vSTAGE — 3D Editor & Presentation Engine
Transforming complex 3D data into intuitive, real-time presentations
Side Effects had this advanced 3D tool (vSTAGE) for presentations, training, and simulations—but it was designed for CAD pros only. The goal:
- Make it accessible for new users while retaining deep functionality
- Handle tens of thousands of complex components without clutter
🎯 My Role
Lead UX/UI designer for the entire desktop app:
- Defined personas (CAD experts vs newcomers)
- Crafted wireframes, UI patterns, dark/light themes, dashboard layouts
- Presented Figma prototypes and drove iterative testing
- Users needed serious control: filter, tag, bookmark, select/inverse-select, manage overlays
- UI had to avoid horizontal scrolling—except where it actually made sense (like a slide-style media bar)
- Launch fast, with minimal dev effort, using modular, reusable components
⏱ Constraints
🎯 My Role
Lead UX/UI designer for the entire desktop app:
- Defined personas (CAD experts vs newcomers)
- Crafted wireframes, UI patterns, dark/light themes, dashboard layouts
- Presented Figma prototypes and drove iterative testing
⏱ Constraints
- Users needed serious control: filter, tag, bookmark, select/inverse-select, manage overlays
- UI had to avoid horizontal scrolling—except where it actually made sense (like a slide-style media bar)
- Launch fast, with minimal dev effort, using modular, reusable components
🛠 The Process
- Flows & Personas – Mapped export and overlay workflows for different personas
- Wireframes & Prototypes – Built a high-fidelity Figma demo to test toggles, slide-bars, dashboards
- Pattern System – Designed pop‑over toggles, tree views, slide navigation with big trackers, dark/light UI
- Iterate & Test – Refined horizontal scroll behavior (“avoid it—unless…”) based on prototypes with real users
High-Fidelity Prototype Demo
Demo: high fidelity prototype made in Figma
Always avoid horizontal scrolling... unless...
We adopted horizontal scrolling for the 'slides-bar' to align with user expectations of progressing content to the right, similar to image galleries. Enlarging the tracker improved navigation and user satisfaction.
Product page designed in Figma
Company Website I designed to introduce the products vSTAGE and vHUB
Concept showcasing the initial layout for the onboarding panel.
Navigating and finding objects in 3D space is one challenge; doing the same with the help of UI elements is another. There are potentially tens of thousands of 3D components, and if you want to select, filter, tag, color, or show/hide many particular elements like nuts and bolts, a well-designed UI can make this task painless. Other neat features not mentioned here include bookmarks and selection sets, inverse selections, etc. These are all very important tools that can be extremely useful and save a lot of time.
Conclusion
There is, of course, much more. More challenges and more UI work I have undertaken. This project reinforced the importance of iterative design. Initial assumptions about reusable UI components evolved through continuous testing and feedback, leading to a more adaptable design system.
Gallery
