Autodesk Insider Describe the challenges that you and those you work with face. Be sure that release readiness processes are tuned to the best of our ability to support timely product release goals. The management of the Autodesk Feedback Community is a very different challenge. It takes a lot of hands on customer interaction with thousands of beta customers during any given beta cycle. Challenging, but fun!
How much time do you get to do external research apart from responding to users directly? External research kicks in whenever I do not have an answer in hand for customers. This applies to internal as well as external inquiries. Research is something that I do on a daily basis.
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Can you say how many people work with you, or perhaps how the work you do is shared? It would be difficult to count all of the individuals I deal with. My work and relevant information is usually shared via email or other forms of written communication.
forward to helping with the implementation of the new AUGI Wish List. This will enhance the experience for customers and Autodesk staffers alike.
Do you or your team get involved in planning for future releases of the software?
It would be great if we could further enhance the collaboration between AUGI and the Autodesk Feedback Community.
There are several teams and key individuals who contribute to future release content. The AutoCAD Product Management Team is definitely a contributor in the overall process. Many of my team members look after specific features and functionality and we are all contributing in one way or another to the next release. How do you interact with the product teams, developers, and quality assurance teams? My role requires me to interact with all internal groups on a regular basis. There are not only product teams, developers, and quality assurance teams. There are also operations, creative, marketing, finance, and legal teams. And that does not even count all of the teams involved to make sure our products cycles are completed successfully.
What sort of things do you do for distraction, hobbies, travel? Whenever time allows I spend time with my wife and our chocolate Labrador. We are also expecting our first child in the summer, which adds yet another layer of complexity. I also love to cook for family and friends alike—no matter the size of the group.
What would we be most surprised to know about you? My career with Autodesk started in the United Kingdom. Also, I am a student after hours and attend an online college. My goal is to have a master’s degree in hand soon. I worked as a chef before entering the world of information technology. Can our readers contact you with any follow-up questions? I love to hear from anybody who has an interest to speak with me. Feel free to email at volker.joseph@autodesk.com with any question that comes to mind.
Any tricks you use to help check how successful your efforts are? As far as release readiness is concerned—all products were successfully launched, on schedule. As far as the Autodesk Feedback Community is concerned—all major beta release milestones were met and, moreso, testers had a good experience and were able to share their feedback with us. What can AUGI members do to help? It would be great if we could further enhance the collaboration between AUGI and the Autodesk Feedback Community. I also look
May 2011
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