Plastics SIM - App
Role
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Visual design, UX/UI,
Graphic design
Company
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Plexpert Canada and Germany
Your handy assistant
for part and mold design
A user-centered app to assist part and mold designers in plastic industry. Containing tools, features and reference information to ease work in simulation and other processes in plastic industry design. A project that was extended to be available in English, German and Thai.
For this app project, I had the fortune to do the UX / UI design of this app as well as its branding, marketing and advertising material, such as the motion graphics promo video.
Feature promo video I created to be displayed on Google Play Store
By surveying and interviewing entry-level and experienced plastic part and mold designers in Canada, Germany and Thailand, it was found some needs these specialists require in order to do easier their work process:
• Conversion of values into different units focused on concepts relevant to the field of the plastic industry. As we did testing in this tool of the app with multiple testers, we improved on having a more suitable visual communication and we expanded the number of units. Therefore, now with a selection of 16 unit groups, they range from temperature units, specific volume and density down to mass, power and flow rate.
• Calculation of hydraulic diameter is a feature that required us to test its efficiency very closely with the test takers during their day-a-day part/mold design work and observe what they expected to find in this tool. With this feedback, we increased the variety of cross-section shapes to choose and more understandable icons illustrating each shape, as well as we created a carousel slider that makes it easier for a user to move from one shape to another. With all this, designers can do a more accurate integration of a runner system and do a proper filling simulation of a part.
• Transfer of an injection profile of one unit to another one, for each of the steps of the dosing process, is a tool created considering that part/mold designers (who do the dosing simulation) and machine setters (who do the production dosing process) tend to use different units, as we found in our research. After consulting the app testers, we also decided to add a calculation selection of 2.5D and 3D simulation.
• Comparison of efficiency results is a feature that allows users to compare different profiles of runner systems, as well as to compare between two percentage values. This functionality of the app was created mainly because in our research we found an increasing concern regarding doing a production that is conscious of budget and environmental impact. Therefore, by using this, a user could do better decisions in choosing between using a cold runner or a hot runner system for their part production. Thanks to the testing, we found a better way to communicate this comparison results by making a more proper XY graphic that is displayed as a result of this calculation.
• Knowledge base is a screen containing different reference sources and other calculation tools that are usually required and consulted by part and mold designers, as we found in our surveys and interviews.
This includes:
- CAD color table referenece
- CLTE calculation
- Tolerance reference
- Mold material reference
- Tempering unit evaluation
- Glossary of the plastic industry
• Finally, we also considered creating a connection to other Plexpert software products in order to consult stored information in a specific mold, injection molding machine or production project.
Social media animated video I created
to promote the comparison tool in the app