NOVEDGE blog

Interview with Jonathan Pickup, Vectorworks Guru and Trainer

Every CAD system has its own group of fans and gurus. The excitement of CAD fans for their favorite design system doesn't stop in front of obstacles or barriers. Vectorworks fans are no exception. Among them the most knowledgeable and active is certainly Jonathan Pickup (website, blog, twitter). Despite living in the green land of New Zealand thousand miles away, on the opposite site of the planet from Nemetschek NA, he has become one of the most active experts and trainers of the Vectorworks community. His architectural background makes him extremely effective in creating a connection between the features of Vectorworks and its users. Jonathan's training sessions avoid technical jargon and speak the language of architects and designers. He has generously published most of his training online where it's available for free. Let's ask Jonathan some questions about himself and his favorite CAD system.

Jonathan can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

I'd always wanted to be an architect and I love creating buildings

I trained as an architect in New Zealand. I'd always wanted to be an architect and I love creating buildings. After graduating the Auckland University School of Architecture and working in several places in New Zealand, I traveled to London where I worked for a large company called BDP. I was there for seven years working on many cool projects like the All England Lawn Tennis Club, National Maritime Museum, and shopping centers.
CAD was not a big thing when I got to London. Hardly anyone used it. Within a few years a few practices were using CAD. BDP had their own system. I was keen to learn the CAD, especially keen when the recession in the early '90's hit. There weren't many CAD operators and I wanted to keep my job, so I worked hard at being good. A few years layer BDP moved to MicroStation and they sent me away to learn how to use that. I was promoted to CAD manager on several projects.
It was about this time that I leaned MiniCAD 3+. That’s how long I've been using Vectorworks, since version 3.

What makes Vectorworks different from or better than other architectural design programs?

Vectorworks may not be better than other programs, but if you can learn to use it really well, it will feel better than other programs

At the time I learned MiniCAD, there were very few 3D programs. Vectorworks seemed so easy to use. Compared to MicroStation, Vectorworks was so easy to use. Now there are more programs that compete with Vectorworks. But Vectorworks still has a easy to use set of tools, and it has some powerful tools.
I have worked hard to build training resources for Vectorworks, and other programs do not have the resources we have. Vectorworks may not be better than other programs, but if you can learn to use it really well, it will feel better than other programs. My next door neighbor uses another CAD program and we've know each other for several years. We chat over the letter box at the end of the driveway. He wishes that his CAD program that the resources that I write, and the regular monthly training I provide. I told him to swap to Vectorworks and he could enjoy it too!

You have extensive experience producing training material. How are new technologies changing the way we learn and use our design programs?

a lot of people just don't realize how easy it is to learn a program with the embedded movies

When I first started writing manuals, I used Microsoft Word. It allows you to do a great deal, and write short manuals quickly. Combine that with a reasonable computer and printer and you can generate high quality manuals. Now you can create PDF files and get the manuals printed on demand.
I have been producing manuals with embedded movies for several years now. I think a lot of people just don't realize how easy it is to learn a program with the embedded movies. The movies let you get the whole picture, and get it quickly. Giving my clients movies has really improved.
The change in the last year has been my ability to provide online training. This has allowed me to offer small amounts of training when the client needs it. I run all my courses on line now. This allows me to be really flexible and it allows me to have students from all over the world.
I only have a few people at each course, I can see their screen if I need to, I can watch them work and I can correct any mistakes. This technology has been a big change for me and my clients. I have started to train clients all over the world.
This allows small amounts of training, bite sized bits of training. Small amounts of training allows the training to be digested before the next session. It allows practice between sessions, which reinforces the learning.
Before this, clients had to travel to my sessions, and I had to travel to different towns. Now I travel to their computer where ever they are. Should I mention the environmental savings?

Vectorworks users have access to several sources of information, from help files and manuals, discussion forums, online videos, and now, your book. Where does your book fit in this crowded set of options? Who should read your book?

my manuals are designed to show you how to compete a task

The Help Files and User Guides are great at showing exactly how to use one tool, but they are no good at showing you how to complete a task. A task uses several tools and commands. Some of these will not be obvious. My manuals are designed to show you how to compete a task. Each month I write a manual for my subscribers, and these show how to complete tasks that are not in any other manuals. For example, one month we covered a room finish schedule. from start to finish, all the steps need to complete the finish schedule, why some things work and why some things don't work. I like to give the reasons why things work, and the reasons why I do things. So, for example, if I'm talking about making layers and classes, I like to tell people why I use these layers and classes. I guess this is what sets my manuals and movies apart.
As for the 3D manual, it has been designed for people that want to get into 3D modeling. The manual starts with very simple modeling, covering all the basic tools and commands. 3D working is a lot of fun and I wanted everyone to see how easy it can be and how much fun you can have. So, if you want to use Vectorworks like SketchUp, if you want to draw a building with out walls, or you want to get into free-form design, try this manual.

Architectural design comes late to the world of 3D modeling. How do you explain this delay?

the problem is that many architects do not see that 3D modeling with a CAD program is useful

I'm not sure I can explain it. I started 3D modeling in MiniCAD 3+. That was a long time ago.
Not all of my employers have been keen to allow me to work in 3D. One employer was quiet strong on preventing me working in 3D, but I did anyway and he used to the 3D model to solve several design issues. So, maybe it's just the the employers do not think that 3D modeling in any CAD program can help them. Vectorworks has had some pretty cool 3D abilities for a long time. I could be wrong, but I think we have have had NURBS modeling since Vectorworks version 9.
So, I don't think the problem is the lack of software. The problem is that many architects do not see that 3D modeling with a CAD program is useful. After all, they have been drawing and sketching all these years without a CAD program.
I used to work for an architect. I taught him and his office Vectorworks, and I also worked for him as an architect. We were working on a renovation and extension project for a school. The architect had sketched the 3D look of the project, and had decided how the connections and junctions between the old building and new building should be. I was told to get on with the drawings, there is no need to much around with the 3D model. However, I noticed that the sketch wasn't accurate. The buildings were not relating they way the architect wanted. So, against instructions, I spent ten minutes to work on a 3D model to show the architect what the real situation was. When he came over to see me there was the 3D model, and the connection problems. He was happy to see the model and we spent thirty minutes working on the project, resolving all kinds of issues. At the end he was really happy with the solution, and it wasn't the same as his sketch.
I've always thought that 3D model to speed up the construction drawings, but more importantly, we should use the 3D model to improve the quality of the design. The challenge for a lot of users is learning to model the design when it is not a traditional building, or how to create a fast block model, like I did for the architect. That is where my 3D modeling manual comes in. Clients that buy this manual will learn the basic tools first, the ones that are quick to use, and they will learn how to take a block and cut it, pull it and shape it to make a concept. And, they will learn those cool curving shapes.

Many design software programs sustain an of ecosystem of blogs, online communities, technical books, etc. Vectorworks users are only now recognizing and organizing themselves online. As one of the most active Vectorworks users, can you help us understand the new surge in online participation?

When I started to blog [...] I wanted something that would be useful for my clients and other users of Vectorworks

Many younger people are especially active online. When I stared blogging a few years ago, there was a lot of people already blogging, but it was mainly for personal reasons. Now there are a lot of blogs for business, and many more are blogging now. An online presence is now an essential part of your business.
When I started to blog, I didn't really want to make my blog about me and my life. I thought that might be too dull! But I thought I could make my blog about Vectorworks tips and tricks. .
Vectorworks have started to invest in the community board and they have really made an effort in blogging, and social media. You interviewed Jessie Newburn recently, she is amazing with the effort she puts in and I think that is bringing more users online.

How did you approach the task of writing a technical book such as "3D Modeling in Vectorworks"? How did you select the content and organize it?

when my students start to have fun with Vectorworks, they start enjoy it more, and they learn more easily

The 3D side of Vectorworks has always been the most fun. When my students start to have fun with Vectorworks, they start enjoy it more, and they learn more easily. I have been teaching simple 3D modeling for a long time, since the days of MiniCAD (the name before VectorWorks). It was fun to teach and fun for the students.
A simple introduction to 3D modeling has always been part of my Essential Tutorial Manual, but I had requests from some clients that wanted to see more. As I showed more techniques with 3D modeling, the students asked for more. This manual is the result. Like all my manuals, the students tell me what they want to learn, and I develop exercises that make it simple.
For the manual I used these exercises, and developed more basic exercises to explain all the basic 3D tools and commands. Then I developed a bus stop exercise that was designed to bring together several techniques. I used the bus stop because it would suit several people, architects, landscapers, urban designers and exhibit designers.

I would like to thank Jonathan for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Jonathan or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Jonathan Pickup Sample Training Jonathan Pickup training books are available
from Novedge (Look on the Training section)

Interview with Kenneth Wong, CAD Journalist and Blogger

When I first met Kenneth Wong here in San Francisco my thoughts were not focused on the missing aureola of acronyms that impeccably decorates all his pictures. While shacking his hand I was repeating to myself: "I'm meeting one of the last CAD journalists, a very endangered species. I don't know if I'll ever meet another one before they all go extinct." In the past few years we have been so busy exploring the benefits of blogs, Twitter, and Facebook that we have almost completely missed the gradual extinction of CAD journalists and magazines (thanks to Al Dean there is at least one exception). Now it's time to look at the CAD press not anymore as a legacy of the past, but as a component of the new CAD ecosystem. Following Kenneth Wong and the emerging generation of CAD journalists we are witnessing a transformation process that will make the new press a critical player in the way we produce and consume technical information. Here is Kenneth's interview.

Kenneth can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

when I’m looking for stories, I pay attention to not just the technological angle but also the human angle

Nearly a decade ago, in one of my temp jobs, I ended up as a receptionist for a publishing firm in San Francisco. It was the same firm responsible for producing Cadence magazine (no longer in existence). The magazine’s editor in chief, Arnie Williams, noted I had a flair for writing and a curiosity about technology. So he hired me as a junior editor. That was my introduction to CAD. Since then, I’ve also cycled through a number of computer games and digital video magazines as an editor. At the moment, I’m Desktop Engineering’s resident MCAD writer and blogger. My writings also appear in Architecture Week, Computer Graphics World, Cadalyst, and other outlets.
Unlike many of my colleagues, I studied literature in school, not engineering. So when I’m looking for stories, I pay attention to not just the technological angle but also the human angle. I’m a first-generation immigrant, born and raised in Burma, Southeast Asia.

You have been working in the CAD field as a journalist for some time. Can this market support a magazine and a team of independent journalists, or will we have to rely on bloggers and press releases in the future?

Instead of magazines, we now have brands: Desktop Engineering, Cadalyst, Manufacturing Business Technology, to name but a few

We used to think of a magazine as a book published monthly. But in the past decade, that model has changed considerably. Instead of magazines, we now have brands: Desktop Engineering, Cadalyst, Manufacturing Business Technology, to name but a few. They’re made up of printed issues and a slew of properties associated with them, such as newsletters, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, and forums. CAD bloggers like SolidSmacks and Deelip emerged as recognized brands in their own rights because they give compelling reasons for people to rely on their insights and judgments.
This creates new fields and venues. Small businesses that can’t afford to run print ads can now participate online. In the end, we may have fewer printed magazines, but a richer media landscape, supported by a greater number of advertisers. I doubt the day will come when press releases become people’s prime source of news. As we all know, they are anything but independent.

Your style as a journalist is focused on the user's perspective. Can you share with us the process you go through when creating a typical article?

You won’t find a lot of technical details in my writing

When deciding to pursue a story, I always ask, “Would a user care?” You won’t find a lot of technical details in my writing. If I’m writing a feature story on a new product release, I’d rather focus on how easy (or difficult) it is to create dimensions in it than on what the modeling kernel is. I frequently broadcast the topics I’m considering in my Twitter and Faceboook updates, just to get readers’ reaction. I also scan comments on popular CAD blogs to identify people I could interview. On several occasions, I contacted them and asked them to provide quotes for my stories. In Desktop Engineering’s Virtual Desktop newsletter, which I’m responsible for, I regularly feature “Tweet of the month” and “Reader comment of the month,” culled from what readers have to say about certain topics. I think their opinion matters just as much as mine.

For several years, pervasive use of 3D in browsers has been perceived by many as the next big thing. But it hasn't happened, or at least not on a popular scale. What are the reasons for this delay?

The mouse-and-keyboard combo is perfectly suited for text input, but a handicap for manipulating 3D

Partly, it has to do with how we interact with computers. The mouse-and-keyboard combo is perfectly suited for text input, but a handicap for manipulating 3D. The other factor is the lack of standard for repackaging 3D CAD data for the Web. I’m hoping Google’s O3D open API (http://code.google.com/apis/o3d/) will serve as a rallying call for this cause. By the way, online games and virtual communities like World of Warcraft and Second Life are doing a good job cultivating a groundswell for browser-based 3D. Online communities like Dassault’s 3DVIA and 3D ContentCentral represent similar efforts. I think light-hearted, consumer-friendly Web 3D will pave the way for the more serious implementations to come.

How does your approach differ when writing an article compared to writing a blog post?

I see blogging as a way to connect with the readers on a more personal level

In my news articles, I seldom use the first-person voice. I usually keep the “I” out of the text and simply report the facts. In blog posts, my thoughts, my reactions, and my quirky personality are as much a part of the story as the facts. I take that approach because I see blogging as a way to connect with the readers on a more personal level.

Silicon Valley venture capitalists seem to be attracted to all sort of technologies except CAD and 3D technologies (with very few exceptions). As a CAD expert and resident of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley region do you have an explanation for this?

CAD market is growing [...] without the kind of wild swings that give VCs an adrenaline rush

I’m no expert on venture capitalists (VCs), but they seem to be dictated by hype, buzz, rumors, and market volatility. CAD market is growing (as seen in CIMdata’s annual reports), but it’s a safe, steady market without the kind of wild swings that give VCs an adrenaline rush. I think VCs who’re in it for the long haul should consider CAD.

What should CAD bloggers learn from CAD journalists and what should CAD journalists learn from CAD bloggers?

bloggers have shown us that, in the new era, a story is on ongoing dialog

CAD bloggers stand to gain a lot of credibility by adopting some traditional journalistic practices, like taking the time to fact-check before posting something, citing respected sources and statistics to reinforce their points, and balancing a story with opposing viewpoints. Journalists should learn to blog and use social media (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, for example) to engage with their readers the way bloggers do. Traditionally, journalists think of a story as an essay or a speech. Bloggers have shown us that, in the new era, a story is on ongoing dialog. So let’s talk!

I would like to thank Kenneth for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Kenneth or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Kenneth's Virtual Desktop Video Edition To view all issues of Kenneth Wong
Virtual Desktop Video Edition visit DE Channel on youTube.

Interview with Jessie Newburn, PR Gal at Nemetschek NA

Who is the face customers identify with a typical CAD company? Maybe the CEO whose smile appears on the cover of business magazines, or the tech support guy who handles the most challenging cases, or maybe the well-dressed salesperson who convinces big customers to buy dozens of licenses? All of them or none of them, it depends who you ask... Until yesterday. Now, if you ask people who is the most familiar face at Nemetschek NA, very likely most would respond Jessie! Jessie is not the CEO, not a member of technical support team, nor a saleswoman. Jessie is the person in charge of Social Media, or the "PR Gal," as she likes to be called. Everyday Vectorworks users find Jessie online in a variety of environments, from Facebook, to Twitter, Delicious, and so on. I managed to disconnect Jessie from her laptop and her iPhone for a short while in order to get some insight about her online activities and her role inside Nemetschek NA. Here is the interview.

Jessie, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

the company (has) a loyal, passionate and, perhaps, a bit geeky customer base

Certainly. I’m the PR gal on the global mar-com team at Nemetschek North America. We develop CAD products for designers under the name Vectorworks. Strengthening our global community and supporting our international distributors is a key component of my job. I was drawn to work with Nemetschek NA because I could tell – even from the outside looking in -- that the company had a loyal, passionate and, perhaps, a bit geeky customer base. As I have a strong orientation to the opportunities emerging in and around social media, this was a perfect storm, so to speak, of the type of company I wanted to work for. I’ve been with NNA for about a year, and it’s been everything I hoped for … and more.

How do you see the current state of social media in the CAD industry? Is it affecting only a small community or is it having a larger impact?

social media opens the doors to serve people more specifically and genuinely

Well, as a newcomer to the CAD industry, I don’t believe I’m qualified to speak to how social media is impacting this one industry differently than others. I think for all companies, the touch points for reaching customers, prospects and the press have exploded. As well, consumer sentiment in wanting actual engagement and personal value, and less messaging about a product’s grandness, has shifted. Social media opens the doors to serve people more specifically and genuinely.

Do you think social media technologies will ever become a daily tool for CAD end users?

I know, with a personal certainty, that social media is, for some, a daily tool, indeed

LOL. Well, in my eyes, social media technologies already are a daily tool for some people. Present company included! For others, of course, the tools don’t even register as significant. But weighing in on the side of daily use, my morning includes reviewing my Google Alerts to discover what new content about our products and brand is now online. I check in on Twitter for reasons similar, engaging with users and scanning the tweets to see what others in our community are reading and saying; I communicate with press and the public in Facebook, and I use, for example, social book-marking tools for tracking press activity and sharing it with my colleagues. In my own life, I also approach data, projects and communication using many of the same tools and technologies I use at Nemetschek NA. So, I know, with a personal certainty, that social media is, for some, a daily tool, indeed.

People approaching the new social media tools frequently complain about the amount of time they must invest in them in order to get some tangible feedback. Would you say they have wrong expectations, the wrong tools, or a wrong approach?

to ignore social media tools or think they can be avoided in the long term is, in my opinion, a mistake

I think their frustrations probably stem from a combination of all three points you mention. Let’s call a spade a spade: Anything can be a time suck, right? News, TV, even relationships and hobbies can pull my attention in a disproportionate way. My experience is that I’ve had to invest time in learning social media … and not just learning the technology, but also the culture around these technologies. Oh, and as an early adopter, I’d add that I’ve even had to invest time to monitor shifts and adjust my activities as the culture shifted. So, yeah, it can take some time. Then again, I used to spend gobs of time on email, and now I’ve pared that down to a bare minimum. I used to organize files and data on my hard drive, and now delicious.com, YouTube, my blogs and Twitter carry more of that function for me.

Frustrations and worries aside, to ignore social media tools or think they can be avoided in the long term is, in my opinion, a mistake. So, I believe that professionals in any industry benefit from learning more about these tools, both for technical skills gained and for being connected to the cultural vibe around them.

The new social communication channels promote individual relationships rather than companies, brands, or products. How can companies participate in this new world?

Cultural values have shifted with more people wanting personal communication along with corporate branding

I approach this corporate dilemma differently than a lot of folk. I think social media tools are ascending in use specifically because they facilitate individual relationships, raw-and-real communication and personal branding. Understanding that component of the motivation for using these tools is one of the keys for how companies can “participate in this new world.” The tools don’t make someone be a fool. Or be likeable, for that matter. If someone lacks even a modicum of style and elegance in their personal behavior, social media will just exacerbate that fact. And make it public. Likewise, I believe there is a significant amount of untapped intelligence and capacity trapped in hierarchical-based organizations. Social media can help identify that and bring it forth. I think companies have a golden opportunity at hand in helping people inside their companies by modeling online activities that are engaging, real, respectful and professional. Cultural values have shifted with more people wanting personal communication along with corporate branding. Not one. Not either. But both.

Getting feedback from a customer is not as easy as social media gurus sometimes often promise. More vocal users are not always the most representative of the community. What are your suggestions on this topic?

I listen.
I respond.
I engage.

This is a loaded topic and not one easily answered in but a paragraph or two. Yes, I agree that vocal users are not always the most representative of the community. But the bigger question here is how to get more feedback from customers. I’d add that “feedback” is much more than a call-and-response process, where companies ask questions and customers dutifully respond. Feedback, vis-à-vis social media, is much about watching where users are. Engaging with them on their turf and in their culture. And then listening, participating and adding value to the community. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record of the social media mantra, but this stuff is not about automation and gimmicks. It’s about engagement.

Twitter is just one example of where this is possible. It’s a bit awkward, but I use it and love it. Nemetschek NA has three broad categories of users: architects, landscape architects and entertainment designers. We’ve also got a large and diverse international community, student users, long-time users and brand-new users. With Twitter, I watch the conversation in and around our brand. I listen. I respond. I engage. I also bring in other people from the company when I need their help to answer specific questions. And our CTO, interviewed earlier on Novedge, is the recipient of the stream of tweets about our products’ features and functionality. So, “feedback,” in today’s environment, starts with listening, not asking.

What is the Nemetschek NA strategy for social media and how does it fit in the Nemetschek group strategy?

our product, our customers’ success with it and their clients’ satisfaction with their work is what counts

Now, Franco, as you know, our global headquarters are in the Washington, D.C. region (read: DOD/NSA/CIA). We have a popular saying in these parts: “If I answer that question, then I’d have to kill you.” :-) But for real, people can easily find us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, Netvibes, Flickr and a few other sites. Plus, we have some neat global-facing projects on the horizon, so stay tuned.

For now, we’re like many companies: engaging and monitoring, measuring where we can and dynamically adapting to a shifting landscape. At the end of the day, our product, our customers’ success with it and their clients’ satisfaction with their work is what counts. Social media can facilitate and support many of our goals in supporting our customers and in deepening our engagement in a worldwide community of users, so it certainly has our attention. The reasons I was initially attracted to Nemetschek – the loyal, passionate and just a bit geeky customer base – give us – and all industries in the CAD industry – an opportunity to serve our customers and support their success with our software. Now that I have a stronger sense of the company’s direction, the people working here, and the capacity of our users, I’ll answer your question by saying, “Our future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” :-)

I would like to thank Jessie for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Jessie or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Jessie Talks about Marketing in 2008 This video interview was released by Jessie to Jonny Goldstein in 2008. At the time Jessie was not working at Nemetschek NA.

Interview with Paul Bay, CEO of Punch! Software

Not all CAD companies play in the same arena. While most CAD companies stay busy talking to the press, explaining strategies to financial analysts, and placing expensive ads in magazines nobody reads anymore, some CAD companies invest their time and money in talking to customers. These companies are less likely to be on a stage under a spotlight, but they are out there in the market enjoying a strong dialogue with their customers and selling licenses by the millions. Punch! Software (website) is one of these kinds of companies. They make a powerful product line that includes products such as ViaCAD, Shark, HomeDesign, and more. It's time to invite Punch! Software's CEO Paul Bay to the stage of the Novedge blog, turn on the lights, and ask him a few questions.

Paul can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

I have a strong background and intimate knowledge of retail, internet, SMB, commercial, corporate, and vendor markets

Sure. I am Paul Bay, the CEO of Punch! Software and I’ve been with Punch! for over three and a half years. I have a strong background in technology distribution where I spent eleven years with Ingram Micro, Inc., the world’s largest technology distributor, headquartered in Southern California. I was Senior Vice President of North America at Ingram Micro with Executive Management responsibility for purchasing, vendor relationships, business development, category management, vendor marketing as well as the components business unit. I have a strong background and intimate knowledge of retail, internet, SMB, commercial, corporate, and vendor markets and I’ve been thrilled to bring those skills to Punch! and utilize them in the role I hold within the company in order to grow and evolve as the market around us evolves and expands.

for the past 10 years, we’ve continued to dominate the North American market in home design software

Upon accepting the position with Punch! in 2006, I relocated my family from sunny Southern California to Kansas City, Missouri and have enjoyed the opportunity to explore family life in a completely different region than I grew up within Southern California. Around the months of December through mid-March I do miss the sunshine of the west coast, but we’ve learned to appreciate many things unique to Kansas City as well. I have yet to sway my allegiance to the San Diego Chargers and my family may very well be the only ones wearing navy blue jerseys each Sunday in Kansas City!
Punch! Software was formed in 1998 with the idea that 3D design software should be as fun to use as it is productive. Everyday we are focused on our mission to be the leading global provider and destination for design solutions. For the past 10 years, we’ve continued to dominate the North American market in home design software through our retail and online sales outlets and in late 2006 we decided to expand our 3D design breadth by acquiring CadSoft Solutions and were quickly recognized as the fastest growing CAD company in 2007. Through the acquisition we were able to add to the Punch! Software portfolio an incredibly strong lineup of 2D/3D CAD software for the professional architect and engineer, via our Shark CAD product line, as well as CAD products for the hobbyist, through our ViaCAD product line.

Who is the typical Punch! Software customer? Why does he or she select Shark CAD?

we have over three million Punch! Software customers

The typical Punch! Software customer is somebody who recognizes a truly powerful 2D/3D CAD solution that’s incredibly easy to use, in addition to somebody who appreciates the affordability the Shark CAD and ViaCAD products offer. We have over three million Punch! Software customers so our ability to truly bring 3D CAD design to anybody and everybody is something we believe to be highly achievable.
Our current CAD customer base has a very broad range from high tech manufacturers to creative artists; from set designers to recreational product designers; from luxury packaging designers to architects, school districts and prestigious universities. It’s quite broad, which I believe is a nod to our ease of use and powerful product capabilities, and the good news is that it just keeps growing!

The "ease-of-use" is among the most quoted quality of your products. What are the keys to making the end-user life easier while still providing high level features?

ease-of-use is a combination of the user interface, video tutorials, and software features

We believe that ease-of-use is a combination of the user interface, video tutorials, and software features that enhance the total user experience. For new users, we provide over 80 minutes of embedded video tutorials. These tutorials can serve as a learning syllabus, a reference tool, or simply as a guide as you go through your design process.
In addition to the video tutorials, our Shark CAD products provide an extensive set of software features aimed at enhancing the user experience and unveiling high level features as needed. This is accomplished through customizing tool options, smart prompting, tips and tricks pop-ups, and intelligent snapping using LogiCursor™. LogiCursor is often noted by our users as an indispensable tool for working in 3D as well as 2D. Using the tools provided within the ViaCAD and Shark CAD products, we literally can have a beginning 2D/3D design enthusiast designing within minutes!

Your products run on the Win platform as well as on the Mac. Do you receive the same feedback from the two categories of users?

we provide the ability to read native CATIA and Pro/E, which is a unique solution for Mac users

Aside from the resounding “Hallelujah” from the Mac community, we do tend to receive similar feedback from the two categories of users. Both categories of users want functionality and the ability to share data with others. Our out-of-the box functionality and ability to share data precisely using IGES, STEP, DXF/DWG and SAT is much welcomed. We also provide the ability to read native CATIA and Pro/E Wildfire parts, which is a unique solution for Mac users.
Our Mac users are thrilled to see we provide a native interface to Mac, much as our PC interface is native to Windows. Neither user community is compromised by our decision to support both platforms. However, our Mac users will find some extra translators as part of the Mac OS for reading EPS, PDF, and AI files. These file formats are great for Adobe users migrating into 3D.
With respect to our price point within the CAD software market, collectively we receive raised eyebrows, lots of comments such as “really?”, and deliberate nods of approval. The functionality combined with user experience at an attractive price point is appreciated by both categories of users.

What is the level of collaboration and synergy you have with CadSoft since the acquisition in November 2006?

there were lots of similarities between Punch! and CadSoft as we both promoted a very entrepreneurial environment

Collaboration and synergies were completely integrated shortly after the acquisition. We saw a unique opportunity when we acquired CadSoft Solutions to not only obtain a great technology, but also a seasoned veteran in Tim Olson. Tim has over 25 years of management experience in this industry and brought a wealth of knowledge within the CAD space.
There were lots of similarities between Punch! and CadSoft Solutions as we both promoted a very entrepreneurial environment. Tim and his team have become a part of the Punch! family and they continue to collaborate with sales and marketing as well as the core management team on a daily basis. We’re thankful everyday for their contribution, expertise, perspective and immense knowledge of the CAD market and industry.

The Shark product line integrates 2D and 3D in an effective way. What role do you think 2D will play in the design and manufacturing industry five years from now?

We see 2D continuing to play a relevant role especially in the presentation of 3D data through engineering drawings. Our goal is to continue to provide easy and affordable tools that automate this process providing an attractive migration path for 2D users.

Integration with other CAD system is a key feature of the Shark product line. How is Shark used in combination with the "big guys" (CATIA, Pro/E., etc.)?

[Integration with other CAD system] is a key feature of the Shark product line

You’re right Franco, it is a key feature of the Shark product line and something we’re very proud of. Tim and his team developed a precise kernel that facilitates the sharing of data with the “big guys” and we’ve seen it work to the advantage of the customer in several instances. We have many customers who have existing installations of CATIA, Pro/E, AutoCAD, Solidworks, you name it, and they’ve been able to add additional CAD licenses of Shark into the existing environment to share data seamlessly, and for a noticeably more affordable price tag.

I would like to thank Paul for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Paul or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Shark CAD Video Punch! Software products are available from Novedge

Interview with Lorenzo Puleo, CEO and Founder of Kinemac

Lorenzo Puleo is one of the many creative people who fell in love with Mac. However Lorenzo didn't stop at the user level as most Mac fans do, he went on to conceive a new product and created a company around it. That company shares the name of its main product and is called Kinemac (website).
Kinemac is an easy to use real time animation software for the Mac platform. It combines the ease-of-use typical of so many Mac applications with the power of a professional tool. Novedge is a proud reseller of Kinemac since 2008. I asked Lorenzo to share with us his story and vision. Here is the interview.

Lorenzo can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

my greatest dream: creating a 3D animation for the Mac users

I am originally architect migrated to the informatics in 1996. Kinemac is a company I have founded to realize my greatest dream: creating a 3D animation software for the Mac users community. And looking at the results, we succeeded.

The Mac platform is the favorite of creative people. Can you help us understand why?

Mac is not just a computer, it’s a lifestyle

Mac is not just a computer, it’s a lifestyle, a philosophy which perfectly joins math and art. Left brain and right brain think differently. Mac, introducing an intuitive approach to the schematic (but powerful) world of the math, merges them together. That, I suppose, is the secret of the success of the Mac platform in the creative area.

Video and animation are now mainstream on the Internet, an area inundated with amateurs. How much room is there for serious professionals?

to be a pro you need to study more than just being creative

I wouldn’t mix holy and profane. There is an amateurs’ world which could easily find a land on the internet. There is a professional world which daily needs professional tools and skilled artists. I think they speak different languages. I recall these lyrics from the US3 group: “Different rhythm, different people”. I think that professional works like this one from the Tronic Studio can never be put together with amateurs’ works. To be professional you need to study more than being just creative. Furthermore you need powerful tools too. Amateurs could be successful, make a lot of money and get famous too, but this doesn’t mean they are pro. Surely there are exceptions.

Who is your typical user of Kinemac? How does he or she use the program?

Kinemac is in between the consumer and the professional world

We gather users from the pro-sumer world. This means that Kinemac is in between the consumer and the professional world. While offering professional results it can be easily learnt and used by professional and non professional users. We have different profiles of users, we have beginners, single video-artists, small post-production companies, schools and universities, research labs and big companies as international TVs and post-production companies. We have conquered many big names in these last areas, but as you know well, we can’t mention any of them.

What is your strategy for raising awareness of your product and the benefits that come from using it?

Kinemac is one of the most popular 3D Real Time Animation software for MacOS X

We have spread the word of Kinemac in many ways, from exhibiting at the MacWorld SF to releasing articles, interviews, and tutorials. Lately we have granted our product in special bundles which have had a great impact on the Mac community. Today we can surely say that Kinemac is one of the most popular 3D Real Time Animation software for Mac OS X. And everybody loves it. As far as the educational world, we have successfully reached a great goal. We apply special discounts to schools and universities and in change, spontaneously, we get a lot of precious feedback which help us to improve our product in an impressive way.

The new generation browsers will implement video as a native type of data, in the the same way as images and text. What could be the impact of such an important change for video and animation producers and consumers?

Surely the demand of tools to produce video will grow largely. We expect to grow as well. And we are ready for the event. But the day the browsers will implement a standard 3D engine is still far. Let’s see what the future will bring.

What is the geographical distribution of your business and how different are the European and American markets?

we have clients all over the world

We mostly sell over the Internet, so we have clients all over the world. This is the way we look at the market: as one nation.
It could be surprising, but the clients have all the same requirements, no matter the country they live. And this sounds promising.

I would like to thank Lorenzo for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Lorenzo or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Kinemac Video Tutorials
Kinemac products are available from Novedge

Interview with Al Whatmough, CEO and Founder of InspirTech

A few major trends are shaping the balance between classroom training and online/DVD self-training. The first trend is the gradual decrease of CAD system prices. It used to be normal to pay a few thousand dollars for a training class. It is now perceived as unfair to have to pay as much or even more for training as for a full CAD license. CAD systems are gradually getting easier to use and require less training. Another important trend affecting the way people use training is that CAD users love to almost instantly access training as they find a problem or an unknown feature. Online training as well DVDs are now available 24/7 to provide answers to problems as quickly as possible. One of the major players in the CAD training field is a company called InspirTech, which offers a good selection of training DVDs for SolidWorks and MasterCAM. I asked InspirTech's CEO Al Whatmough a few questions to find out more about this new and promising evolution in CAD training. Here is the interview.

Al can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

while teaching I found how much I enjoyed to motivate and reach each individual learner

By all means, I started my career as a machinist in a university machine shop where we made models of buildings and bridges for wind tunnel tests, as well as various lab setups for the university. While at the university, I became proficient designing models in SolidWorks and making them on CNC and rapid prototyping machines. Next, I moved on to teaching Design and Machine shop at the high school level, were I had the chance to inspire kids to use and embrace technology. While teaching I found how much I enjoyed finding ways to motivate and reach each individual learner. At that time I realized that structured training was lacking. So, I started InspirTech and began to author self-paced SolidWorks training that would guide users through the learning process.

CAD training is quickly moving from the classroom to the computer screen. What are the reasons for this shift and what is the impact on CAD end-users?

we all live very busy lives and learn at different rates- making self-paced learning more attractive

The shift is taking place for a lot of reasons, but I think the biggest reason is flexibility for the student. In a classroom environment a student is expected to be available at a certain time and learn at the same pace as the other students. The reality is, we all live very busy lives and learn at different rates- making self-paced learning more attractive. Additionally, with recorded training you can bring the experts to every student. That being said, nothing will ever completely replace the value of having a person there for motivation and coaching. So, I can see a solution where classrooms make more use of structured video based training like ours.

Do you think technical books and DVDs will disappear as the current generation of CAD users is replaced by a younger generation more comfortable with online training?

DVD’s will move to videos hosted in the clouds

Books will definitely evolve into a more digital form; DVD’s will move to videos hosted in the clouds. Although, in both cases there will always be a need for training in both video and written form. But yes, in time I do definitely think that all training content will be hosted online where it can be instantly updated behind the scenes and accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.

The separation between training and help files is getting more blurry every day. Is interactive training replacing the traditional help files or the other way around?

training and help files serve to entirely different purposes

When interactive training gets blurred with a help file, I would argue that it is not interactive training at all, but rather a “video based help file”. Training and help files serve to entirely different purposes. Help files are in place for a user to have a searchable index to find specific answers to how to use a specific tool. Interactive training, on the other hand, is in place to help users learn skills that they may not even know that they need to know. That being said, searchable training could potentially remove the need for help files all together.

Training DVDs are a static resource and like a book cannot be updated, only replaced. Do you see a future where online training becomes a sort of shared resource that hosts not only lessons prepared and updated by trainers but also end-user contributions?

when it comes to training, I think that making them shared resources will only make the learning process more confusing

Yes, by all means. Technology is taking us in the direction of a far more collaborative world where files are hosted in the clouds. So, I do see help files becoming a “shared resource” in models similar to Wikipedia. However, when it comes to training, I think that making them shared resources will only make the learning process more confusing. The purpose and necessity for training is to take the flood and wealth of knowledge and boil it down to something that a new user can understand. Now that same flood of knowledge is a limitless resource to a veteran user, but could be poison to a new user who doesn’t know where to start and in what direction to continue on.

Let’s envision a sort of ideal CAD world, where there are easy-to-use CAD systems and perfect product documentation. In such a world do we still need training products like yours?

the need for quality training will never go away

The theme for all these questions has been to clarify the difference between documentation (help files) and structured training. In a world where software is easier to use, the need for help files may be reduced. However, the need for quality training will never go away. To say there wasn’t a need for training in CAD Systems would be like saying, “Everybody knows how to pick up a pencil, so we don’t need to teach writing anymore”.

I would like to thank Al for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Al or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

InspirTech Sample Video InspirTech products are available from Novedge

Interview with Lou Gallo, SolidWorks Power User and CAD Podcaster

In the past, if someone asked me to come up with improbable or strange combinations of technologies I would have suggested things such as 3D animations and Twitter or CAD and podcasts. I have since learned that if something looks improbable or strange to me it doesn't mean it's impossible or even wrong. Tackling those apparently impossible combinations requires both vision and determination, qualities which characterize Lou Gallo, the SolidWorks Power User who started a regular podcast about SolidWorks.
Not only is Lou Gallo proving the combination of a CAD podcast possible, he is also showing how this combination can be successful. While listening to his podcast in the morning drive to work, it becomes obvious that podcasting about SolidWorks makes perfect sense, but who could have seen this opportunity? I honestly didn't. Here is my interview with Lou to understand how he does it.

Lou can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

I began listening to podcasts, mostly on tech, in 2004...

Sure. I am a mechanical engineer from Wisconsin with a background in robotics and automation systems. My interest in CAE tools began in college. After graduation, I began working in the mechanical and semiconductor industry and am currently with Digital Dimensions, a SolidWorks reseller in Arizona, San Diego, Fresno and Sacramento. I have been in the CAD industry now since 2001 and enjoy visiting customers and helping solve problems within engineering and design. I began listening to podcasts, mostly on tech, in 2004 and realized that I wanted to provide tech content of my own back to the SolidWorks community. I started my own podcast in January of 2006. The podcast is now joined by a blog and a Twitter-like community called THE HEaRD. I have always been a bit of a technology junky so I tend to spend time discovering new technologies in web-based applications and CAD related tools.

While podcasting might seem to be an odd option for a graphic and visual context such as CAD, your success proves opposite. How did you get started, and how do you involve people?

[podcasting] can be challenging in selecting a topic that will not require a visual aid

This is a common question I am asked, but when I started the podcast, my goal was to provide SolidWorks and tech related content that users could take on the go. Since most of my podcast listening was done in the car on my commute to work, I figured this was a space that could be filled by news and tips on a CAD tool used not only by my customers, but any SolidWorks user worldwide. It can, however, be challenging in selecting a topic that will not require a visual aid like a blog or video. Another goal of mine is to bring awareness as well as useful tips, so if after listening you try or lookup how a feature or tool works, I have done what I set out to do. As far as involving the listenership, I try to get them to interact on THE HEaRD or Twitter, however I get a fair amount of interaction thru email and comments through the website.

Based on your experience, what are the main differences between a blog and a podcast from the end user point of view? What type of content fits best for each of the two channels?

It is all about the enclosure. A blog is really no different than a podcast as far as the "feed", except a podcast has an enclosure or something that the reader can then take with them. In my case, that is an MP3 which they can either listen to from the website, be consumed through an RSS reader, or more commonly through a podcatching client like iTunes. By publishing my content to my website, the user can choose to consume the content from the web, leave comments and read the show notes, just like a blog, or have it delivered automatically by subscribing. I started doing a blog as well since there were topics that required that platform to best communicate certain topics (pictures and/or video).

How do you interact with your listeners? What type of feedback are you getting from them?

I encourage my listeners after every show to send me feedback via email, comments, or the micro-blogs (Twitter or THE HEaRD). I get feedback from all of these outlets.

What did you learn moving from listener to author?

the first couple of shows took an hour to record a 5 - 10 minute show

Great question. A lot! Before my interest in podcasting, my audio recording experience could be summed up in three words, Windows Sound Recorder. I had been recording webcasts live and using video capture software but never mixed in music or tried to fade in/out transitions before. This took a lot of research to learn what equipment to use (mics and mixers) and what software was the best to use for recording. The other issue was the RSS creation. When I started there were very few people that podcasted and most were technical so building the feed was typically a manual process which I did in Notepad. This made it a lot of work but it was educational and helped me find a better workflow to get shows recorded and posted. The first couple of shows took an hour to record a 5 - 10 minute show, then an additional hour or so to get all the posting and feed creation done. Today a 20-30 minute show takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to record, write show notes and post!

Can you describe your audience, for instance - how large is it? Where are they located? What is their professional level?

the podcast has gotten over 100,000 downloads

The podcast has gotten over 100,000 downloads since I launched and the monthly downloads seem to be increasing as podcast awareness grows. I started this solely due to my love of the recording technology and my desire to share my SolidWorks and tech knowledge with the community. The size of my audience is really not important to me as long as I know I'm helping people.
The reach of the show is worldwide. A majority of the listeners are in the US & Canada but I have listeners across the globe in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

How do you select the content you provide to your subscribers?

Since 1-2 shows a month relate to tech news or new technologies, the industry will provide me content to cover. On the SolidWorks front, since so many of us use CAD tools a certain way every time, we tend to get into ruts. I try to choose new toolsets or useful tools that are typically missed by most users. I also spend time covering new toolsets as well as products released on the SolidWorks Labs site. I will occasionally get groups of Bloggers together to chat about tech topics and do a 15+ part series each year covering the What's New for new releases of SolidWorks. I have recently gotten into doing live coverage of events like SolidWorks World and COFES 2009. I am always interested in feedback or topics for future shows and will cover that when requests are sent in.

What type of integration do you have among Podcast, Twitter, and your blog?

The podcast is a weekly show which I have published every week since 1/1/06. It can be found in iTunes, but it is fed through Feedburner, so any mechanism that people have to download blog/podcast feeds will work. I also have links go out in my HEaRD account which echos to Twitter (@gol10dr). All podcasts are posted on my site along with their show notes at http://solidworksheard.com/podcast so listeners can leave feedback through the comment system. However they can also find me here at Novedge as well! Thanks Franco for the interview and the work you do at Novedge!

In my opinion CAD systems such as SolidWorks have been affected only marginally by the Internet and Internet technologies. What is your opinion and which web technologies and tools are more likely to have an impact on CAD systems from the end user point of view?

I am a huge fan of web applications and their success is typically enhanced by offering their users a local experience

I agree. In general most Desktop CAD systems are only marginally affected by Internet technologies but that is going to change as web-based applications become more ubiquitous. I am a huge fan of web applications and their success is typically enhanced by offering their users a local experience or Desktop integration. As design teams become more global, these web-based technologies are going to offer a bridge to unifying concurrent engineering efforts by allowing real time communication and data sync.
Tools are emerging now that allow in-CAD conversation like Vuuch Discussions but even tools like GoToMeeting are bringing remote teams closer and allowing real-time interaction that local design departments have at their dispose. Social technologies are also allowing engineers to get ideas and feedback right from the customer so this is an exciting time to be an engineer.

I would like to thank Lou for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Lou or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Interview with Lynn Allen, Autodesk blogger and evangelist

Lynn Allen is one the most popular bloggers in the CAD world (Lynn blog, Lynn on Pulse). She is also a sort of ambassador for AutoCAD, promoting this CAD system in every context. In a world of stodgy CAD executives and unexciting CAD geeks, she brings a sparkling touch, feminine charm, and a solid technical knowledge. Lynn Allen loves AutoCAD users, and AutoCAD users love Lynn Allen, and everywhere she appears she is received with the same excitement of a movie star. Here is my interview with Lynn.

Lynn, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am currently the Autodesk Technical Evangelist and have been in the CAD industry for about 25 years. I present to about 30,000 users each year and enjoy keeping our customers updated on the latest products (as well as sharing tips and tricks). I have had a monthly column in Cadalyst magazine for about 16 years and am the author of several books on AutoCAD. I am very passionate about all things Autodesk. When I am not traveling for Autodesk I enjoy time spent at home with my husband and our very spoiled dog.

You are one of the most (if not the most) popular bloggers for the AutoCAD users' community. Can you share with us your approach to blogging?

I aim to share Autodesk software tips and techniques that will help the reader be more productive immediately as well as keep them updated on Autodesk news they might find valuable. I also try to balance a bit of a personal side to my blog so the readers can identify with me as a real person (which I am). Where possible I try to inject some humor, since, let’s face it, technical blogs can get pretty dry.

You recently started posting on Twitter. How has your experience been so far and how is it different from blogging?

I will be the first to admit that while I enjoy twittering…I am not exactly sure why I twitter! It is a very low stress means of sharing information that I can do just about anywhere – which works out perfectly for me because I often have an intense travel schedule. I liken it to virtual stalking and for some reason we want to gather as many virtual stalkers as possible.

With release 2010 Autodesk puts AutoCAD under the spotlight not only as a standalone application but also as a complement to other design applications. What is the role of AutoCAD when other CAD systems are used in a design environment?

More often than not I find that were there is one of Autodesk’s higher end products such as Revit Architecture or Autodesk Inventor, there is also an AutoCAD. While the high end design challenges are tackled in the modeling software, AutoCAD is still often used for the detailing or the construction docs. The 3D models are intelligent and extremely valuable – but let’s face it – we still get paid to churn out 2D documents. Often that is where AutoCAD comes into play.

Autodesk competitors dismissed AutoCAD long ago as obsolete. Despite their expectations AutoCAD is still the most popular CAD software and is even seeming to enjoy a renewed vitality. Can you help us understand why?

Our customers love AutoCAD, plain and simple. Autodesk has worked hard to continue to innovate the product and keep it current. This year Autodesk added in some more powerful 3D features as well as parametrics. These types of features really kick up the power of the software and keep our customers coming back for more! It certainly isn’t your grandfather’s AutoCAD if you know what I mean.

What type of feedback do you receive from end users and how do you share that feedback with the people inside your company?

I am fortunate because I get a chance to share the newest features in AutoCAD with a live audience. I get instant positive feedback when I share the latest features that are going to make their everyday drawing life even better. I also get the occasional negative feedback and want to make sure any issues or disappointment is addressed with those who can do something about it. I have a few go-to resources in the company who can usually point me in the right direction to provide such feedback to those who can make changes within Autodesk.

I would like to thank Lynn for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Lynn or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Interview with Chris Williams, Vuuch Founder and CEO

Let's be honest: the CAD world is boring. I read CAD blogs and news every single day (using Novedge Pulse), and I rarely find something really exciting. In this market, technological improvements are very gradual and real breakthroughs happen only once in a decade. Also, the adoption of new technologies in the design and manufacturing process is usually very slow.
The first time I heared about Vuuch, I quickly realized that I was looking at one of the few truly new ideas in this field. It is always refreshing to see a novel approach to old problems. In this case we can trust the source of the new ideas: Chris Williams, the CEO and Founder of Vuuch, has already been tested by the CAD community and by the market. Let's hear from Chris exactly what Vuuch is about.

Chris, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a mechanical engineer by education and early in my career I worked as a designer for a number of companies. During my years as a designer I worked on the board and in CAD, which ultimately led me to start a CADKEY VAR in the Boston area. After a few years I decided to go to work for the CAD OEM’s and hence worked for CADKEY and PTC in sales. After PTC I joined RAND TECHNOLOGIES where I built their East Coast operations and major account team. During my last two years at RAND I ran a process consulting group which sold to the largest Pro/ENGINEER customers in the USA. One of my main customers, United States Surgical, recruited me to run the core engineering and advanced research teams, consisting of 250 engineers developing medical devices.

along the way I’ve owned an espresso bar and done some real estate development

After spending time as a customer I moved back to PTC (living in London England) and then on to a series of startups. The first was Product DynamiX which developed a product development wiki and the most recent was Seemage, which I sold to Dassault, just over a year ago. Along the way I’ve owned an espresso bar and done some real estate development.

As CEO of Seemage (acquired by Dassault Systèmes) you have played a key role in one of the few successful start ups in CAD. Why is the CAD market so difficult for newcomers?

This is really a great question and I love the fact that you call it the CAD market! Partly because I consider myself a CAD guy, but also this in part defines an answer. CAD, like Seemage delivers clear productivity to a single person, the user. For me the most important thing is to deliver value to an end user without constraining them. Seemage success can be credited to delivering end user value through a fantastic product that was the vision of Eric Piccuezzu and James Dugalais. All I did was help the market see this value.

the most important thing is to deliver value to an end user without constraining them

Of course you need a great team and a great product, but this is not enough. You must provide the user clear value. This is where it becomes difficult and why so many startups fail. Design is hard enough and by its nature it is a freeform flexible process, so anything that constrains the users will have limited success. Many startups have elegant solutions that deliver value to a group or the company but not the user, resulting in slow or nonexistent user uptake and a lackluster business.

Vuuch, your new company, promises to bring social media technologies to the PLM world. How do you mix PLM tools (known among users for their rigidity and very structured approach to information management) with something as informal and intrinsically unstructured as the new social media tools?

It is either not fair or at least incomplete to say PLM is rigid and therefore imply nothing in the development process is rigid. PLM mirrors the rigid approach that was there before the technology. When I was working on the drafting board I had to release parts, update BOM’s, and define affectivities, all of which are very rigid. It is a fact that structured information management is part of product development. PLM automates this structured process. This doesn’t mean there are unstructured things going on in design teams.

Vuuch is about the unstructured. The design process is filled with unstructured activities

Vuuch is about the unstructured. The design process is filled with unstructured activities. This is not to say design teams are out of control, but it is to say that a big part of what they do cannot be stuck in a box with a nice neat workflow bow. For me this makes perfect sense because they are being asked to be creative.
For instance, a designer is constantly asking for bits of information from other team members. Email has become the dominate tool for this. The problem with this approach is their inbox has no understanding of what they are doing, so they are left to sift through messages and manage folders of messages and at the end they are the only one that can ever see this… regardless of who else might get value from these messages.
With the Vuuch your messages are filtered based on what you are working on. T oday we have a beta plug-in for Pro/ENGINEER and will release a SolidWorks plug-in at SWW 2009 and we will add additional plug-ins for things like Word and Excel. Beyond plug-ins your team can access discussions through our web portal at www.vuuch.me

So what is Vuuch and how will it affect the design process?

Let me start with the name. Vuuch is the webification of the English word vouch, which means to call or summon, truth, up hold by evidence or give personal assurance, all of which summarize the impact of Vuuch.
Everyone engaged with others in the pursuit of something, no matter if it is planning a meeting or designing the next cell phone, communicates with their team using micro messages. Micro messages are those emails, IM, or twitters you send to the team to get information you need to complete your deliverable. Like the mail you sent me the other day asking about this interview. In design these messages are about something very specific, like a bolt diameter.

Vuuch is the webification of the English word vouch, which means to call or summon, truth, up hold by evidence or give personal assurance

The problem with these messages is they grow out of control because they tend to bounce back and forth through multiple replies and therefore makes a mess of your inbox. These messages have both a short-term and long-term value. In the short-term they get you your answer and in the long-term they can tell someone how the design came to be, or why the bolt is a half inch.
People spend countless hours searching for information. Message management accounts for a large portion of this. Vuuch ties together your deliverables, discussions and people in a clean a simple web delivered solution allowing the team to create and access discussions in the context of creating their deliverables. The bottom line value is a savings in time by removing the need to search for stuff you know you have and/or allowing people to better understand the origin of design decisions.
Take a look at the quick demonstration at www.vuuch.com, come by our booth at SolidWorks World 2009 or signup for a Free Trial.

You are a Twitter user (@vuuch), as well as a blogger. How much do your own personal experiences with those tools and technologies influence your company vision?

I must admit I don’t really get Twitter. I use Twitter as an experiment and investigation of value. First I am evaluating the user interaction approach and second discrete value. Some of the best learning comes from having to force myself to turn these tools on.

A designer of a part wants to see what effects what they are doing, not everything that is happening across their team

If you looked at the original design notes for Vuuch you would discover how we borrow from technologies like email, blog and IM. Email provides a great way to attach information, blogs provide organized persistence and IM is about real-time and a single message stream, all aspect of Vuuch.
Current social media applications are not effective for product development as they do not understand context. A tool like Twitter or Yammer has no understanding of what a development team is trying the deliver. If I Twirl, Twitter, Yammer, IM and RSS I end up with noise. A designer of a part wants to see what effects what they are doing, not everything that is happening across their team.

The major obstacles to an effective distribution of information and data within a company are often more political than technical. How does Vuuch approach these challenges?

If political barriers exist, they are more about process. Vuuch empowers and organizes the informal design discussions across the product lifecycle. Vuuch is not focused on predefined process and therefore not constrained by political barriers.

One of the major drawbacks of socially enabled content is that the amount of feedback and contributions can easily become overwhelming. How does Vuuch cope with this problem?

This is the exact problem we solve. Feedback is not a side effect of socially enabled content. In design discussions, feedback has to do with the topic being discussed and resolving multiple points-of-view. Most people would agree that an email message is not socially enabled content, but take a look at anyone of your own email discussions. The back and forth between the participants creates an overwhelming situation.

With Vuuch your discussions are organized through the topics or the items they are associated with

With Vuuch your discussions are organized through the topics or the items they are associated with. For example if you open a CAD file or an Excel file, Vuuch will present only the discussions about that file. Or you can ask Vuuch to display only your CAD or Solidworks discussions, or your discussions about a single part design, which might be represented by multiple files. Vuuch understands the relationships between deliverables, people and discussions. Following on with the example above, Vuuch can generate a web page for each part of your product and make this page available to your team (future release – current implementation filters based on associated files). You can think of this page as a clearing house for all discussions about that part. This page allows team members who don’t use applications to engage in the discussions about a specific design, for example a project manager or procurement person might use this page to track what is going on with a design.
The net result is Vuuch organizes your design discussions and allowing you to interact with the information that is important to you when and where it is important, meaning in the context of what you are doing.

Does having a complete history of all the conversation that occurred during the product development process come with any negative implications (e.g. additional liability for the company)?

The issue is how to manage the history of discussions. Look at your email today, a deleted email is really not deleted. A good friend of mine is an electronic forensic specialist and much of her work is about tracking not only emails, but other documents and there version history. She can find what you are convinced is deleted. With Vuuch a company will have these discussions in a single place and therefore be able to better manage their exposure.

I would like to thank Chris for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Chris or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

For more information on this topic, take a look at this foldier sPression, an online collection of the most interesting videos and articles about Vuuch.

Interview with Daniel Ha, DisqUs Founder and CEO

Novedge recently added a section at the bottom of each page of its website providing a space where visitors and customers can leave comments sharing their opinions and experiences. The tools that allowed us to implement this service are provided by Disqus, a new startup located in San Francisco, just a few blocks from Novedge headquarters. Disqus has been deployed on over 38,000 blogs and is hosting the comments of over 70,000 users. After only a week from the introduction of this feature on our website we started seeing the first comments appear on our pages. While many visitors post comments about products, some use this space simply to ask Novedge technical questions or to find out more information about prices. I'm getting very excited about this technology, and its future developments and implications. In order to satisfy my growing interest, I went directly to the founder and CEO of Disqus to get a first hand opinion on this topic. Daniel Ha, who is still in his early twenties, promptly accepted my invitation for an interview and almost in real-time answered all of my questions. Here is the text of the interview.

Daniel, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

I founded Disqus with my friend Jason Yan toward the beginning of 2007. At the end of 2006, we decided to work on a web project together while we were in school (studying computer science). Discussion was an area most familiar to us and we began working on tools for forums, group discussion, and community building. Today's Disqus evolved from this as the blog feature of our project became popular amongst our earliest testers. We both participated in Y Combinator, which gave us some money and a lot of guidance and connections. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was enough for us to leave school and work on our project (which became our company) full time.

We benefitted heavily from enthusiastic bloggers

After launching publicly at the end of 2007, we raised some more money and began expanding the service as fast as we could. We benefitted heavily from enthusiastic bloggers and commenters are naturally vocal with their opinions. Today, Disqus is the leading comment system and management tool for all sorts of sites.

Disqus is quietly introducing a Copernican revolution for the net. While in the past users had to bring content to their social network websites, with Disqus the social network goes where the content is. What are the implications of this paradigm shift?

I think most implications are yet to be seen. What we've witnessed thus far is that people are more willing to contribute to websites when they feel they are rewarded or have control over their comments. If I know that my comments are claimed by me, and they're not just attached to a single site, I'm more wiling to contribute and develop my online persona.

people are more willing to contribute to websites when they feel they are rewarded or have control over their comments

One issue that is brought up often is the fragmentation and overall messiness of discussion. People tend to use their content aggregator or discussion tool of choice, and the discussion may stray far from the original content. I think Disqus will play a pivotal role, moving forward, in bridging all of this together. We certainly think this is one of the most interesting things about what we do.

Disqus is starting to face competition from some big names. How will users react to a proliferation of commenting systems?

We've always had a smattering of competition here and there. The way we will be the best is to continually innovate in providing a great commenting experience. If we can deliver on this promise better than our competitors, then I think we'll do well.

If we can deliver on this promise better than our competitors, then I think we'll do well

For users, I think it's great that they have choice. On the flip side, it may be confusing to have so many different channels for discussion -- our job is to make sure their choice doesn't negatively affect them. We want to be compatible; our network of commenters and publishers shouldn't be closed and we're working to be more open.

Another big challenge Disqus is facing is the recent establishment of login systems independent from the content provider (Facebook Connect, OpenID, etc.). Disqus promptly embraced this trend by implementing Facebook Connect. What is your strategy in this specific area?

Our strategy is to play nice. We're not going to be a login service. We do the discussion part well because we focus on that only. Our own login system is necessary for how things work, but we'll openly embrace the best technologies that will benefit the most people on the web.

Our strategy is to play nice

Facebook Connect has been working well for us so far and we're going to be adding more functionality that will allow people to take advantage of what Facebook has available in their platform.

How much interaction with Disqus is happening on the Disqus website and how much on the content hosting websites (blogs, newspapers, etc.)? How do you plan to promote the social features of your system?

The majority of interactions is on the publisher partners. That's how we want it -- we provide a service and I don't think we really need to see much traffic on our sites. Most of the interactions on our site is from the administration and profiles.

Novedge, among the first of e-commerce websites, just implemented Disqus across its entire main website. What can we expect as far as reactions from the users and benefits for them?

The first benefit I hope you'll see is an increase in engagement from your users. Novedge is exposed to a greater community of commenters, with social features that ideally encourages contributions.
Users should find it easier to leave comments and find more value in doing this. The overall experience should be more enjoyable as well.

I would like to thank Daniel for taking the time to answer my questions. A special thanks also to Giannii, Disqus Community Manager, for his generous contribution to the Disqus users' community and for connecting me and Daniel. If you have any questions for Daniel or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer. The Disqus commenting system is available on every product and brand page of the Novedge website.

Franco Folini

For more information on this topic, take a look at this foldier sPression, an online collection of the most interesting articles on the new wave of commenting technology and its players.