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Request for Visionary Help Capability
dennis_20
Member Posts: 87 EDU
OnShape developers, while you are busy shaking things up in the world of CAD you can add this to your list of things to set you apart: Smart Help/Suggestions. There is nothing like this that I am aware of, but there are plenty of examples that indicate it can be done (and I have faith in you!).
How it would work - as a user models in OS his/her technique is monitored. And as OS "learns" the user's technique it would develop a profile for that user that would be somewhat analogous to on-the-job skill assessment. This would be specifically tuned to each user and would become a property of their userid. By monitoring the techniques of the user the Smart Help/Suggestions could then signal the user that it has a tip for them. This could also be used to help a person learn newly added capabilities in OS or to just do things a better way. For instance, say that a cut is extruded through-all in one direction and then followed up using the same profile with another through-all cut in the opposite direction. OS Smart Help could then pop up a notice saying it has a suggestion for more efficient modeling, that of using the newly provided capability of through-all in both directions, and then even providing a link to the tutorial showing how its done.
Or perhaps a cylinder is modeled as a bunch of separate cylindrical extruded features. This is laborious and inefficient when compared to a single revolved feature that might be suggested by the Smart Help/Suggestions.
I have been using SolidWorks since it came out in 1995 and consider myself highly skilled with it. However, with every new release there were things that I either did not see or did not fully capture. As a result there were many things I would model very effectively "the old way" before I caught on to the new and better ways - sometimes for years. I sure wish someone had been looking over my shoulder and said "Hey, have you tried doing it this way?" This Smart Help/Suggestions would be that mentor looking over my shoulder.
Even our effort to search the help should be monitored. In my May 22 post in the discussion "Wish List for OnShape Features/Capabilites" https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/909/wish-list-for-onshape-features-capabilities#latest I suggest a Terminology Conversion Table (TCT). In a user's profile we should be asked to identify the CAD systems we are most familiar with so this table can be tailored to best serve us. When we search for Design Table (coming from SolidWorks) or Family Table (coming from Pro\Ehh) we can be politely directed to the OnShape terminology and associated help. Similarly with this Smart Help if OS detects we are trying to do something "in the SolidWorks way" that is not the OS way then it could ping us with "Are you trying to create a yadda yadda feature?" and offer us an option to decline or accept the help/suggestions.
This isn't so far-fetched as it may sound. For one thing the TCT would be a huge help in cross referencing. Frankly, I expect it already exits within the ranks of the OS development team if for no other reason than as a tool to aid your work. Additionally, consider that I have my Pandora station on as I write this. It uses what has been dubbed the "music genome project" to learn my likes and dislikes. It is learning by paying attention to the meta-data of my use of its system, similar to what I am suggesting in this post.
I expect it is a goal of OnShape to become a major player in the design world. Offering a good CAD system that is entirely cloud-based will not be enough. OnShape must provide things that others don't. It cannot be successful as a "me too" CAD system in the cloud. I am confident it will be more than the other systems. With the track record of DesignView and SolidWorks as its foundation and having learned so much from the past 25+ years and the ability to start with a clean sheet, OnShape is destined to be phenomenal.
I've seen VAR training be good and not so good. I've seen a lot of people that would not pay for the training, but should have. I think the built-in tutorials in SolidWorks are terrific and that too few folks avail themselves of this great learning resource. I've seen stubborn folks that resent a co-worker trying to share some tips. But all of these people actually do want to improve their skills. Think of how fantastic it would be if OnShape was not only a better system, but even actively helped us to advance our skill!
I don't expect his Smart Help/Suggestions anytime soon, but I'd like you to consider it.
How it would work - as a user models in OS his/her technique is monitored. And as OS "learns" the user's technique it would develop a profile for that user that would be somewhat analogous to on-the-job skill assessment. This would be specifically tuned to each user and would become a property of their userid. By monitoring the techniques of the user the Smart Help/Suggestions could then signal the user that it has a tip for them. This could also be used to help a person learn newly added capabilities in OS or to just do things a better way. For instance, say that a cut is extruded through-all in one direction and then followed up using the same profile with another through-all cut in the opposite direction. OS Smart Help could then pop up a notice saying it has a suggestion for more efficient modeling, that of using the newly provided capability of through-all in both directions, and then even providing a link to the tutorial showing how its done.
Or perhaps a cylinder is modeled as a bunch of separate cylindrical extruded features. This is laborious and inefficient when compared to a single revolved feature that might be suggested by the Smart Help/Suggestions.
I have been using SolidWorks since it came out in 1995 and consider myself highly skilled with it. However, with every new release there were things that I either did not see or did not fully capture. As a result there were many things I would model very effectively "the old way" before I caught on to the new and better ways - sometimes for years. I sure wish someone had been looking over my shoulder and said "Hey, have you tried doing it this way?" This Smart Help/Suggestions would be that mentor looking over my shoulder.
Even our effort to search the help should be monitored. In my May 22 post in the discussion "Wish List for OnShape Features/Capabilites" https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/909/wish-list-for-onshape-features-capabilities#latest I suggest a Terminology Conversion Table (TCT). In a user's profile we should be asked to identify the CAD systems we are most familiar with so this table can be tailored to best serve us. When we search for Design Table (coming from SolidWorks) or Family Table (coming from Pro\Ehh) we can be politely directed to the OnShape terminology and associated help. Similarly with this Smart Help if OS detects we are trying to do something "in the SolidWorks way" that is not the OS way then it could ping us with "Are you trying to create a yadda yadda feature?" and offer us an option to decline or accept the help/suggestions.
This isn't so far-fetched as it may sound. For one thing the TCT would be a huge help in cross referencing. Frankly, I expect it already exits within the ranks of the OS development team if for no other reason than as a tool to aid your work. Additionally, consider that I have my Pandora station on as I write this. It uses what has been dubbed the "music genome project" to learn my likes and dislikes. It is learning by paying attention to the meta-data of my use of its system, similar to what I am suggesting in this post.
I expect it is a goal of OnShape to become a major player in the design world. Offering a good CAD system that is entirely cloud-based will not be enough. OnShape must provide things that others don't. It cannot be successful as a "me too" CAD system in the cloud. I am confident it will be more than the other systems. With the track record of DesignView and SolidWorks as its foundation and having learned so much from the past 25+ years and the ability to start with a clean sheet, OnShape is destined to be phenomenal.
I've seen VAR training be good and not so good. I've seen a lot of people that would not pay for the training, but should have. I think the built-in tutorials in SolidWorks are terrific and that too few folks avail themselves of this great learning resource. I've seen stubborn folks that resent a co-worker trying to share some tips. But all of these people actually do want to improve their skills. Think of how fantastic it would be if OnShape was not only a better system, but even actively helped us to advance our skill!
I don't expect his Smart Help/Suggestions anytime soon, but I'd like you to consider it.
1
Comments
It surely could not hurt to give it a try.
There are a lot of capabilities still to be added to Onshape, and if and when it goes viral, it is going to be hard to keep up.
Under such a scenario, even a fairly minimal implementation of "smart help" might still be useful, just flagging, for users, capabilities in each upgrade which might be applicable to the sort of modelling they do...
which would for most users be a more manageable subset of the whole package of improvements.
Those who don't find it useful can simply disable it.
Onshape could also try to learn scale for each user. Ie. currently it offers 25mm as default for extrusion it might learn that 500mm would be the 'usual' dimension for this type of sketch and direction for this user/document.. Possibilities are endless.