Be Influenced: High Customer Touch

Pecha Kucha is a presentation format that started in Tokyo in 2003. I mention "format" because Pecha Kucha centers on form instead of content. There are actually no restrictions on the type of content that can be presented using the Pecha Kucha format. A Pecha Kucha presentation consists of a slide show of 20 images, each of which is shown for exactly 20 seconds - giving a total presentation time of 6 minutes 40 seconds. The task for the presenter is to tell a coherent story at a pace that coincides with the automatic advancement of the slides. According to Wikipedia, the name derives from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit-chat").

This form of presentation is popular at Autodesk. Autodesk CEO, Carl Bass, tells a story of woodworking, his family, and his passion for design using this process. At a recent planning session, VP of Autodesk Labs, Brian Mathews, shared his vision of Autodesk Labs with the Autodesk Labs team. One of his slides included:

One of the goals of Autodesk Labs is to "be influenced" by our customers. A typical software development process has "black out" periods where the customer and developer do not interact. These periods can precede the development of a Marketing Requirements Document (MRD) or Product Requirements Document (PRD) or follow it. With documents like these as a guide, developers tend not to hear from customers again until the Beta period begins. They certainly hear from customers, often via Sales, after release when defects need to be addressed.

Autodesk Labs is intended as a vehicle to provide communication throughout these periods. It is not a replacement for requirements documents. It is not a substitute for a beta period. Instead it is intended to allow customers to provide feedback very early in the process, way before enough words have been written down or code has been developed to constitute a beta. It is a chance for Autodesk development and adoption of technology to be influenced in a big way by what customers have to say. We were happy to see Autodesk Impression developed in this fashion. With this in mind, development is very much alive in the lab.

I think my 20 seconds are up.