UX Reasearch Creo - PTC

To effectively manage the project’s development, I implemented the Kanban agile methodology, ensuring a structured and transparent workflow. Throughout the process, I applied design thinking principles, conducting user interviews, market research, usability evaluations, and A/B testing. This iterative approach allowed me to continuously refine the solution based on real user feedback and insights gathered during each sprint.

User Interviews
Given project time constraints, I conducted five semi-structured user interviews to gather qualitative insights. I developed an open-ended question guide to facilitate in-depth conversations and allow participants to share detailed experiences. Due to pandemic-related restrictions, interviews were conducted via video calls, and participants’ consent was obtained for recording the sessions to support further analysis.
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Persona Development
Using the combined data collected from the interviews, I created a persona to represent the primary user group. This persona helped synthesize key insights and provided a clear understanding of user needs, goals, and pain points. The primary user profile centers around individuals seeking to create and build new projects while simultaneously developing new skills.Key challenges identified through the persona included limited access to CAD software outside of the work environment and a lack of collaboration opportunities between engineers and hobbyists.

Empathy Mapping
To further deepen my understanding of the users, I created an empathy map based on the persona and qualitative research findings. The map was organized into four quadrants: Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels, offering a holistic view of the user’s mindset and emotional drivers. Empathy mapping helped ensure a user-centered design approach by surfacing key frustrations, motivations, and usability concerns at an early stage in the design process.

Desk Research
To complement primary research, I conducted desk research on common usability challenges in CAD software. According to a study by Lee et al., the most frequent issues with CAD user interfaces relate to:
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1.Dialog boxes, 2. Drawings and reports, 3. Help function, 4. Modeling, 5. Domain terminology, 6. General system terminology, 7. View and navigation, 8. Menu bar,
9. Toolbar, and 10. Other usability aspects.

Understanding these challenges provided valuable context for identifying user pain points and opportunities for innovation in the design solution.