I led the major refresh of the Speckle 3D viewer, redesigning most of the tools to make them easier to find and use while keeping the interface clean and flexible.
I always wanted to take the viewer to the next level, as for some teams it’s the primary tool they rely on.
Also, in my eyes—it’s the sexiest part of Speckle and where the actual magic happens.
Speckle's viewer redesign. See in hi-res.
Before, all the tools and menus were stacked in a long list on the left side of the screen. It worked, but it had some issues:
- You couldn’t open multiple menus at the same time without them overlapping.
- On smaller screens, some tools got hidden because everything was stacked vertically.
- Related tools weren’t grouped, which made it harder to find what you needed.
- Adding new features meant adding more icons, which made the UI feel cluttered.
This required quite a shift in thinking: some tools deserved the larger panel space, while others could easily fit into a toolbelt. Getting buy-in from the team for this approach took some effort on my part.
With all the UI/UX changes I introduced, I think the positive impact is finally starting to show. And more will come soon.
Stay tuned!