Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a secure web-based 3D file browser and asset collection manager with group commenting features. You can think of it as a “collaborative Dropbox for 3D”. It is the basis for user data storage and file organization, which is a critical component of planned Hypothetic products and services.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a secure web-based 3D file browser and asset collection manager with group commenting features. You can think of it as a “collaborative Dropbox for 3D”. It is the basis for user data storage and file organization, which is a critical component of planned Hypothetic products and services.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a secure web-based 3D file browser and asset collection manager with group commenting features. You can think of it as a “collaborative Dropbox for 3D”. It is the basis for user data storage and file organization, which is a critical component of planned Hypothetic products and services.

My role

UI / UX Designer

Responsability

UI / UX Design
Wireframing
Prototyping

Year

2023
2024

Preview

01

Problem Statement

Managing 3D files is a daunting task due to their complexity and lack of standardization, especially within and among teams. The abundance of files, each containing various components like meshes, textures, and materials, adds to the chaos. Additionally, the absence of unified workflows means data is scattered across different computers, stored in various formats, and requires different applications for visualization, such as Blender, Unreal Engine, or Maya. Sharing 3D art is tedious.

02

Solution

A place to store assets, organize them, and discuss them amongst teams. Hydrogen is the central location through which all 3D content flows, and will thus serve as a data store for all of the applications Hypothetic develops.

Research

To develop a solution that genuinely addresses designers' needs, we conducted thorough research to identify specific pain points and requirements for an optimal asset management system. This process included:

→ Market Analysis: Examining existing products to spot market gaps, especially concerning usability, customization, and integration features.


→ Surveys and Interviews: Conduct in-depth interviews and surveys with designers and game studios to gain insights into their experiences and challenges with current solutions.


→ Prototype Testing: Sharing initial prototypes with selected Studios to gather early feedback on the concept and usability.

01

Competitive Analysis

In the initial phase of developing Hydrogen, our team assessed the 3D asset management applications currently available in the market. This analysis aimed to comprehend the existing landscape, including both free and paid options, to pinpoint gaps and opportunities. The insights gained from this evaluation were crucial in guiding the development of Hydrogen.

We conducted a competitive and feature analysis of the 3D assets management platforms in the market. This really helps refine the product strategy to better align with market needs and achieve a strong product-market fit.

02

Identify pain points and needs.

We conducted interviews with a diverse range of individuals from our target audience, including 3D designers, art directors, and entire game studio teams. These discussions provided valuable insights into their workflows, challenges, and the various applications they currently use to meet their needs.

By synthesizing the results, we uncovered key values and identified common issues related to the organization of 3D files within their processes. This deeper understanding will guide us in addressing their specific pain points effectively.

With the data gathered from market research, I started to generate provisional personas using statistical knowledge. These represent a certain type of user that is the potential audience of our solution.

“I’m a freelance 3D artist working for an automotive company and I need an easy fast way to submit all my work to the client and receive their notes/feedback.”

→ Key Feature: Sharing Feature. One can share models with non-3D professionals who do not need an account to visualize them.

“I’m a fashion designer who needs to plan and curate a fall collection using 3D models of all the potential products for the season.”

→ Key Feature: Gallery view organizing into collections and sharing.

“I’m a 3D artist and I need to the easiest and quickest way to check quality and organize 15,000 characters for three different NFT drops of 5,000.”

→ Key Feature: Smart views (aka AI smart filters).

“I’m an art director at a game studio that now works remotely. I used to visit the art department to review the modeling being done. I need an efficient tool for all of my 3D artists to share their work in one place so I can give art direction.”

→ Key Feature: Unified workspace for teams.

“I’m a game layout artist working on a scene and I need to find compatible assets that I’ll need in the scene from our library of available assets..”

→ Key Feature: Deep search.

Exploration

01

Information Architecture

Exploring how information is distributed with some initial design concepts and layout for the interface.

02

Prototyping

With each exploration, I focused on building prototypes to quickly understand our users' needs by testing different design approaches.
The biggest challenge for Hydrogen is to ensure the application remains clean and easy to use while being extremely powerful, despite its many features.

The Product

Curation

All imported assets are viewable and searchable within a web-based browser. Assets can be filtered, sorted, and added to/removed from collections for grouping assets. Any asset can individually be inspected in a 3D viewer.

3D commenting & drawing

3D commenting & drawing

3D commenting & drawing

Collaboration through commenting on 3D assets to other users within the system

AI search

Smart 3D Search which enables a user to instantly search through millions of untagged assets to find what they are looking for.

AI agent

Use AI to streamline your workflow by automatically finding and linking materials, textures, animations, and tags. Simply instruct the AI on which files to organize, and it will handle the rest, ensuring your assets are always perfectly managed and easily accessible.

Takeaway

Working at an early-stage startup was a demanding experience, but it significantly enhanced my understanding of how to be efficient and strategically direct my efforts. One crucial lesson I learned was the importance of prioritizing the development of a minimum viable product (MVP). In a startup, where time and resources are limited, concentrating on features that provide the most value to users is essential. Additionally, I realized the necessity of emphasizing user experience (UX) over the visual aspects of the user interface (UI). Initially, I made the mistake of focusing on aesthetics, but stepping back to reevaluate user flows allowed me to prioritize UX more effectively. Finally, I learned to concentrate on solving the core problems faced by users. It's easy to get lost in daily tasks, but maintaining focus on addressing users’ pain points is crucial.