year-round customer dialogue rather than one-off events strengthens product innovation and customer empathy over time.
Notable Quotes
"Sometimes working at a big company feels like there are dozens of teams pulling in different directions, making progress hard."
"These two teams have very different mental models, but customers are using both products seamlessly in reality."
"Customer understanding gives teams focus, and customer empathy gives purpose."
"We ditched the lab coats because they were a little off-putting to customers."
"The program became a gateway drug for customer research for people who didn’t know its power."
"On the flight home after AU, I panicked thinking no one would synthesize or share what they learned."
"At Autodesk, we found the track lead role was the number one secret ingredient to making this program scale."
"Customer empathy comes when you can sit face to face, hear their smiles or groans, and get real-time feedback."
"Start small and grow organically without needing lots of budget or executive sponsorship at first."
"This work is helping people get in touch with the soul of the company during transitions."
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