Published Apr 8, 2023
Pivoting a 3D Design Tool
Overview
Initially, Vectary set out to create the ultimate tool for the 3D printing industry and hobbyists. But as we grew, we realized that this niche market couldn't support our larger ambitions. To fuel further growth, we decided to pivot to a broader market.
Necessity of pivoting
Our product successfully hit its initial goals, becoming a go-to design tool for 3D printing enthusiasts. However, the intricate nature of 3D modeling software demanded extensive resources, posing a significant challenge to our growth.
The Challenge
Our goal was clear: pivot to a larger market to drive growth. This required reimagining our product value and finding a new proposition.
High-level goals:
Identify a larger market with growth potential
Revise our core product offering to meet the needs of a new user base
Implement a new pricing model
My Role
As the product manager, I led a cross-functional team of 11 software engineers, 3 designers, and 1 researcher. I worked closely with the founders and department heads throughout the development and release phase.
Having been in the team before the pivot, I was involved in advising and managing the transition and the following scale.
The Problem
Months before our pivot, we noticed a stagnation in new account registrations. While our existing user base remained active, growth was slowing. I partnered with our lead researcher to uncover the root causes.
Early Insights
We first consulted with department heads. Despite our product release cycles and campaigns running as usual, the marketing team noted a gradual decline in campaign conversion rates month-over-month. This highlighted underlying issues related to hitting the capacity of our niche focus. We had nowhere to expand further.
I reached out to a number of our power users and companies that use 3D in their workflows to better understand how the industry’s pain points have evolved.
Technical complexity & high costs
3D presents a steep learning curve - it’s common for a newcomer to invest months in initial training before creating a usable model. This results in high costs for the expert.
Resource intensity
None of the existing solutions are optimized for wider use in the online space. Required computing power limits the use of 3D only to pre-rendered images or videos.
Talent acquisition
Finding and hiring skilled 3D modelers, designers, and technicians can be difficult. The demand for these professionals often exceeds the supply.
Collaboration & communication
Effective use of 3D often requires collaboration across different departments. Existing tools are not tailored to easily cover this requirement.
The Opportunity
Feedback from the customers revealed a common issue: the complexity and resource demands of 3D modeling. Companies needed either expensive experts or extensive onboarding for newcomers, limiting 3D modeling to businesses with core products built around the technology, like gaming studios.
That is where we saw an opportunity to innovate. Leveraging our accessible 3D software foundation, we needed to further extend our product offering.
Research
To guide our pivot, I created a matrix of target customers and conducted another round of interviews, focusing on users not reliant on 3D as their core workflow.
Research quickly identified key issues with existing 3D solutions, forming the basis for competitor analysis. This process became both ongoing and iteration-dependent.
Reframing the Problem
Companies faced challenges in hiring for 3D work or managing processes to keep the burden manageable. Many avoided integrating 3D into their workflow altogether.
This prompted us to ask: How can Vectary address these major pain points, and what changes are needed to improve?
Platform Redesign
Vectary Modes
Through dividing the interface and toolset into multiple modes and properly maintaining our design system, we ensure that the flow between different parts of the product remains intuitive and accessible.
Interactive Onboarding
The interactive onboarding provides users with a guided experience during their initial steps in the engine. This tutorial comfortably introduces them to the basics of the engine’s functionality.
Smart Tools
The introduction of 17 new tools significantly accelerates the modeling and assembly process. This efficiency is achieved through the use of smart deformers and generators, which can be stacked and combined for enhanced functionality.
3D Viewer
Embedding capabilities allow 3D content to be seamlessly integrated throughout the web using iframe code or links, including augmented reality (AR) views for both Android and iOS devices.
How We Got There
Understanding the 3D landscape's complexity was crucial. Conversations with potential customers helped me to map the state of 3D, guiding our development priorities.
The research allowed us to build a comprehensive product backlog. We focused on areas where competitors struggled with innovation, and decided to build multiple product demos to guide us towards a new product-market fit.
Our goal was to validate the correct path by selling demos to potential customers before fully developing the final product. This approach ensured we moved forward with the most promising option. We opted to get the initial buy-ins through a successful case study, serving as a sales deck for the leading research project.
Vision-led Approach
Throughout the development, we spread the ownership of the projects across our senior dev. This decentralized approach enabled fast decision-making and effective product discovery across multiple fronts. Teams consisted of a lead developer, an associate developer, and a designer, with overall progress overseen by the product lead (me) and the CTO.
Teams were divided into:
Platform
3D Modeling
Rendering
Collaboration
Smart Tools
3D Viewer
To maintain alignment, we implemented vision-led product management and created shared documentation in Notion, maintained by department heads. The major decisions were not made in silos; we rather involved everyone's input - with the team of 50, the joint planning proved as necessary for effective spread of the ownership. Bi-weekly all-hands meetings facilitated planning and decision-making.
Design Challenge
Moving forward with the design phase, three key challenges emerged:
How to empower multiple fundamentally different product use cases?
How to avoid the over-complexity common in 3D modeling tools?
How to minimize performance requirements for handling complex 3D models?
Due to the complex nature of 3D software, I decided to split the entire functionality into separate groups. Together with the Head of Design, we brainstormed the interface possibilities, further exploring the option of a grouped functionality. Tools like Figma and Framer served as our benchmarks, contrasting to the existing 3D solutions.
In addition to the interface, we also had to address performance optimization. Mainly due restrictions of running the engine on WebGL, and the aim to prevent focusing solely on high-end desktops to maintain accessibility.
The primary challenge was the performance impact of the 3D models themselves. Editable 3D models are resource-intensive, with more complex models imposing a greater load on the system. In collaboration with our lead engine developer, we explored the current state of the engine and identified that using the lightweight .glTF format could enhance performance compared to the commonly used .obj format for geometry editing. Unlike .obj, .glTF is typically used for rendering as it does not store the XYZ positions of vertices required for editable manipulation.
As the solution, we proposed a separate mode for editing geometry, while using .glTF for the uppermost layer of the engine where the user is supposed to assemble the scene. Vectary Modes were born.
Prioritization
Thanks to the previous product surveys, as well as ongoing tracking of the product, I had enough data to be able to prioritize requirements through the RICE framework. The pre-filled product backlog formed a basis for the priorities.
The API and 3D viewer emerged as killer features. After presenting the demo and the case study to multiple prospects, we also achieved the initial buy-ins. That prompted us to revolve the functionality around the 3D viewer, collaboration, and API, forming the cornerstone of the product offering.
Prioritization through RICE:
The RICE framework served only as a secondary tool to navigate the cluster of possible paths. It was by no means an exact science. The most important part of the prioritization was linking each step to the overall strategy and business goals.
The Launch
We successfully launched Vectary 3.0 on the schedule that was set 10 months upfront - an amazing feat given the project's scale and complexity. Post-launch, we conducted a diary study and usability testing and explored future concepts for additional target groups.
The Impact
Our pivot positioned us in a larger market, driving strong product adoption and growth. Achieving 25% month-over-month growth, we secured additional funding to further expand the product.
Through overhauled subscription model, our ARR increased by 130% in the following 6 months after the release
Thanks to our stable 25% MoM growth, we were able to secure $7.3M investment from EQT and BlueYard
Vectary 3.0 enabled a 3D newcomer to have their first project done in tens of minutes, as opposed to days or even weeks of onboarding.
Takeaways
Write issues not stories
User stories have become a ritual that feels good but wastes a lot of resources and time. They’re a roundabout way to describe tasks, obscuring the work to be done. Instead, we opted for writing clear, simple issues that describe the task in plain language. The time saved by not writing user stories was invested in talking to customers and engaging the full team in these conversations.
Build in public and write a changelog
Once we released the 3.0 publicly, we implemented the practice of regular changelogs. Consistent changelogs helped us communicate the value of new features to users, as well as the reasoning behind changes and our commitment to constant product improvement. It also proved to be an easy way to connect the team’s individual work to the collective value they create.
Spread the ownership relentlessly
Instead of keeping decision-making solely within product management, our process involved spreading ownership across the entire team. The main benefit was speed - such an approach continually built the team’s confidence to execute on their decisions, as opposed to waiting for a product manager to get back to them with resolutions. The key pillars to successfully move forward were team alignment and a universal understanding of our users.
