[CLOSED] Feedback on Fusion Team and Data Management

[jason.swetzoff]

Hi, I'm a Senior UX Designer on the Data Management team for Fusion 360 and would love to get some general feedback from the F360 community on and around Fusion 360. 

• Do you currently use Fusion Team?
  • If not, why not?
    • What do you use instead?
    • What features or improvements would convince you to use Team?
  • If you do, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Fusion Team?
    • What’s most confusing or annoying about Fusion Team?
    • Which things do you like best about Fusion Team?
    • What do you wish you could do in Team that you can’t do today?

Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you!

[David-Truyens]

I understand the questions of making Fusion Team into a Vault on the cloud. But don't go to fast and try to copy it. I think you guy's are doing great! No need for checkin-checkout if you can see another person is working on the document (google doc's style). I think Vault has become very time consuming to use, especially when working with items and the job processor. So keep Fusion team as lean as possible. So far it's going great! Some things I really like:

• A checkbox to create a milestone (release)!
• Keep the latest milestone as the active version when linked in a document!
• Be able to easily choose which version to show in a design
• Very simple way to see all the versions in the data panel
• And no switching between applications
• And if you use Fusion in the right way, a copy design is just a copy (linking the buy-in components to a design)! 

[jason.swetzoff]

@Anonymous I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not aware that we removed any functionality although we did recently update the toolbar which might be the reason you are having some trouble. I'd refer you to a great video (https://youtu.be/Zf-fErCl43I) and blog post (https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/ui-modernization-update/) on those changes.

@maruska We are working on sharing improvements and working hard to prioritizing improvements to the admin experience so this is great feedback that we have been hearing from other users as well. 

@PinRudolf Ooof, it's horrible to hear you lost work. Our team has experienced that recently on some of the collaboration tools we use and I know how frustrating that can be. We are definitely continuing to improve the ways multiple people can work together without having to lock files to @David-Truyens point. Good feedback on Teams and sharing as well and thanks for the kind words!

@David-Truyens It's super awesome to hear what is working well for you, this is just as helpful as the critiques. It helps a lot when we can validate that what we are doing is going in the right direction!

[jason.swetzoff]

@Anonymous I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not aware that we removed any functionality although we did recently update the toolbar which might be the reason you are having some trouble. I'd refer you to a great video (https://youtu.be/Zf-fErCl43I) and blog post (https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/ui-modernization-update/) on those changes.

@maruska We are working on sharing improvements and working hard to prioritizing improvements to the admin experience so this is great feedback that we have been hearing from other users as well. 

@PinRudolf Ooof, it's horrible to hear you lost work. Our team has experienced that recently on some of the collaboration tools we use and I know how frustrating that can be. We are definitely continuing to improve the ways multiple people can work together without having to lock files to @David-Truyens point. Good feedback on Teams and sharing as well and thanks for the kind words!

@David-Truyens It's super awesome to hear what is working well for you, this is just as helpful as the critiques. It helps a lot when we can validate that what we are doing is going in the right direction!

[PinRudolf]

@jason.swetzoff  Nah, don't worry. It never happened, we were always on our toes to prevent it from happening. I meant to say it could happen, and if it would happen it could have resultated in loss of work. 😉 Although there is always a backup, isn't there! You guys have our backs! 😄

[carl.j.barker]

There are a few things I would like to see,

   A better search, at least the ability to use the wildcards * and ?. For search to return folders as well as documents. the ability to click a search result and go directly to its parent project.

   Able to group projects inside higher level folders, for instance 'Customer', 'Quotes', 'Year'. Why would anyone want reams of single part projects at the highest level in the browser ?

   Display filters i.e.  Assemblies/parts,  Drawings, Images, DWG and DXF's and now Schematics, Boards, Libraries.

   Pop out browser windows to enable drag and drop.

  Oh and a 'I don't give a ****, just delete the **** thing, button' when I try to delete something that is used elsewhere.

[isedhe]

We recently bought another license. I then went on to send the "invite" to my colleague's email address. When he created the account and logged into Fusion 360 for the first time, he got the "Create Team" dialog. He could not figure out how to join the existing team, which was named "company". So he asked what the team was called, I told him it was "company" and he entered that exact same string. Unfortunately this created another team named "company" (and the url of "company1.autodesk360.com"). I had to manually add him to the correct team afterwards. That is not a great experience. I even set the original team to auto-join all users with "@company.com" email addresses, but that didn't seem to work either.

If I buy a license and send an invite to a colleague, I expect them to be put in the correct team.

[OrvillePirlot]

Hi,

I just started using Fusion 360 professionally and so far I think it has great potential. The vision seems to be very future-oriented and not just another type of CAD (but just put it online).

I really like:

• the different teams you can be in and how you switch between them,
• the fact that versioning was taken into account from the beginning,
• the way you can view a model online and have an overview of the design references (I am still looking into discussing models online via commenting),
• the milestones (I really like these)

Things that are sometimes holding me back are at the moment mostly related to versioning. Although milestones are already a huge step in the right direction I think versioning is still falling somewhat short. The type of versioning seems to be limiting in my workflow. I need to be able to indicate which exact version a file is (current versioning V.x), which model has been prototyped and tested (using current milestones M.x) but I would also like to indicate which production version something is in a BOM and which different concepts could be tried as well (sort of like branching).

I am not sure why branching was removed (I started using Fusion right after it was decided to delete this function) but I actually think this would have been a plus for my workflow. It would at least have provided an extra type of versioning without having to copy my files and renaming them.

I also haven't found a good way to get versioning into my BOM. I could hack it by putting the versionNumber into the description using the API but I do not want my customer to get a BOM which says partA V.119. These high numbers are a big disadvantage. Milestones could solve at least this last problem but I cannot seem to get them in the BOM or via the API. Being able to get the milestone via the API would already provide me with a lot of possibilities to automate and hack my way out of some of these problems.

As I have only just started to use Fusion 360 and the Autodesk Community recently, I hope that what I am saying is of use and at least mostly in the correct place.

Cheers,

Orville

[Anonymous]

I find Teams partly implemented and released in a hurry.

I have stumpled a lot during this new feature/concept.

The wording of concepts in Teams is so unfamiliar that I have a hard time to understand it. I'm having 40+ years experience as a hardware and software developer , and still struggles to understand the words here.
What the heck is "Project Contributor", and how do I find the explanation to clearify. Oh, but dont put a link up, just explain how I would find the explanation (if it exists) you would othervise link to 🙂

Why is there no menu item in F360 to transfer projects from personal account to teams ?

Why is there no menu items in the Teams web project page, to be able to switch forth and back between admin and project view. Why does it have to be separate pages in the first place.

Why am I asked, on every start of F360, to move projects to teams, without being able to quit that dialogque altogether. If you want us to transfer at some time, then add a menu item in F360 and make a popup note about it on the release. I have a personal space and also created a Teams hub. I dont want to move my projects until i'm sure it works flawlessly, and from what I have seen in the forums, it doesn't fly yet.

Why does it have to be so hard to find the place to edit project details. Just to switch project type is a real pain in the .... 

[alpineglobalprivate]

I cannot believe how AWFUL the tool library preview is. It makes me feel ill just thinking about it. Luckily, I found I could 'UN-preview' it and go back to the 'real' Excel looking format. It may have a place if it does not get rid of the 'normal' Excel looking format, but if it becomes the only option, the F360 suicide rate will incline steeply.

To be able to look at ALL your options at a glance and to be able to sort by column (might add sort by tool number field) but if that is what we are left with, whoever thought that up should be fired. There is no way to scan over all the data at a glance. I has some good features, but it should NOT be the ONLY option; maybe as a viewing format selectable option, but definitely do not get rid of the current format.

-Christian

[robpicinic]

At first. I was almost like you. I had a tough time looking at this new format/look.
But, once you learn to navigate the new menus. It’s 👍👍 actually.

Yes you can sort by tool number.
You can sort and filter in many ways making this very easy to find the right tool.

Before you completely disband the idea. Get help from the community by asking how to navigate.

Be kind to others. And stay safe.

[ercwtsnHDS]

Do we currently use Fusion Team?

No. Unfortunately, Fusion Team doesn't offer customizable search features, nor any way to customize how data is sorted. We need to see how designs group and relate across a variety of customers and projects. Instead, we use windows file explore with a series of spreadsheets to cross-reference CAD data.

It would be nice if Designs, Folders, and Projects could be given custom metadata properties (e.g. Inventor's iProperties). And data then could be sorted by those 'meta-properties'.

It would be if the design viewer displayed the part number and description in the tree of an assembly, not just the part name.

It would be nice if the search could actually search part numbers assigned to components inside a Design.

If Fusion Teams could offer better tools to search, browse, and sort data I could convince my company to implement using Fusion 360. It's a sweet CAD package and delivers nearly everything we need, but its data management is a no go for us.

[jason.swetzoff]

@carl.j.barker  Thanks for the feedback. Some really good suggestions. Could you tell me a bit more about "Pop out browser windows to enable drag and drop" and what you would use that for? Would it be just for managing your data? 

[jason.swetzoff]

@isedhe Sorry to hear that, you should definitely be able to invite someone to your team easily. Not sure what went wrong there. Although we are planning on making improvements here I have not heard of this specific issue before. I'll pass this on to those working on this experience to see if they know what happened. 

[jason.swetzoff]

Hi @OrvillePirlot, thanks for the positive feedback and I'm glad to hear it has potential. I think a lot of the things that are holding you back are planned improvements. I shared your post with some other XD designers who are working on something similar. 

[jason.swetzoff]

@Anonymous I hear you. We definitely have plans to make improvements that will address some of these things. Also some good suggestions. Could you give me a bit more detail on "to be able to switch forth and back between admin and project view"? 

[jason.swetzoff]

@alpineglobalprivate Although I or my team doesn't work on tool libraries I know that there are improvements being worked on currently for tool libraries. I will pass your post on to the XD person currently looking at making improvements here. 

@robpicinic I'm glad you are finding some success with the tool library, knowing what works is just as important for us to know as what doesn't work. I'll pass your feedback on as well! Thanks!

[jason.swetzoff]

@ercwtsnHDS  Thanks for the feedback, great to know. It sounds like you need some more powerful data management functionality within Team before you can go all in. I'm hoping we can do that in the near future. We definitely are working on making Team more powerful. 

[robpicinic]

BTW.....while you are making improvements to the Tool Library.
Please make a way to save me changes stick.
I personally like to have my Tool Number Column turned on when looking at my library.
As well, I'd like that when I set the sorting on the Tool Number Column to stay set when I exit.
I've had to reset each and every time I enter the Tool Library.

Again........thanks for your hard efforts. And keep up the great work!
Be well and stay safe!

[Anonymous]

Hi, thank you for reading my feedback.

I finally found out abouth switching between admin and project. Here are examples of links between the two sites:

https://<account>.autodesk360.com/g/all_projects/my

https://<account>.autodesk360.com/g/admin/manage/projects

To switch to project, click the F logo.

To switch to admin, click yout personal logo and click admin.

You really tried to hide it, but I still found it 🙂

Regards Henrik.

[jason.swetzoff]

@robpicinic Thanks again for your feedback. I passed your post on to the XD designer working on this.