Radial Calculator

A new editing function that makes it possible to quickly and easily arrange elements radially around a point and then customize them.

TIME

march – july 2023

COURSE

Application Design

TEAM MEMBERS

André Jacoby,   Elisa Moder,     Lena van Maris

SUPERVISION

Prof. Hartmut Bohnacker,      Asisa Asseily

TOOLS

Figma

MY TASKS

Research, Concept of Interaction, Design & Prototyping

PROCESS

GOAL

The Application Design course aims to develop an application in the area of search, browse or edit. The task was to find a weak point in this area and improve it through conceptual, functional and visual ideas.

Our goal was to develop an editing function that solves a problem when working with design programs through simple and understandable interaction.

PROBLEM FINDING

As we wanted to put the Pathfinder functions to the test in detail, we looked for various illustrations, divided them into levels of difficulty and then recreated them ourselves in Illustrator.

In order to determine at which point and in which work steps there are problems, we observed a person and noted the different work steps and the functions used. In order to determine which of our solution approaches were sensible and feasible, we organised them in a simple matrix. This allowed us to get a feel for which ideas we could pursue further.

USABility Test

We had three different tasks with different difficulties in order to find out all the problems.

Problems & Solutions

During the process, a number of problems emerged to which we were able to assign initial solutions.

Problem Matrix

We have visualised all our problems in a matrix, which is easy to implement and which is more difficult.

VARIANTS OF OUR FIRST IDEA

Once we had identified precise functions, we created a specific use case in which these functions could be used.

Once we had generated initial ideas for our exact use case, we were able to transfer these to other illustrations to test their usability.

But none of these functions were good enough for us and had no real value. As a result, we took another complete look at new ideas and looked in all directions to see what was possible.

Main Function

In order not to lose our focus, we defined three main functions, which we continued to expand as we progressed.

Transition between forms. (tangent)

Symmetry

Radially constructed object

QUESTION DURING THE DESIGN PROCESS

VISUAL EXPLORATION BOARD

Illustrator introduced exactly this function 1.5 years later on 14 October 2024. So we know that the idea we had back then is actually being used in our working world and is really important.

In the end, a concept and a new function is created, which is visualized in this video.

With the help of this video we were able to make our concept easily accessible and understandable.

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE NEXT?

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Radial Calculator

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