CASE STUDY

AUTODESK SHOTGUN PLATORM

Powering Hollywood's
Digital Pipeline: Building
the Platform That Drives
Film & TV Production
Worldwide

Duration

14 weeks

Shotgun was a 10 year old SaaS product with over 50,000 customers. While the platform was best in breed, they were seeing upstart competitors start competing on new features and a better UI. Shotgun revolutionized the way media and entertainment professionals collaborated on projects, winning multiple industry awards including a technical Emmy.. With its intuitive platform, filmmakers can easily manage visual effects development from start to finish - all in one place.

 My team was tasked with the ambitious goal of reinventing Shotgun's core platform, aiming to optimize the onboarding experience for new users, as well as removing the complexity for existing users. The obstacles we faced included feature-driven design decisions, information density, hierarchy issues and a lack of consistent UI conventions, which all impacted our ability to create a unified visual language.

Over a one-year span, we successfully redesigned how projects were created, organized and assigned through an improved user experience that revolutionized Shotgun as both a platform and ecosystem at large.

Our first sub-project was how users were introduced to Shotgun for the first time and asked to create a project from scratch.

Through research, we identified several opportunities for improvement. We concepted, wireframed, and then developed an InVision prototype focused on the workflow of setting up a project with a simplified experience.

Before we could dive into designing a flow for creating a project, we had to get clear on the things a project contains. So we created some initial concepts where we blocked out with quick and dirty wireframes illustrating the high-level areas of a project.

Team Size

6

Roles

Product Design Lead, Product Designer

PROJECT SUMMARY

Type

1 → N

Tools

Figma, Miro

decrease in
account setup
time

RESULTS

124%

86%

increase in CSAT

PROCESSDESIGN THINKING

increased in
successful
onboarding

50%

The transformation of Shotgun, a 10-year-old SaaS platform serving over 50,000 customers in the media and entertainment industry, began with extensive user research. The team recognized that despite the platform's Emmy-winning status, a deep understanding of evolving user needs was crucial for its modernization. They initiated comprehensive research to understand how different studios, from major film productions to smaller streaming-focused companies, utilized the platform in their daily workflows.

1.2 Conduct Interviews and Observations

The research team conducted numerous one-on-one interviews across various studio sizes and types. They implemented contextual inquiry methods, visiting studios to observe real-world usage of the platform. These site visits provided invaluable insights into how different teams interacted with Shotgun in their natural work environment, revealing pain points and opportunities that wouldn't have been apparent through remote research alone.

01

Empathize: Walk
in your users' shoes

1.1 Understand User Needs Through Research

1.3 Gather Insights About Target Audience

OThrough their research, the team discovered that while Shotgun was originally built for large film studios, a significant portion of their user base now consisted of smaller, more agile production houses working on streaming content. These users had different needs and constraints compared to traditional large studios. The platform's complexity, which had grown over years of feature additions, was particularly challenging for these smaller teams.

Shotgun Storymap

1.4 Set Aside Assumptions & Immerse in User Perspectives

The team challenged their preconceptions about what users needed. They discovered that many features assumed to be essential were actually barriers to efficiency for certain user groups. By immersing themselves in different user perspectives, they realized that the platform's one-size-fits-all approach was no longer serving their diverse user base effectively.

Interview Script

We also trained our Product Managers in user research , so they could conduct interviews during their site visits. It more than doubled our research capabilities.

Research findings

02

Define: Frame
the right problem

2.1 Synthesize Research Findings

The research phase revealed several critical insights. The platform's complexity was creating significant barriers to entry for new users. Performance issues were affecting daily workflows across all user types. The team found that the onboarding process was particularly problematic, requiring excessive time and effort to set up new accounts.

2.2 Identify Core Problems to Solve

Through careful analysis, several key problems emerged:

  • The platform's performance had degraded due to feature bloat

  • The onboarding process was overwhelming and time-consuming

  • Configuration requirements were too complex for smaller teams

  • The user interface had become inconsistent and dated

  • The platform wasn't scalable for different studio sizes

2.3 Create Problem Statements

The team formulated clear problem statements to guide their work:

How might we simplify the onboarding process while maintaining powerful functionality?

What can we do to improve platform performance without sacrificing features?

2.4 Establish Project Goals and Objectives

To ensure all Shotgun users can get the most out of our platform, we conducted extensive research to better understand their individual workflows and needs. From big studios to small FX houses, dozens of interviews enabled us to create a design manifesto, for the team to dig into the “why” of our team.

Design Manifesto

Based on our research, I created a set of statements that our design team believed in. These statements became our Design Manifesto.

Affinity Diagram from part of our research

2.5 Develop User Personas

Key findings presentation to Autodesk executives

The team created detailed personas representing different user types, including:

  • Large studio producers

  • Small team managers

  • VFX artists

  • Project coordinators

Each persona included workflow patterns, pain points, and specific needs that would inform the redesign process.

Example personas for core Shotgun platform

Persona concept for Shotgun Production Insights.

03

Ideate: Imagine
bold possibilities

3.1 Ideate & Brainstorm Solutions

The team organized a cross-functional brainstorming workshop, combining global digital experts with local market representatives. These sessions explored various approaches to platform migration, focusing on maintaining business continuity while transitioning to the global AEM system.

Technical teams and content strategists collaborated to generate ideas for streamlined workflows that could accommodate both global and local needs. Special attention was given to solutions that could reduce vendor dependencies while maintaining or improving site performance.

3.2 Generate Multiple Solution Concepts

The team approached the redesign challenge by breaking it down into manageable components. They developed concepts for a modular platform architecture that would allow different types of studios to access features relevant to their needs. Solutions included role-based interface customization, streamlined onboarding flows, and new approaches to project configuration that would reduce complexity while maintaining power-user functionality.

Shotgun design concepts

Shotgun Production Insights data-viz concepts

3.3 Brainstorm Creative Possibilities

Through collaborative brainstorming sessions, the team explored innovative solutions such as:

  • Adaptive interfaces that would evolve based on user behavior

  • Intelligent onboarding that would customize setup based on studio size

  • Automated configuration suggestions based on project type

  • Progressive feature revelation to reduce initial complexity

    Cross-team collaboration tools designed for remote workflows

Shotgun Insights concept

The team embraced unconventional thinking, exploring concepts such as:

  • Natural language project setup

  • Virtual reality-based review systems

  • Predictive workflow automation

  • Social media-inspired collaboration features

  • Gamified onboarding experiences

3.5 Encourage Wild Ideas

04

Prototype: Make
ideas tangible

4.1 Create Low-Fidelity Versions of Solutions

The team began by creating rough prototypes of key features using a staged approach to avoid disrupting existing workflows. They developed:

  • Wireframes for new interface layouts

  • Click-through demonstrations of simplified onboarding

  • Basic versions of new collaboration tools

  • Mockups of performance-optimized viewing options

Low-fidelity version of Shotgun Production Insights

4.2 Build Quick Experimental Versions

Build Quick Experimental Versions:

Rapid prototyping allowed the team to test multiple approaches quickly. They created:

  • Interactive prototypes of new navigation systems

  • Working demos of streamlined project setup flows

  • Experimental versions of new review tools

  • Test implementations of performance optimizations

4.3 Make Ideas Tangible

The team developed concrete implementations of their concepts, including:

  • A new design system for consistent interface elements

  • Prototype databases for testing performance improvements

  • Sample project templates for different studio sizes

  • Working models of new collaboration features

Dark version of the Shotgun Design System

As part of the project, we created a design system, which we used to drive the application's user interface.

This REACT-based design system was created just for Shotgun, but Autodesk saw the system and the team was awarded the X award, which is given yearly to the “most innovative” project at the company in 2016.

The Shotgun Design System influenced several other projects at Autodesk, within the last few years.

Light version of the Shotgun Design System

My design systems team

4.4 Start Simple and Iterate

Beginning with core functionality, the team:

  • Implemented basic versions of essential features

  • Gradually added complexity based on user feedback

  • Refined interfaces through multiple iterations

  • Built up features incrementally to ensure stability

The team prioritized essential features that would deliver immediate value:

  • Streamlined project creation

  • Simplified asset management

  • Enhanced review tools

  • Improved performance monitoring

4.5 Focus on Core Functionality

05

Test: Learn
from users

5.1 Get Feedback From Users

 The transformation of Shotgun through this design thinking process resulted in a modernized platform that better served its diverse user base while maintaining the powerful functionality that made it an industry leader. The systematic approach to understanding user needs, defining problems, exploring solutions, prototyping, and testing led to a more user-centric. This feedback-gathering phase was implemented through a comprehensive multi-channel testing program that engaged users across all studio sizes and types. The team selected a diverse group of beta testers, from major film studios to smaller streaming content creators, ensuring feedback represented the full range of use cases.

Additionally, the team established:

  • Weekly feedback roundtables with power users

  • Monthly performance review sessions with technical leads

  • Automated usage analytics tracking

  • Direct communication channels for urgent issues

  • Regular check-ins with studio managers to assess overall impact on productivity

  • Detailed bug reporting and feature request systems

This feedback system ensured that the platform's evolution was continuously guided by real user needs and experiences rather than assumptions or theoretical use cases.

5.2 Observe How People Interact with Prototypes

 We visited multiple studios and had real-world usage with the new Shotgun prototypes, the team uncovered critical insights into daily workflow patterns. We tracked how different user types approached tasks, revealing that VFX artists preferred quick shortcuts while project managers favored detailed navigation. Time-tracking analysis exposed key friction points, particularly in asset handoff workflows. Most notably, the team discovered numerous creative workarounds users had developed, such as using custom naming conventions and external spreadsheets – insights that directly informed feature refinements and new capability development.

5.3 Identify What Works and What Doesn't

Through testing and analysis of user interaction data, clear patterns emerged about the platform's successes and shortcomings. The streamlined onboarding process proved highly effective, with a 50% increase in successful completions and a dramatic 124% reduction in new account setup time. The modernized user interface resonated strongly with users, reflected in an 86% improvement in UI satisfaction scores. However, certain features, particularly in the advanced project configuration area, still created confusion for smaller teams, while some performance optimizations didn't scale well for larger studios' complex workflows. These insights provided clear direction for further refinements, helping the team prioritize which areas needed immediate attention versus long-term development.

5.4 Refine Solutions Based on Testing

Armed with testing data, the team refined the Shotgun platform to address key user challenges. Interface elements were adjusted based on observed user behavior, with particular attention to simplifying navigation paths and streamlining common workflows. Performance bottlenecks identified during testing were systematically eliminated, focusing especially on asset loading times and project rendering speeds. The team enhanced feature discoverability by implementing more intuitive menu structures and contextual hints, while simultaneously improving error handling with clearer messaging and proactive guidance. These refinements were implemented iteratively, with each change validated through additional user testing to ensure effectiveness.

5.5 Iterate on Designs

The iterative design process drove improvements across the Shotgun platform, with regular updates to the design system and workflow refinements based on ongoing user feedback. Each iteration brought enhanced performance optimizations and evolved collaboration tools, ensuring the platform remained responsive to changing user needs while maintaining consistency and reliability.

This approach to iteration helped the team balance innovation with stability, resulting in a platform that consistently improved without disrupting critical workflows.

The transformation of Shotgun through this design thinking process resulted in a modernized platform that better served its diverse user base while maintaining the powerful functionality that made it an industry leader. The systematic approach to understanding user needs, defining problems, exploring solutions, prototyping, and testing led to measurable improvements in user satisfaction and platform performance.

ContactMe

bbulman@gmail.com
(847) 951-5938