Team & Role
- Product Manager
- Product Designer (me)
- Product Prototyper (me)
- Engineering Team
Impact
Archived usage rate:
>30%
About the project
SpaceSketch is a virtual reality tool that allows people to sketch in 3D space with VR devices. It provides handy sketch tool kits as well as well designed reference plans, helping users to quickly and precisely visualize their design ideas in space, allowing users to evaluate and present their designs comprehensively in short time frame.
I, as product designer and product prototyper, worked together with product manager, Unity developers, leaded the design of this 0-1 product.
Historically, the ability to draw by hand - both to create precise technical drawings and expressive sketches - has been central to the architecture profession. However, as computer technology advances, this ability is no longer a core skill that every architect has to have. Although hand sketch is quick, and it is the best way to record and express ideas, but mastering it needs long time to practice especially spatial imagination practice. Or in other word, people don't usually use it is not because they don't want to, it is because they are not able to.
To find out why hand sketch is no longer widely used, 12 architects of different levels were interviewed. A user journey was made according to the interview results.
Two main problems and three secondary problems were concluded according to interviews and the user journey.
Main Problem
Perspective
Architectural hand sketch requires deep understanding of perspective, which need long term practice to obtain.
Main Problem
View Angles
Single sketch can hardly presents all aspects of a building. To evaluate an idea, multiply sketches are usually required.
Secondary Problem
Tools Portability
Architectural hand sketch requires deep understanding of perspective, which need long term practice to obtain.
Secondary Problem
Sketch Share
Single sketch can hardly presents all aspects of a building. To evaluate an idea, multiply sketches are usually required.
Secondary Problem
Sketch Collect
Single sketch can hardly presents all aspects of a building. To evaluate an idea, multiply sketches are usually required.
Re-mapping problems to the user journey
Both main problems and secondary problems were remapped to the user journey. Meanwhile, time spent on each stage was taken into consideration. Thus we understand the relationship between problems and each stage, this set the ground of how prioritize each part of the product.
To better understand how exactly this product should be, a persona was set up to represent target users.
The persona was used in the storyboard to understand the product on step further - the platform. It is not a website, not a mobile app, it must be a VR application that assist users to sketch with their own hands.
By wrapping up all researches conducted, key features were concluded. Through the competitor analysis, two key features are targeted.
So is it possible to introduce a similar tool, that can assist people with sketching 3D object in perspective?
Concept & Validation
The concept is to allow users to draw in space through reference planes being placed at different height and depth; once reference planes being removed, lines stay in space. Thus just like forming an geometry with 2D planes, 2D lines can form a 3D drawing.
Criteria
The reference plane design was based on two criteria:
1. Reference plane needs to be straightforward and easy to use.
2. Meanwhile, it must be able to archive sufficient amount possibilities.
So the original reference plane system was developed into two options.
Option A: Three rigid planes
These three planes can move along certain direction, and rotate along certain axis.
Option B: Single free plane
This one single plane can move along all directions, and rotate freely
Usability Testing Feedback & Insights
The usability test shows that the option two performed much better under these two criteria. However, according to the feedbacks from the test participants, sometimes users need multiple reference planes at the same time to help them understand the perspective better and sketch precisely. So the third options was proposed.
Option C: Extra free planes
Based on the option B, additional backup reference planes are provided. They are identical to the first plane and on standby, so users can use them whenever necessary.
Research & Prototyping
To understand what essential tools are needed for hand sketch, a survey among 28 architects of different years of experience was conducted:
Triangle and compass are not usually used by most of participants, so those two participant who use them were interviewed. They are most experienced architects among all participants. They used these two tools in early stage of their career to produce construction documents when computer was still not widely used in this industry. They rarely use these two tools in nowadays.
Thus essential tools were sorted out: Pencil, Eraser, Ruler, Watercolor Markers, Micro Pens. By evaluate their functions, palette panels was converted to be tool kit panel.
Usability Testing Feedback & Insights
1: Insufficient labels.
2: Lack of proper categorization of different types of icons.
3: Hard to tell which tool or which color is currently being used.
4: Line weight and line transparency shall be universal attributions, instead of being dedicated to either pencil or marker.
5: Ruler could be an add-on to other drawing tools.
Iteration A
To iterate the design per usability test feedbacks, I have done two things:
1. Card sorting: to study how these functions should be grouped, and how they are related to each other.
2. Simulation: to observe how people behave when they are sketching, and find out the most intuitively way to trigger each functions.
Iteration B
In this round, basic system functionalities and animations are added.
Final Design
HUD is added to reflect current tools selected.
Screenshot features are added including sizes and FOV adjustments.
Login experience and collection management are added, including sketch collection and screenshot collection.
After it is launched, SpaceSketch is now not only used to express early concept ideas, but also being used throughout the whole design process, like detail study, making diagrams, etc. And the performance of the product is still being monitored and the product itself is kept being refined constantly.
Impacts
There are five indexes designed to measure the performance:
1. User Friendly: to measure how easy it is to use;
2. Comprehensiveness: to measure how comprehensive it is able to present info;
3. Accuracy: to measure how precise it is able to present info;
4. Flexibility: to measure how convenient it is to use;
5. Time consumption: to measure how much time it needs to finish a drawing / diagram.
These five indexes were used to compare SpeceSketch with traditional hand sketch and modeling. All usability test participants were asked to score each of them under these five indexes.
Scoreboard
SpaceSketch does not win every index. However, it maintains relatively high scores on all indexes. That means, with the help of VR technology, it provides a better solution for those users who aren't good at hand sketch or computer modeling, or even whoever aren't good at any of them. This does match our original design goal.
Reflections
SpaceSketch is designed for architects to express their early stage ideas, so they can evaluate it from all aspects and discuss with other people. It bridges the gap between brainstorm and modeling, so early concepts can quickly iterate. Also, since VR has not been popularized in this industry, the product is designed to be light weight and straightforward. Thus it is easier to be accepted by new users.
Finding the blank area between real world and current format of digital world, and provide products perfectly fitting in that allows people to do something they are not able to do in either real world or in front of the monitor will be a good strategy to popularize VR.
