Implementation of ideas from this board

[damian_ehrensperger]

Question: Is this forum only to "keep the users involved" or do you really improve the program and profit from all the user inputs; why is Inventor still in 2024 not much better than it is after so many years?
--> Please show the implementation history on a time line. With all done, currently in work and planned improvements from this forum.
Otherwise, just shouting into a black box without for some user votes is not the game I am interested in. If there are no significant improvements visible, we would change at the next opportunity the program.

[ChrisMitchell01]

Hi Damian,

Yes, this board is one of several areas that help with product enhancement directions. From the top level Idea board you can filter by Status:

Implemented are all the ones actually in released product. Those Accepted are under active development & will be changed to Implemented on release. Also any Implemented Ideas are called out in the online Help with a direct link back to the specific idea.

EG: - https://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2025/ENU/?guid=GUID-FA6AEB23-CBCF-4A97-A383-354B52BEE110

Thanks,

Chris

[ChrisMitchell01]

Here's a version of a timeline back to Inventor 2020 - https://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2025/ENU/?guid=GUID-79BEECAC-18E6-478A-8406-1DD581F620D6

[74321Admin]

My question is:

How many votes does it take to get an idea under review?

[k.hendrickx]

@74321Admin Don't really think it takes a "required" amount of votes.

Although more votes will increase the "urgency" of an idea, but might also require far more work then a small change that has just 5 votes.

I'm pretty sure Autodesk does take these things very seriously, but what people tend to forget is that some of the ideas take quite a big impact on the program as a whole. Most of the requests aren't just simply adding stuff on top of what we already have, but have to work together with numerous of other features or workflows.

Basically I'd rather be missing out on a feature which would save me 5 minutes but makes Inventor unstable and crash every 2 hours loosing much more time.

I highly doubt that many other software developers actually give this option at all... At least I don't know of any such capability with Microsoft for example?

Microsoft: "Got an idea for Word? That's cute, now go back spending 5 hours to re-layout your document because you placed a space before an image." 😂

[74321Admin]

at k.hendrickx:

I get your point, but to use a comparison:

Sometimes when it is too difficult to change the construction, it may be because of the basic sketch!

[kacper.suchomski]

New users have this fresh perspective and are not "used to" some of the issues, which is a good starting point.

But this medal has another side:

1. They often suggest features that are already in the software.
2. They propose solutions whose implementation is disproportionately difficult in relation to the innovation achieved.
3. They want it to be a different program - they don't want an improvement, they want an alternative workflow (and that's what alternative software is for).

And I don't agree with the analogy about the lack of a basic sketch. It happens that rebuilding a model is more difficult than building a new one or starting a copy from a certain stage.

Returning to the implementation difficulties, there are many reasons for them:

1. The amount of work of programmers and people around.
2. As mentioned earlier the connections with other functions and environments. Sometimes this can disrupt the broader workflow.
3. Intellectual property - some solutions are patented and cannot be copied. Not everyone realizes this, but questions like "Why is it not like in NX, SW, SE?" are formally very often unconscious calls for plagiarism. And all solutions are constantly monitored in this field between software developers.

[mikeh2]

As end users who once had your mindset, we need to keep in mind that they are a company who have budgets, limited resources, deadlines with annual releases.  The number of markets they are involved in is vast .  Just like the business we're in.  We listen to the customer, ideas float to the top that we can achieve quickly, and some that are not. Then it's the rational of how much time is required to develop, as well as how many customers will it help  Lastly we need to test it to make sure we don't cause another problem.

The people behind Inventor are a great group and they really do want to help us.  My best suggestion is to get involved in what I'll call the Beta group and you'll get a glimpse behind the scenes, and why they make the decisions they make.  They're great listeners.

https://feedback.autodesk.com/

Regards

[tstout9GFVP]

The whole "Break the software workflow" thing is just a bit ridiculous and very limiting at this point, and I wonder if it is somehow an excuse. I have worked for years with Pro/E (now Creo) and SolidWorks among other softwares. We never heard this as a reason as to why the software is not much better today than it was 5 years prior because they listened to users and improved things in fairly quick fashion. If Autodesk is too stretched in too many market sectors, then it might be time for them to step away from some and focus on the most profitable/productive ones. A company that has its hands in too many pots and does none of them well is missing the point entirely. Focus on your core competencies. Everything else is a distraction. Also, are companies told up front when they are shopping for design engineering software packages that Inventor will improve at a snail's pace? No. Ok, then if Autodesk is purposely hiding the fact on the sales end, is that maybe just a bit unethical?