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About

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About

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AUTODESK

Restructuring Team Settings

ROLE

Experience Designer

SKILLS

Experience Design
User Research

TIMELINE

June - July 2025

TEAM

Experience Designer(Me)!
Product Manager

OVERVIEW

Manage Autodesk is the Central Admin Platform used by over 1.5 Million users every month

During my internship, I collaborated with the PSET team to restructure the Team Settings page, within Manage Autodesk Platform with the goal of making it more scalable, meaningful, and aligned with admin mental models.

OVERVIEW

Manage Autodesk is the Central Admin Platform used by over 1.5 Million users every month

During my internship, I collaborated with the PSET team to restructure the Team Settings page, within Manage Autodesk Platform with the goal of making it more scalable, meaningful, and aligned with admin mental models.

OVERVIEW

Manage Autodesk is the Central Admin Platform used by over 1.5 Million users every month

During my internship, I collaborated with the PSET team to restructure the Team Settings page, within Manage Autodesk Platform with the goal of making it more scalable, meaningful, and aligned with admin mental models.

OVERVIEW

Manage Autodesk is the Central Admin Platform used by over 1.5 Million users every month

During my internship, I collaborated with the PSET team to restructure the Team Settings page, within Manage Autodesk Platform with the goal of making it more scalable, meaningful, and aligned with admin mental models.

OUTCOMES

Created a scalable framework for Team Setting

Defined categories that give every new and existing setting a clear, logical home.

Improved admin discoverability and usability

Made it easier for admins to find, understand, and manage settings without confusion.

Enabled alignment across teams and stakeholders

Provided a shared structure that different teams can follow, reducing ambiguity and overlap.

THE PROBLEM(S)

The Team Settings Page has grown without Strategy or Ownership

Over time, each setting has been added by different teams with little coordination or documentation, turning the page into a dumping ground of controls.

THE PROBLEM(S)

The Team Settings Page has grown without Strategy or Ownership

Over time, each setting has been added by different teams with little coordination or documentation, turning the page into a dumping ground of controls.

THE PROBLEM(S)

The Team Settings Page has grown without Strategy or Ownership

Over time, each setting has been added by different teams with little coordination or documentation, turning the page into a dumping ground of controls.

THE PROBLEM(S)

The Team Settings Page has grown without Strategy or Ownership

Over time, each setting has been added by different teams with little coordination or documentation, turning the page into a dumping ground of controls.

The Lack of Structure Makes it hard to Scale

As more settings are added, stakeholders like designers and PMs lack a consistent framework for contribution, leading to overlap and confusion. For admins, this results in increasing difficulty finding and managing the right controls.

The Lack of Structure Makes it hard to Scale

As more settings are added, stakeholders like designers and PMs lack a consistent framework for contribution, leading to overlap and confusion. For admins, this results in increasing difficulty finding and managing the right controls.

The Lack of Structure Makes it hard to Scale

As more settings are added, stakeholders like designers and PMs lack a consistent framework for contribution, leading to overlap and confusion. For admins, this results in increasing difficulty finding and managing the right controls.

The Lack of Structure Makes it hard to Scale

As more settings are added, stakeholders like designers and PMs lack a consistent framework for contribution, leading to overlap and confusion. For admins, this results in increasing difficulty finding and managing the right controls.

Why it Matters?

For Stakeholders

Without a framework, new settings get added inconsistently, making collaboration harder and slowing down product development.

For Admins

A cluttered and unstructured page means wasted time searching, misconfigurations, and reliance on support.

For Autodesk

The lack of strategy risks higher support costs, slower adoption of new features, and reduced trust in the platform’s usability

MY APPROACH

How I tackled the Challenge

To address the messy and unstructured state of Team Settings, I approached the problem step by step. I began with an audit, explored multiple strategies, and gradually narrowed down to a framework that was both scalable and validated by real admins

MY APPROACH

How I tackled the Challenge

To address the messy and unstructured state of Team Settings, I approached the problem step by step. I began with an audit, explored multiple strategies, and gradually narrowed down to a framework that was both scalable and validated by real admins

MY APPROACH

How I tackled the Challenge

To address the messy and unstructured state of Team Settings, I approached the problem step by step. I began with an audit, explored multiple strategies, and gradually narrowed down to a framework that was both scalable and validated by real admins

MY APPROACH

How I tackled the Challenge

To address the messy and unstructured state of Team Settings, I approached the problem step by step. I began with an audit, explored multiple strategies, and gradually narrowed down to a framework that was both scalable and validated by real admins

Current Settings Audit

My first step was to carefully review all the current settings to understand their function, purpose, and how they fit within the page

Current Settings Audit

My first step was to carefully review all the current settings to understand their function, purpose, and how they fit within the page

Current Settings Audit

My first step was to carefully review all the current settings to understand their function, purpose, and how they fit within the page

Current Settings Audit

My first step was to carefully review all the current settings to understand their function, purpose, and how they fit within the page

Realization 🫣

After reviewing the settings myself, I realized that just knowing what existed was not enough. To understand the background, I spoke with the stakeholders who owned each setting, including product managers and Designers.

These conversations gave me context about why certain settings existed, how often they were used, and how they connected to other areas of the platform.

Audit Notes

IDEATION

Exploring Possible Directions

After gathering insights from the audit, I explored different strategies to organize settings. My goal was to test what structure could scale and still feel intuitive for admins and stakeholders.

IDEATION

Exploring Possible Directions

After gathering insights from the audit, I explored different strategies to organize settings. My goal was to test what structure could scale and still feel intuitive for admins and stakeholders.

IDEATION

Exploring Possible Directions

After gathering insights from the audit, I explored different strategies to organize settings. My goal was to test what structure could scale and still feel intuitive for admins and stakeholders.

IDEATION

Exploring Possible Directions

After gathering insights from the audit, I explored different strategies to organize settings. My goal was to test what structure could scale and still feel intuitive for admins and stakeholders.

Click the cards to know the reason of not going forward with the Ideas 👇

The Problem with direction was that usage frequency data was not available for all of the settings. SO I had to stop going towards this direction

REARRANGE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR USAGE FREQUENCY

The Problem with direction was that usage frequency data was not available for all of the settings. SO I had to stop going towards this direction

REARRANGE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR USAGE FREQUENCY

The Problem with direction was that usage frequency data was not available for all of the settings. SO I had to stop going towards this direction

REARRANGE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR USAGE FREQUENCY

The Problem with direction was that usage frequency data was not available for all of the settings. SO I had to stop going towards this direction

REARRANGE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR USAGE FREQUENCY

This was the best option possible , but due to constraints I was not able to work on this Idea

HAVE GLOBAL TEAM SWITCH WITH CONTEXT BASED SETTINGS

This was the best option possible , but due to constraints I was not able to work on this Idea

HAVE GLOBAL TEAM SWITCH WITH CONTEXT BASED SETTINGS

This was the best option possible , but due to constraints I was not able to work on this Idea

HAVE GLOBAL TEAM SWITCH WITH CONTEXT BASED SETTINGS

This was the best option possible , but due to constraints I was not able to work on this Idea

HAVE GLOBAL TEAM SWITCH WITH CONTEXT BASED SETTINGS

I had to go with this idea because it was the most feasible option

CATEGORIZE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR PURPOSE

I had to go with this idea because it was the most feasible option

CATEGORIZE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR PURPOSE

I had to go with this idea because it was the most feasible option

CATEGORIZE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR PURPOSE

I had to go with this idea because it was the most feasible option

CATEGORIZE THE SETTINGS BASED ON THEIR PURPOSE

But how did I categorize them? 🤔

From Settings Dump to Information Architecture

After exploring possible strategies, I moved forward with categorizing the settings. I grouped them into clear, purpose-driven categories so every new and existing setting could have a logical home.

From Settings Dump to Information Architecture

After exploring possible strategies, I moved forward with categorizing the settings. I grouped them into clear, purpose-driven categories so every new and existing setting could have a logical home.

From Settings Dump to Information Architecture

After exploring possible strategies, I moved forward with categorizing the settings. I grouped them into clear, purpose-driven categories so every new and existing setting could have a logical home.

From Settings Dump to Information Architecture

After exploring possible strategies, I moved forward with categorizing the settings. I grouped them into clear, purpose-driven categories so every new and existing setting could have a logical home.

My first pass was about finding natural clusters

Settings that shared a function, an audience, or a workflow. For example, login-related settings under one bucket, resource-related ones under another

My Figjam File Screenshot

This is how I sorted the Settings

Identity and Access Management

SSO

Directory Sync

User ROle Policy

Resource control & Licensing

Default Assignments

Subscription Usage Policy

User Consent

Personal Data Acknowledgement

GAIA

Reporting and Notifications

Scheduled Exports

Inactive Users

TESTING

Testing it out

Once I had an initial set of categories, I wanted to check if they actually made sense to admins and matched their mental models. To do this, I tested the categorization.

TESTING

Testing it out

Once I had an initial set of categories, I wanted to check if they actually made sense to admins and matched their mental models. To do this, I tested the categorization.

TESTING

Testing it out

Once I had an initial set of categories, I wanted to check if they actually made sense to admins and matched their mental models. To do this, I tested the categorization.

TESTING

Testing it out

Once I had an initial set of categories, I wanted to check if they actually made sense to admins and matched their mental models. To do this, I tested the categorization.

The Closed Card Sort

Admins sorted settings like SSO, Directory Sync, and Default Assignments into predefined categories such as Identity and Access Management, Resource Control & Licensing, and Reporting and Notifications.

DEMOGRAPHICS

ADMINS

21 - 59

AGE

COMPANIES

Goal : To check whether my categories aligned with admins’ mental models and spot any confusion.

This approach allowed me to

Test whether the categories I had created matched the way admins think.
Spot areas where settings didn’t fit naturally, or where the category names caused confusion.
Collect quick, structured feedback without leaving the sorting too open-ended.

This approach allowed me to

Test whether the categories I had created matched the way admins think.
Spot areas where settings didn’t fit naturally, or where the category names caused confusion.
Collect quick, structured feedback without leaving the sorting too open-ended.

This approach allowed me to

Test whether the categories I had created matched the way admins think.
Spot areas where settings didn’t fit naturally, or where the category names caused confusion.
Collect quick, structured feedback without leaving the sorting too open-ended.

This approach allowed me to

Test whether the categories I had created matched the way admins think.
Spot areas where settings didn’t fit naturally, or where the category names caused confusion.
Collect quick, structured feedback without leaving the sorting too open-ended.

Results

The results showed a strong alignment with my proposed structure:

SSO (92%) and Directory Sync (72%) went into Identity and Access Management.
Default Assignments (52%) and Subscription Usage Policy (76%) went into Resource Control & Licensing.
Report Scheduling (96%) and Inactive Users Notification (88%) went into Reporting and Notifications.
User Role Policy (88%) was clearly placed under Identity and Access Management.

What This Validated

The categories I defined matched how admins naturally grouped and understood the settings.
There were no major mismatches, which gave confidence that this IA could scale as more settings get added in the future.
The results confirmed that a purpose-driven framework is much easier for admins to navigate compared to the old “settings dump.”

Stakeholder Buy-In

After validating the categories with admins, I presented the proposed framework to designers, PMs, and other stakeholders to align on naming and scalability.

The stakeholder Presentation

The initial name I used for one category was “Reporting & Notifications.” During feedback, the Delivery team shared that they were planning to add more Email-related settings in the future.

This meant that the original name might not scale well as new functionality was introduced 🤷‍♂️

Based on this input, I updated the category name to “Email Notifications” so that it more accurately reflected both the existing settings and those planned for the roadmap.

UI

Designing the User Interface

After validating that my categories worked well for admins, I shifted focus to the user interface. My goal here was to translate the new information architecture into a UI that felt scalable, easy to navigate, and consistent with Autodesk’s design system.

UI

Designing the User Interface

After validating that my categories worked well for admins, I shifted focus to the user interface. My goal here was to translate the new information architecture into a UI that felt scalable, easy to navigate, and consistent with Autodesk’s design system.

UI

Designing the User Interface

After validating that my categories worked well for admins, I shifted focus to the user interface. My goal here was to translate the new information architecture into a UI that felt scalable, easy to navigate, and consistent with Autodesk’s design system.

UI

Designing the User Interface

After validating that my categories worked well for admins, I shifted focus to the user interface. My goal here was to translate the new information architecture into a UI that felt scalable, easy to navigate, and consistent with Autodesk’s design system.

My Figma File Thumbnail

Current Layout

At present, almost every setting is placed under one broad label called User Management, which turns the page into a long list rather than a structured, scalable system.

As Chris Caddell said "This page looks just like an index of Settings"

Before creating new UI layouts, I reviewed older interface explorations that had been tried by a teammate in the past.This helped me see what patterns had already been tested, what strengths I could carry forward, and where gaps remained.

Previous Explorations