UX/UI Design
HP 3D Printing Barcelona
Lead Designer
Three markets, same ingredients, different mix
3D Printing relates to a business like an oven relates to a restaurant. An important tool, but in need of a process in order to add any value. Dialing in that process requires careful experimentation, simulation and documenting. That is where process development software comes in.
To really understand the challenges of 3D printing at scale we talked to representatives from three key markets: series production, mass customization and service bureaus. It turned out that while they require roughly the same core features, their focus lay on different phases of the process.
This led us to divide our offering into 3 clear steps: Part-onboarding and evaluation, Build Creation and Process Development. It enabled each client to focus the majority of their time on the module that matters most to them.
After this high-level navigation decision we needed to focus on how to translate the user needs within each module into solutions they can interact with. For this we employed a modernized version of the user stories framework, known as “jobs-to-be-done.”
In this format, larger design challenges are systematically broken down into jobs that need to be done in a specific context and with a specific goal. This results in a backlog of tangible design challenges that can be solved one-by-one.
But in addition to this, we came to realize that the real gains were to be made in increasing the speed with which the client can iterate. For this we developed two innovative features: The first involved automating the creation of experiments related to part placement, orientation and scaling, which saved hours of tedious manual part manipulation. The second was the automated generation of the end-to-end process (including pre- end post processing) based on the part's material and design intent.
Depending on the market, these time-gains can then be used to either speed up time to market, or dial in your part quality even better.
Proof of the printed pudding
To see whether we were on the right track, before expensive development budgets was spent, we needed to validate our assumptions. Especially regarding the value of the innovations. To demonstrate these innovations in a compelling way, we built a high-fidelity prototype for each of the modules and demo-ed them in a series of Zoom calls with experienced users from both the US and Spain. In the “process” page of this website you can see videos of this.
The feedback that we got was very encouraging, with users confirming that the new features would indeed shave off many hours of repetitive work. The resulting design, prototype and report has since served as input for our ongoing efforts to build out our current process development software, the HP Digital Production Suite.