The Autodesk fiscal year runs from February 1 through January 31. So our quarters are Feb-Mar-Apr, May-Jun-Jul, Aug-Sep-Oct, and Nov-Dec-Jan. On October 31 we ended Q3 of fiscal year 2014. In my role as Program Manager for Autodesk Labs, I provide a service to some of the various divisions:
- Design, Lifecycle, & Simulation
- Information Modeling & Platform Products Group
- Media & Entertainment
- Reputation, Consumer, & Education
- Worldwide Sales/Services
that make up the company. I work with the divisions to surface their technologies as previews on the Autodesk Labs site so that customer feedback can shape the future of the technologies. It's a win-win. We don't spend time and money on technologies that customers don't want, and customers have a voice in what technologies we work on.
As part of my duties, I produce a report that analyzes the feedback we get on the various technology previews. In addition to sentiment, I look at metrics like volume. I also look at where the feedback came from, e.g. email versus social media. In years past, I produced my report monthly so I named it the Technology Preview Strategy report so its initials could be the TPS report. I am a fan of the movie Office Space. I now produce the report quarterly. Though the report contains detailed metrics and technology-preview-specific recommendations, I have shared the aggregated data (pictured above) that appears at the beginning of the report. I had a post just like this one for Q2, and It's Alive in the Lab readers liked it, so I am sharing the Q3 data. You can see we're making more use of surveys to collect feedback, so don't be surprised if you have tried a technology preview and receive an email requesting you complete a survey for that specific technology preview. Fear not, we know you're busy, so we keep the surveys brief. Right now we have surveys active for:
- Project Falcon
- Project Memento (as part of the download process)
- Project Miller
Once again thanks to the divisions of Autodesk for previewing their technologies. Thanks to the Autodesk Labs community for making this possible. Without your willingness to try and provide your insights about the technology previews, there is no Autodesk Labs. Thank you. Thank you.
Appreciation is once again alive in the lab.