Behind the Scenes:
Usability a Top Priority at SolidWorks

“Everything should be made as simple as possible—but no simpler”  -- Alfred Einstein

by Roopinder Tara, Editor, TenLinks, March 6, 2005

I met up with Jim Wilkinson, leader of the Usability Group at SolidWorks, at the annual SolidWorks user conference in Orlando, Florida. The tall, athletic (he’s a runner, a cyclist and a diver) “Wilkie,” as he is know to his friends, exudes a boyishness that belies his importance and experience at SolidWorks. A 9 year veteran at the 10 year old company, he got his start managing the technical support department and then the product definition group, but a passion for tinkering with the user interface led him to his present position--in charge of a group of 6 people whose sole job is to make sure SolidWorks complexity is balanced by ease of use.

It had been almost a decade since SolidWorks had been introduced to the world. Back then, the Windows-based SolidWorks would win usability contests on looks alone—its biggest competitor was still plodding along with a DOS-based interface. Since then, a lot of functionality—and complexity—has been added to SolidWorks.

Also, SolidWorks, the arguable technology leader in the mid-range MCAD market, now faces stiff competition. In fact, a rapidly emerging contender (starts with an “I”) was getting the nod over SolidWorks based  in more than a few face offs because of ease of use. SolidWorks would insist that its product was more robust but the loss of sales was enough to send SolidWorks back to the lab.

SolidWorks Quick Tips, a product of SolidWorks usability team, accelerate training for new users

Wilkinson points to Quick Tips as one of the biggest successes of his team. These little helpers are related to what the user is currently doing and pop up with suggestions on what to do next. This was a huge boost to new users, says Wilkinson. In observed usability tests, new users were able to learn the system and complete a simple part, assembly and drawing within a 1 hour period. Without the Quick Tips, new users would struggle with a “hunt and peck” type approach resulting in failure to complete the same task even when given twice the amount of time. Since Quick Tips are designed for new users, an alternative for veteran users called What’s New Help was introduced in SolidWorks 2005. “It is a non-interruptive way to show users what functionality has been added in a new release while they are using the functions,” says Wilkinson. “This was in contrast to having them read a new features document and rely on their memory to recall what is new months later when they might actually use such a function.”

Now with a big push on ease of use, SolidWorks--a product forged by techies (both current and former CEO have mechanical engineering degrees)--had to change its criteria. In this new world, judges were giving points for beauty, not just for talent.

This meant polishing up some icons. Wilkinson’s team has also been successful in updating the “look” of SolidWorks. As users upgraded operating systems, icons on the SolidWorks interface started looking dated by comparison. A complete overhaul of the icons, employing a contracted graphic artist armed with a 256-color palette was able to get SolidWorks looking modern again.

SolidWorks icons were reworked with a 256 color palette. Top row shows old icons, bottom row, new.

Deeper changes were made in the way the interface worked. Over the past two releases, changes have been made to make the interface more consistent, more intuitive, and to reduce the number of steps required to complete general tasks. “The most commonly used tasks and sequence of tasks have been analyzed and are being streamlined to reduce the amount of time and steps it takes to execute these tasks, says Wilkinson. “This is all part of an ongoing commitment to make sure that SolidWorks is as consistent and easy to use as possible.”

Without the resources of Microsoft, regarded as a leader in the software industry for usability testing, or even Autodesk, SolidWorks is still committed to working side by side (quite literally) with users in an effort to improve usability. “Microsoft may have two dozen usability labs but did you know that Apple just hands its products to its own employees for usability testing?” asks Wilkinson. The message is clear: throwing tons of money at a problem is no substitute for brilliance and Apple, creators of the icon-based computer operating system and the incredibly hot iPod, was an excellent example.

For now, Jim Wilkinson is happy shaving a few steps off a task for his veteran SolidWorks users or making sure the software’s complexity doesn’t scare off the new user. For the future, who knows? Haptic interfaces? 3D displays?

We’ll just have to wait and see. Wilkinson has been around long enough not to give away too much about plans for the future.

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