Consistency of application look and feel extends to SaaS

One of the goals we are striving for at Autodesk is common user experience. We want you to be able to learn to use one of our applications and then be able to easily use one of our other applications. One way to facilitate this is to have a more consistent user interface. This presents a challenge as applications like AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit were originally developed independently to best serve their own markets. You may have seen that over the past few releases of these applications, they are beginning to have more and more in common.

We at Autodesk Labs thought "Why does this have to stop with applications?" This concept could extend to software as a service (SaaS) offerings. So we contacted the product design team and got the icons that are use in AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit. Product Visual Designer, Bryan Young, created new icons for us that were specific to Project Freewheel, e.g., joining a collaboration session. Bryan crafted these additional icons consistent with what is in use for Autodesk applications. The result is a new set of icons you will see in the next Project Freewheel release.

Main Toolbar:

File		"Open" allows you to type in a URL to a publicly available design file on the web or upload a design from your computer or network. You must login to Autodesk Labs to have your uploaded designs associated with your login. This allows you to access your designs at a later date.
		"My Designs..." shows you the list of designs associated with your Autodesk Labs login. You can view your designs, email links to previously uploaded designs, or delete them.
		"My Sessions..." shows you the list of sharing sessions associated with your Autodesk Labs login. This includes the sessions that you have started or participated in while logged into Autodesk Labs.
		"Send To..." allows you to email a link to the currently viewed design.
		"Print" allows you to print the current view of the currently viewed design.
		"Help" allows you to see this page.
		"About Freewheel" provides information about Project Freewheel such as the version number of the service. The information also acknowledges the various trademarks and patents associated with the service.
		"Zoom" allows you to select a rectangular region to view. First click on "Zoom Window" and release. Then click your mouse down at one corner of the region you want to zoom on and hold your mouse button down while you drag your mouse to the opposite corner. Release your mouse button and the view updates.
		"Pan" allows you to pan the design. First click the "Pan" button and release. Then click and hold the left mouse button down on the canvas, move the mouse in any direction. Then release the mouse and the view updates.
		"Orbit" is available only when viewing 3D designs. Once a 3D design is loaded, the orbit button becomes available for use. First click "Orbit" and release. An orbit tool displays in the middle of the canvas. By performing a left mouse click and holding (similar to panning) inside the orbit ring, you can rotate the model left, right, up, or down. Release the mouse button and the view updates. Performing a left mouse click and holding outside the orbit ring allows you to roll the design on the "z" axis. Release the mouse button and the view updates.
		"Wheel" toggles the display of the View Object Wheel in 3D or the 2D Navigation Wheel in 2D. The wheels are divided into sections referred to as wedges. Clicking in a wedge activates functionality identified for that wedge. The 2D Navigation Wheel is a tracking menu that contains Pan and Zoom wedges with the same functionality provided by the Pan and Zoom tools on the toolbar. The 2D Navigation Wheel saves you time and clicks by combining these two tools in a single interface. The View Object Wheel contains wedges for Center, Zoom, Rewind, and Orbit. Center allows you to reposition the center of a model. Orbits then orbit around the repositioned center. Zoom and Orbit provide the same functionality as the Zoom and Orbit tools on the toolbar. Rewind displays a filmstrip of previous views and allows you to return to one by selecting it. The wheels track to your mouse cursor movements so they are always conveniently nearby.
		"Full" allows you to view a design where the Freewheel canvas occupies the full browser window. By default the Freewheel canvas is embedded in an HTML page. This means the "Restore" icon is part of the Freewheel menu.
		"Restore" allows you to revert from "Full" back to embedded. By default the Freewheel canvas is embedded in an HTML page. When embedded, the "Full" icon is part of the Freewheel menu.
Share		"Start" allows you to start a sharing session. During the session, all users see the same view of the design as the pans, zooms, and orbits by one user are applied to the views for all of the participants in the session. To start a sharing session, you must first log into Autodesk Labs. You supply a session name and a session password (optional). As part of logging your activity during the session, your name is taken as the combination of "First name" and "Last name" from your Autodesk Labs profile.
		"Invite" allows you to invite others to a sharing session via email.
		"Join" allows you to join a sharing session started by another user. To join a session, you must know the session name and the password if one is required. These can be supplied by the session originator via email or verbally over the telephone. To log your activities as part of the session, you supply your name unless you are logged into Autodesk Labs, in which case, the "First name" and "Last name" from your Autodesk Labs profile is used. You can use the My Freewheel page to view sharing sessions that you have participated in while logged into Autodesk Labs.
		"Markup Tools" allows you to toggle the markup toolbar on and off.
		"Notes" allows you to initiate or participate in a chat session as part of the sharing session. This is a convenient way to record notes during a sharing session. Messages you send include your name as identified by you or from your Autodesk Labs profile.
		"Participants" allows you to list the people who have participated in the sharing session. This includes people who are currently online and those who have exited the sharing session. The participants list is a complete list of the participants. If you place your cursor over the name of a participant, the participant's email address is displayed as a tooltip (if available).
		"Documents" allows you to list the designs associated with the sharing session.
		"Exit" allows the session originator or participant to leave the sharing session.
Page		You can also use the arrow for the Previous page in a design with more than one page.
		The "Page" selector allows you to select another page if your design file contains multiple pages. The selector shows the current page/total pages in the design. The pull down displays the names of the pages and allows one to be selected. The currently selected page appears in bold.
		You can also use the arrow for the Next page in a multipage design.

Zoom Toolbar:

	"Zoom" zooms in the current view by a factor of 2.
	"Fit" resets the view so that the entire design is shown in the window.
	"Zoom Out" zooms out the current view by a factor of 2.

Markup Toolbar:

The markup tools are available as part of sharing sessions.

	"Markup Highlighter" allows you to emphasize areas by marking them in yellow.
	"Sketch" allow you to freehand sketch annotations on a design. To visually distinguish sketch markups from multiple sharing participants, participant names are mapped to a limited set of colors for markup. The colors include red, blue, green, yellow, magenta, and cyan. Given enough participants, colors do get reused, but are a far cry from having all markups in the same color - typically red.
	"Callout" allows you to type in text and associate it with a particular location in a design. Your callouts include your name and appear in the markup color associated with your participant name.
	"Markup List" shows you a list of markups in the design. Selecting a markup navigates you to a view of the design where the markup is visible. Highlights are listed as yellow. Sketch and callout items reflect the color associated with the participant who created the item.

Exploring how company initiatives apply to software as a service is alive in the lab.