The Form 2 is a highly advanced resin and laser-based 3D printer, released in 2015. It is equipped with a sizeable touchscreen for printer control. I was fortunate to be lead UX designer for this fascinating machine’s interface during the complete development cycle – from conception to prototyping to launch.
This was a highly challenging project, in that our engineers redesigned the previous model’s process from the ground up – and as far as the UI design was concerned, it was pretty much a moving target.
Working in parallel with mechanical, electrical, software and material engineers, constant iteration was more than a buzzword. We had to design solutions under ever-changing requirements. With an extensive beta testing program and the continuous integration of user feedback, we arrived at a product that successfully reconciles engineering requirements, user needs, as well as ease of use and aesthetics.

One of the early decisions we had to make was whether the Form 2 should have a prominent physical button next to the screen, like its little brother did (the circle in the illustration.) This led to quite some contention, as you could argue that a machine with such a generous touchscreen would not require an additional hardware button. But ultimately as a design team we were able to find support for a solution with physical button, arguing that evolving the form while maintaining the “face” was important – as well as giving the user a sense of safety and control with the affordance of an on/off button she would be able to reach blindly, without having to study any on-screen information.
A Vibrant Color Scheme & Giant Soft Key
We gave the Form 2 touch interface a distinctive look in line with the utilitarian, streamlined iconic machine design. The hardware button functions as a big soft key and is dedicated to a narrow range of functions: starting and pausing prints, putting the printer to sleep.




Process & Prototyping

Development of this project was a lot of fun. I wrote quite a lot of animation code on our hardware platform, especially in the early phase, to test what was possible. Communicating design ideas to the software team happened through a multitude of prototypes – we used After Effects, InVision, drawings, cardboard models, even interactive specifications – but especially quick demos written in QML that would run on our actual embedded system.
In this early demo you can see how the device visualizes hardware button presses with a big blue halo – a concept that later turned into the opposite: the button calling for the user to press it.
Visual Language

Finding a visual language for objects that aren’t so visual. Drawing accessories with complex outlines such as our resin tank and resin cartridge – and evolving them into compact, recognizable icons – turned out to be an interesting illustration challenge.

Our reward was a machine that was received enthusiastically by both the expert press and the professional market. It probably won’t come as a surprise that we weren’t satisfied and immediately began re-inventing the interface as soon as the printer was released.
What Reviewers Say About the Form 2
(kudos to the entire product/engineering team!)
“The touchscreen-based UI features tech-noir themed iconography and animations that would find itself at home in a movie set. This refreshing attention to detail sets the Form 2’s UI apart from the utilitarian ‘designed-by-programmers-for-geeks’ UI typical of most digital fabrication tools.” —Bunnie Huang
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