Type
School Project
Role
Designer & Prototyper
Project summary
Ultimaker Cura Connect is a professional tool for 3D printing workers in big companies to manage 3D printing jobs, maintenance jobs and monitoring printing status. The whole design process was conducted under the guidance of the course of UXAD, collaborating with Ultimaker Company, the leading 3D printing company in the world. All of the output will be appied in the future development of Cura Connect.
Product Description
Cura Connect is a queueing software developed by Ultimaker that aims to facilitate the management of multiple 3D printers simultaneously. In order to increase the potential of Cura Connect as a management tool for entire printer fleets (up to 30 printers) in so-called "concrete floor environ- ments", ', a team of four Dfi students from TU Delft was appointed to redesign Cura Connect using a user-centered approach.
Current User Flow
Usage Inspection
The usage inspection was explorative. Each team member tested Cura Connect through queueing and printing gcode files while the other three team members observed the interaction with the interface and printers. All aspects raised were analyzed and are discussed in the conclusion after.
Expert Interview
Interviews with professionals in the 3D printing business provided insight into printer and printing management from a businesses point of view. Three 3D print experts were interviewed of which some have experience in the usage of Cura Connect.
Personas & Future Scenario
On a future 'concrete floor' setup multiple people are interacting through Cura Connect. They have different tasks and responsibilities. For the scope of this project, three personas which are here displayed as separate persons need to be consid- ered. Cura Connect needs to support communication flow between the three different roles. The information that needs to be conveyed between the parties is illustrated below.
Evaluation Criteria
To verify if the design meets the requirements set in the design goal, the following evaluation criteria must be fulfilled.
- Allow the operator to confidently manage up to 30 printers at the same time and feel in control of the process at any time.
- Make fleet operators feel efficient and fast while organizing the queue.
- Allow the fleet operator to manage jobs in the way individuals requested them.
- The system should allow individuals to print .gcode approved products without any previous 3-D printing experience.
Idea Sketching
Design Iteration
For usability testing a prototype was created in Axure. It focused on the Scheduling page of the Cura Connect re-design, though a dashboard page which depicts the status of each printer was also designed. The main features of the two pages and details about the prototype are explained on this and the following page.
User Test
Five participants were invited for usability testing of the redesigned prototype. The main requirement for participation was an affiliation with 3D printing as the knowledge of different printing settings and consequences influences the quality of feedback positively. Beneficial was familiarity with Cura Connect. Three professionals and two private persons were recruited.
Test Overview
Test setup
Different instruments were used to communicate the test-setup, roles and tasks to the participants as well as to document the usability test. The tools used and role division are introduced.
Data Analysis
Testing results was illustrated from task completion notes, SUS and AttrakDiff scales. Each result and its particularities are explained on the same page and related to the affected interface elements.
Conclusions
Based on the results and their analysis previously, conclusions can be drawn considering the achievement of goals set before. Comparing insights to the evaluation criteria allows to judge the issues occurred during testing the redesign. The elements most relevant for improvement can be assessed through this process.
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