We use our conferences to listen to customers

A customer with a hearing impairment uses HipChat to communicate his thoughts and feelings.

A multinational shipping company uses JIRA and Confluence to track the pulse of the world economy.

A small company in Michigan USA uses JIRA as an employee recruiting tool.

These were some of the amazing stories we heard at the Design Lab in Summit 2016. Summit is Atlassian’s big annual conference held every year in the Bay Area of California.

We outdid ourselves

So, what is the Design Lab? It was a venue at Summit that consisted of 13 stations where different Atlassian teams conducted user research sessions with customers. The sessions were short, lasting about 20 minutes on average. Every station ran a different test, with a different user profile, on each of the two days. So we set up a reception area at the entrance of the Design Lab, where we would ask a few quick questions to our customers, ascertain their profiles, and route them to an appropriate station. After the tests, customers got raffle tickets that enabled them to participate in a drawing where they could win an iPad.

This year, 21 teams across the company conducted 9 concept tests, 8 interactive tests, and 9 sets of interviews with over 300 customers!

We got insights all over the place. We also saw Atlassians doing what they do best — coming together as a team. We had designers, Trainers, Researchers and Marketers fly in from Sydney, Austin and Poland. During those three days, our only focus was getting customer insights.

We wanted to build on our accomplishments from last year and make it better. And that’s exactly what we did. 2 more tests than last year. 3 more stations. 120 more customers.

And it wasn’t limited to design

Even though we were called “Design Lab,” we didn’t limit ourselves just to design. One of the unique things about Atlassian is that there is a genuine hunger for research and data across the board. We didn’t want to stifle this spirit by restricting other, non-design teams from participating. Instead, we encouraged other teams across our company to take an active role in interacting with our customers. The following teams conducted research with us: Training, Brand, Purchasing and Customer Ops.

At the Design Lab, we…

• Got feedback on ideas, designs and concepts. In many cases, we have started acting on them already!
• Obtained a deeper understanding of our customers and their processes and behaviors. One of our researchers sought to understand how they work as a team. Another explored their behaviors on mobile devices.
• Got customers to sign up for future research sessions with us. 92 customers signed up to be part of our customer database for future research.
• Above all, demonstrated our commitment to putting the customer at the center, and gave them a chance to impact the product development process. Our customers loved it.

Here are some comments from them.

“It’s amazing that you take time to talk to us and get our thoughts about your products.”

“I enjoy talking to you guys so much that I want to do it again and again” (He went on to participate in 6 more user sessions!).

“I think it is wonderful what you’re doing here. I have been to many conferences and have seen nothing like this.”

What’s next

The Design Lab is all set to become even bigger, and better. And maybe even make an entry in Europe. Stay tuned!

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