AU Conference Website Redesign

Solved navigation and information clarity issues on the Autodesk University conference website to support attendee planning and encourage in-person registration.

View AU Website

Company

Autodesk

My Role

User Researcher
UI/ UX Design Lead
UX Strategist

Team

Marketing Manager
Program Manager
UX Manager
Graphic Designer
Content Writer
Engineers

Timeline

Feb. 2022 - Feb. 2025

Project Overview

Background

AU is a 3-day hybrid conference with 50,000+ attendees. The website was the central hub for event info, registration, sessions, and recordings.

Why redesign?

Design needed to reflect AU’s unique city, theme, and branding each year.
AU 2022 website had usability issues, resulting in a 61% CSAT—below the 90% goal.
In-person attendance fell short in 2022, with 8,976 registrations vs. the 11,000 target.

Challenges

Juggle multiple tasks at once

AU 2023 & F1 happened the same week in Vegas.

Transitioned to a new website platform

Redesign Autodesk University conference site for enhanced user experience, achieve 90% CSAT*, and increase attendee engagement.

Process

The website redesign looks simple, but it covered 3 key stages—before, during, and after the event—and included 8 fast-paced design phases.

Research

Conducted mixed-methods research with diverse participants to uncover attendee goals and pain points.

Participants

New attendees

Returning attendees

Methods

7 Usability tests

2000+ Surveys

17 Interviews

1 Focus group

Analytics

Attendee goals

1. Quickly decide which pass to get.

Decide between a $2,000 in-person pass, offering hundreds of classes, networking events, an expo, and more, or opt for a free digital pass, giving you access to select class videos from anywhere.

2. Efficiently plan AU schedule to maximize 3-days.

Having invested money and time and traveled far, attendees want to fully pack their schedules within just three days!

Behavioral insights

1. Attendees began on the homepage, then navigated to subpages for more details.

2. Attendees often jumped between catalog and marketing pages to plan their AU schedule.

Pain points

1. Key event info was hard to find on the page to inform decisions.

Key info like sessions and keynote details were placed too far down on the page to draw attention.

Key info were either positioned too low on the page or designed too subtly to draw attention.

Some panels lacked the right level of detail— some had too little details to be overlooked, while some was overly detailed and hard to scan.

The key information provided was either insufficiently detailed or overly elaborate.

Some panels Lack strong visual indicators for what’s important.

The key information provided was either insufficiently detailed or overly elaborate.

Same issues across all Marketing pages

2. Confusing navigation & too many steps make scheduling inefficient.

The old session catalog had two separate navbars that weren’t sticky, taking up space and causing attendees to miss the top menu while scrolling, disrupting flow and frustrating decision-making.

Attendee needed to navigate a complex maze—searching, filtering, switching tabs, and browsing through hundreds of sessions.

How might we make the key info easy to find to inform decisions and simplify scheduling for better efficiency?

Redesign

We began by establishing design principles as our guiding star, adhering to the AU design guidelines, and refining the design through concept testing on navigation, layout, and key elements.

Design principles

Clarity

Consistency

Responsiveness

AU Brand & accessibility guidelines

Concept testing

Solutions

To address

Key event info was hard to find on the page to inform decisions.

1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.
1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.
1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.
1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.

1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.
1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.
1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.
1. Reorganize homepage layout to reflect hierarchy
Using analytics and insights from the AU 2022 usability test, I identified key information and content hierarchy on the homepage, then reorganized the layout accordingly.
2. Deliver the right balance of detail
Deliver the right amount of detail to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming attendees.
3. Use visual cues to highlight key info
I followed AU brand and accessibility guidelines to ensure all visual elements aligned with the brand identity and were accessible to all users.

To address

Confusing navigation & too many steps make scheduling inefficient.

Too many steps to build a schedule.

1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.
1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.
1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.
1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.

1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.
1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.
1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.
1. Simplify navigation
Simplified navigation to a single level with 7 key items, added catalog access via utility buttons, and made the navbar sticky—all informed by analytics and optimized for mobile.
2. Add ‘My schedule’ feature
Collaborated with engineers to launch My Schedule—an Outlook-style calendar showing enrolled sessions and open slots with smart suggestions, boosting scheduling efficiency.