Improving website findability to help customers get assistance with their software, fast
Role:
UX Design
Services:
content modeling, design system patterns & components, navigation, A/B testing
Context
Autodesk is a software company known for its design software used in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and entertainment industries. With over 160 products for 2D and 3D design, simulation, animation, and visual effects, their help & support website serves over 18 million page views per month in 27 languages.
Autodesk had recently moved from individual software licenses to a subscription-based model. When customers came to the help section of the Autodesk website looking for assistance with software licenses and installation, they were met with an overwhelming array of articles organized in an unintuitive way. Despite having the necessary information on the site, traffic to these pages was low, and customers often resorted to submitting support tickets for common issues.
Team
The team consisted of a product manager, visual designer, web publisher, and data analyst. We collaborated closely with the Autodesk Digital Product & Experience content strategy team.
Customers visiting a help and learning site have one goal: solve their problem efficiently and get back to work.
Instead, they were met with an overwhelming array of articles organized in an unintuitive way. Customers often resorted to submitting support tickets for common issues, not realizing the information was on the site.
We restructured the content and navigation in the midst of a corporate rebrand, a migration from Drupal to Adobe Experience Manager, and helped shape a developing design system. AEM components had to be leveraged where possible, and new ones created with the flexibility to accommodate changes in the coming months.
Process
Discovery Phase
Analysis of existing metrics and customer feedback: Reviewed qualitative and quantitative data with the web analytics team and collected customer feedback from on-page feedback forms and Qualtrics survey.
UX Research: Conducted interviews with internal subject matter experts to identify top improvements to existing content, ran an initial A/B test to validate top customer tasks.
Project Kickoff: Conducted in-depth discussions with stakeholders (product management, content strategy, visual design, web publishing, analytics, engineering, and design system team) to understand business goals, specific requirements, prior work, and constraints.
Design and Development
Content Modeling & Wireframes: Defined content types, page elements, and templates for the updated support section following a content audit and updated information architecture from the content strategy team. Partnered with visual designer to iterate on navigation menu designs for desktop and mobile.
Content Strategy: Developed a content strategy that includes compelling product descriptions, high-quality images, and engaging blog posts about furniture trends and interior design tips.
Design system contributions: Partnering with a visual designer with a mind for solving UX problems and a deep knowledge of existing AEM components, we made decisions regarding where to adapt our solutions to take advantage of existing components, and where to request a variation or contribute a new pattern.
Testing and Iteration
A/B Testing: Conducted usability testing with potential customers to gather feedback and refine the user interface and shopping experience. Iterated on button copy, colors, variations on component designs, and navigation links.
Results
4 rounds of A/B testing yielded a significant drop in support cases and increased CTR on navigation links.
In the months following the launch of the new design, we saw:
