do you want to be 1 of the 1st to see it?

Do you like to see things before anyone else?  Do you like to shape the future of technology?

If you answered yes to either of these questions then I have the opportunity for you.  SolidWorks offers a program called “User Research Program” or probably more commonly known as usability testing.  I had the pleasure of participating in this back in March because of a post that I did on the dimension palette.  This was a great experience for me and I hope to do more in the future.  Here are the details?

How Does It Work?

All you really need is a computer and a phone.  You don’t even need to have a computer with SolidWorks on it.  A SolidWorks employee will set up an online meeting that you can join, and from there they will give you control over their version of SolidWorks.  When I did it for the dimension palette I spent some time with Tom Spine, Senior Manager of User Experience Design.  Tom set up a GoToMeeting session and from there I was able to fully interact with the new version of this tool.

How Long Does It Take?

You will probably need to set aside around 1 hour in order to make sure you have enough time to work through the “testing”.

What Do I Need to Do to Sign Up?

All you need to do is follow this link and fill out the survey that is linked to on the right hand side of the page (titled: Complete Participant Survey).  There is also more information in this link about what they do and what it is all about.

Also, keep in mind that you will probably need to fill out some sort of a NDA because sometimes what you see is brand new and still in development.

My Take

I think this program is more than worth the time it takes to meet with someone on the usability team.  This is a great way to try out the software while some of the people who write the code can watch you work.  By having more people involved in programs like this, or even alpha and beta testing, an issue like the dimension palette fiasco will not happen again.  So go sign up today!

P.S.  I wish all of you a blessed Memorial Day weekend!  Be safe!