.png)
Cadial
Why did every research participant express poor user experiences with CAD command tools?
Brand
Role
Professor
Team
4 outstanding issues
.png)
Small icons strain eyes.
Users forget command names.
Mis-click happens too often.
Re-designing current CAD software would be inefficient.
At first, I believed ergonomic mouse was the answer.
.png)
In 2021, I explored a dial mouse concept. User would use joy stick dial to move models and find commands using auxiliary buttons.
This Idea even won an award.
I continued to improve the design.
As it won an Award, I became more confident with this idea.
I continued with improvements with further mockups.
However, this yielded a very similar concept as “space mouse,” and further studies proved me that users actually needed something else.
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
What did users actually want?
users wanted more direct controls
Larger icon graphics → address eye pains
Fingertip controls → address holding down multiple keys
Neutral appearance that won't clutter their desk → unobtrusiveness
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
How does it work?
01. Click a tool icon
02. Set of tools in the category appear
03. Use the dial to scroll through the tools
04. Use the trackpad to zoom + pan + rotate
Logical breakdown of commands offers easy tool searching in both parametric and direct modelling program.
Customization is available for the users who wants hotkeys to a certain command.
.png)
Say good by to complicated combination keys and mouse buttons
.png)
One finger swipe to rotate.
.png)
Two-fingers swipe to pan.
.png)
Pinch to zoom.
Confident professional aesthetics
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)