CAD software vendors have long considered features the battleground for product superiority, yet a recent study conducted by Dataquest places product features fourth on the list of customer requirements for a CAD application. After "Bug Free and Stable," customers rate "Easy to Learn and Use" as the second most desirable CAD software characteristic. Analysis and additional research reveal why customers place such a strong emphasis on learnability in CAD applications.
Autodesk research studies have found that less than 30 percent of AutoCAD professionals receive any formal instruction with the product. Most users learn AutoCAD software by referring to the product documentation, reviewing third-party reference materials, and consulting with more experienced colleagues. In other words, most customers learn to use AutoCAD on the job, not in the classroom.
Similar studies find that most AutoCAD professionals use about 20 percent of the AutoCAD command set. In fact, 25 percent of the items submitted to the Wish List during the last release of AutoCAD were already part of the application. These two facts indicate that customers need more training.
Customers in industry focus groups report that upgrading to a new version of AutoCAD software often corresponds to a fall in productivity. Because of changes and enhancements, employees in these environments take weeks to see an improvement in their productivity. Customers need a fast way to learn how a new version of AutoCAD can improve the way they work.
A significant percentage of support calls Autodesk receives are caused by an inadequate understanding of the product, not by bugs in the application or missing product features. Customers having difficulty with AutoCAD software often need training rather than support.
In summary, the most common barrier to customer productivity is not a lack of specific tools or features in AutoCAD software, but a lack of training.
To meet this need, Autodesk has designed an interactive multimedia training tool that helps customers acquire the skills they need to become productive with AutoCAD at their desktop. AutoCAD Learning Assistance is not a command-centric Help system that teaches customers how to draw lines or erase objects, but a state-of-the-art learning environment where customers master effective techniques for creating, editing, and maintaining drawings in a production environment.
Training with the Learning Assistance Solution
Studies show AutoCAD professionals need a certain set of skills to quickly create accurate and attractive drawings. Productive AutoCAD users can create and edit objects, manipulate layers, make and place symbols, set up multiscale drawing sheets, plot drawings, scale drawing views, and modify the AutoCAD user interface enough to automate the tasks they perform every day.
AutoCAD Learning Assistance features more than 50 lessons and delivers more than 160 skills. These skills include creating template files, making dimensions the same size in multiscale drawings, placing Microsoft Excel tables in drawing files with object linking and embedding (OLE), using enhanced image tools to scale and clip aerial maps, creating toolbars to automate common tasks, and linking drawing data to Web pages using Internet utilities.
Most Learning Assistance lessons take less than five minutes to review and result in an immediate improvement in productivity for most users. After watching a set of skills demonstrated, users can open the drawing files associated with the lesson and experiment with the techniques just presented. This watch-and-try teaching approach lets AutoCAD professionals adopt and adapt new drawing methods quickly. Users can review lessons in sequence or simply refer to relevant lessons while at work on their own projects.
Users learn skills, not commands. Learning Assistance demonstrates techniques, methods, and procedures required to complete common drawing tasks. If customers need more information about specific functions or tools demonstrated in a lesson, they can click links found in every exercise to access AutoCAD online reference materials.
The Fast Answers interface helps users resolve many of their own technical support inquiries. Users having trouble with the Plot command or dimension styles can jump to the relevant lessons from inside AutoCAD software. They can follow topics and commands from lesson to lesson, from command to command. Because users always have access to an expert to answer questions, companies reduce their internal support costs and downtime.
Both new and experienced AutoCAD users can benefit from Learning Assistance. Learning Assistance makes sophisticated procedures easy to understand, so even if a user has never seen AutoCAD before, they can start mastering productive drawing techniques immediately by reviewing the interactive lessons. Each lesson explains every click and keystroke. Seasoned AutoCAD users will find that Learning Assistance takes on topics not in the reference manuals and shows how to use new and existing commands to create better drawings in less time.
The AutoCAD Learning Assistance environment uses computer animation, sound and dynamic links to teach in the way users want to learn. There are no lengthy lectures to review, no long tutorials to watch, no detailed summaries to listen to. Learning Assistance focuses on communicating production techniques clearly, concisely, and effectively. Studies show that with interactive multimedia training, users retain more than 75 percent of the material presented.
Learning Assistance will ship with every copy of AutoCAD software. It is designed to serve the majority of customers, who learn AutoCAD on the job, without benefit of formal instruction. Learning Assistance also links customers to the Autodesk Web site, where they can find Authorized Training Centers and Autodesk Support Centers that provide in-depth training, telephone support, and on-site assistance.
Customer Benefits
Most customers who use AutoCAD Learning Assistance will see the following results:
Increase in Productivity. New and experienced users who use AutoCAD Learning Assistance will see an improvement in their productivity. The lessons presented on the CD have been selected because they address the needs of the majority of AutoCAD users.
Reduced Upgrade "Downtime". Customers upgrading to the latest release of AutoCAD will find that the Learning Assistance CD delivers a comprehensive review of new features in the context of production drafting. Customers upgrading to a new version of AutoCAD will find Learning Assistance cuts their transition time dramatically.
Improved Skills. Customers training themselves while on the job will find that Learning Assistance is tailored to meet their requirements. Unlike application documentation or the majority of third-party reference manuals, Learning Assistance is designed to teach skills, not to review commands. Learning Assistance will help users learn to use AutoCAD software better and faster than ever before.
Reduced Support Costs. Learning Assistance provides proactive support to Autodesk customers. Customers can get expert assistance with specific commands or procedures 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Furthermore, if Learning Assistance does not provide a solution to the problem, it connects users via the Internet to Autodesk where they can find additional support and training resources.
AutoCAD Learning Assistance helps customers address the lack of training that saps productivity and increases project costs. Although Learning Assistance can't replace the formal training required to derive maximum benefit from AutoCAD software, it can help users jump-start their productivity and resolve many of the problems they encounter on the job.
Conclusion
Autodesk has a commitment to its customers that extends beyond providing a state-of-the-art CAD application that incorporates the newest features. Autodesk is also committed to the productivity of AutoCAD customers. AutoCAD Learning Assistance does just that.
Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, and AutoCAD are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
(c) Copyright 1997 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
