We're Serious About Wanting User Feedback, Insists Head of Microsoft Dynamics AX Team

“Help us help you,” said Dean Lester, AX general manager for Microsoft. “We like to think of ourselves as very accessible. We really do listen and we will take the feedback.”

Lester gave the keynote address at the AXUG Summit on Tuesday and focused on the importance of customer input, how to give effective feedback, and the channels in which to administer comments to Microsoft.

The overarching message of the keynote address?

Customer feedback directly changes products.

“You will find that a lot of your feedback has gone into the product,” said a Microsoft employee featured in a video presentation during the session. “It is a direct result of the feedback we are getting from customers.”

To maximize the impact of customer feedback, Lester suggested familiarizing yourself with the product cycle.

“It is good to know timing,” he said. “At different stages we are more able to make changes. Earlier on, the ideas are really more wide open. For example, right now the AX 7 planning cycle is just getting started. Later on, things get more constrained when they are trying to lock the product down.”

According to another Microsoft employee on video, customers often approach him with specific features of the product they want changed. He recommends approaching these issues in a different way.

“The best way to ask for a specific feature is to talk about the business requirement,” he ...