topic Re: Why are some ideas not implemented? in Inventor Forum

Why are some ideas not implemented?

MKE_Howard — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:03:07 GMT

Hi everyone, I spend a lot of time in the IdeaStation of the forum, and I see a ton of cool ideas that probably won’t ever make it into Inventor (at least not in my lifetime haha). I get that some of these ideas might cause issues, mess with the software's stability, or just don’t fit the Inventor workflow.

One idea I’d love to see is the ability to have separate model browsers when using two or three screens. A lot of people have asked for this, and there’s a big group of requests spread across different posts, but nothing’s happened so far. I’m guessing if it hasn’t been added, it’s because the devs can’t make it happen. But my question is: why?

Just to be clear, I’m not upset with anyone, I’m just genuinely curious. If anyone can explain, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

mluterman — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:28:55 GMT

Separate model browsers would be nice. But in the meantime, I open two instances of Inventor. It allows me to have the two model browsers, but you can't drag-and-drop from one screen to the next, you have to cut-and-paste instead. As far as the rest of your quesion goes...I was wondering that myself.

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

Curtis_W — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:33:56 GMT

@MKE_Howard

There is a cost analysis that goes into every update, and some changes are just really expensive. Example: I have an idea posted from years ago that will probably never get implemented, because as I was told by the development team, anything involving styles and standards is immediately an expensive update, and would need a large majority of user support.

There is also an ongoing roadmap for Inventor, so many times ideas that get accepted sort of just happen to fit in with that roadmap. So although an idea might make sense and have support, the dev team just hasn't touched that part of Inventor since it was created, so they've not taken it on.

There are at least a couple of other factors I've heard @dan_szymanski and team mention, but those are not coming to mind. Maybe Dan can speak to more of what factors in.

Here are a couple of other ways to get involved with the future of Inventor (if you're not already aware of them)

Inventor CAG (Customer Advisory Group )

Assuming it's still open you can : Click Here to register.

Inventor "Beta program":

https://feedback.autodesk.com/enter/

Hope that helps,

Curtis

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

MKE_Howard — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:43:52 GMT

Thanks for the info. You mentioned that there is a roadmap. How can we see it? Thanks

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

Curtis_W — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

@MKE_Howard wrote:

Thanks for the info. You mentioned that there is a roadmap. How can we see it? Thanks

I'm not sure if there is anything available that we can view, Dan can probably answer that.

I do have this photo of Dan explaining the roadmap 😂

(That's just a funny picture, not a shot at Dan and team... they do a great job of managing Inventor and listening to users. )

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

MKE_Howard — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:15:05 GMT

I think having a roadmap would be a great idea because it would allow users to see what's coming for Inventor and help them generate ideas based on where the software currently stands. You could display a reminder when creating an idea post, something like: 'Inventor developers are currently working on X. If your suggestion isn't related to what the developers are focused on, please note that your idea has a much lower chance of being accepted.

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

Curtis_W — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 21:06:56 GMT

@MKE_Howard wrote:

I think having a roadmap would be a great idea because it would allow users to see what's coming for Inventor and help them generate ideas based on where the software currently stands. You could display a reminder when creating an idea post, something like: 'Inventor developers are currently working on X. If your suggestion isn't related to what the developers are focused on, please note that your idea has a much lower chance of being accepted.

That's a great idea, except for one thing: attorneys 😄

I'm pretty sure all of the Inventor developers have tattoos that say "we can't speak publicly about product futures".

If you join the beta program you'll be under an NDA and then you will be able to see and discuss what they are working on. The CAG might be the same (I've not participated in that yet)

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

MKE_Howard — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:50:03 GMT

oh yeah I forgot about the legal part hahaha Thanks

Re: Why are some ideas not implemented?

dan_szymanski — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 19:28:55 GMT

Hello @MKE_Howard,

Sorry for the delayed response. @Curtis_W has not steered you wrong (perhaps even parts of the PM image are accurate 🤣).

The best place to see what the Inventor Team is working on is within the Internal Feedback Community (join the fun here).
Within it we share; loads of product updates (of which include product direction), workflow videos, usability surveys, internal (NDA protected) discussions within topical forums, invitations to virtual and live events (ITF - Inside The Factory events), and even demonstrable code (in the form of alpha/beta/release candidate builds that can be run locally or virtually within a internet browser).

It is a great place to get your burning Inventor questions answered.

As to your question - the following Idea: Multiple model browsers for multiple monitors currently (as of 1/27/2025) has 128 votes. We evaluate a number of considerations before taking action on any idea. We evaluate; strategic fit, pervasiveness, severity, impact, cost (which includes design, development, assuring quality & documentation), community support, etc. This idea sits within the Top 100 of non-implemented Ideas, however there is a workaround to accomplish it (as previously stated by @mluterman, just run 2 concurrent Inventor sessions at the same time). As such, should we consider delivering it, or go after something that does not have a workaround? That is the fun part of our job and an ingredient within the secret sauce of software development. Clear as mud right? 😁 At this time there are nearly 10,000 Ideas posted to our Inventor Ideas Forum. So we have no shortage of enhancements to consider. We do our very best to engage with you, our customer partners, to understand what you want & what you need the software to do. Our goal is to deliver tools that allow you to go home early, or finish your work faster, so you can take on more work. At this time there is no active public roadmap. We attempt to update the Ideas forum status to give you an indication of when a Idea may eventually be realized. "Future Consideration" = we are actively investigating feasibility, "Accepted" = on our current roadmap for near term consideration. Hope this helps some.

-Dan