People often need to measure 2D and 3D distances as they collaborate with designs through a screen. So far, all measuring interfaces assume a high degree of user sophistication. The challenge here was to design a measure interaction that would be usable by the non-expert, occasional user of 2D and 3D design tools.
Problem to Solve
Give non-expert, occasional user of 3D the power take clear, accurate measurements from complicated 3D forms with confidence.
Problem: Design collaborators often need to measure physical things on a screen. When geometry is complicated, the task becomes difficult - especially for non-experts. Our goal was to simplify the act of measuring in 3D space. It was critical to refine the visual presentation so that feedback during the measurement process was as clear as possible. Only then can the user be confident that they’re getting an accurate measurement.
We identified 10 cardinal measurement conditions. We programmed the system to ignore other measurements and we optimized the visual presentation to make these 10 conditions clear.
