Digital Factory Pro/Edu is UltiMaker's central platform for 3D printing operations—connecting printers, preparing prints, monitoring jobs, and managing access as organizations scale from solo users to multi-site teams. It consolidates what previously lived across four separate tools into one unified experience.
I led design alongside the Product Director and two EU-based engineering teams, owning the experience end-to-end—from strategic workflow definition through shipped product. My core challenge was aligning two parallel efforts, Digital Factory and Cura Cloud, toward one coherent vision.
The situation
"I just bought a printer--where do I start?"
We inherited four overlapping products—each solving parts of the workflow but none serving as a clear starting point. For new customers, this was chaos: multiple logins, multiple apps, and no obvious answer.
The complexity underneath
I was designing for two worlds that would share the same platform but have completely different daily needs.
Engineers care about material strength and consistency across multiple lines or worksites.
Educators want to invite classrooms of students into the 3D printing process without chaos.
How I approached it
Underneath the different use cases, everyone shares the same starting requirement:
The first-mile target and core workflow loop that Product and Engineering aligned on prioritizing.
Key Moves
Developing an embedded slicer from 0 -> 1
How does a user get from "I have a file" to "I have a part in hand"?
We brought slicing into the browser—so the entire prepare → print → monitor loop happens in one place.
Creating a shared intake funnel
How can one manager serve an entire school or production site without drowning in requests?
Students or colleagues submit files through a link, the manager triages from a single queue, and jobs flow directly to printer.
Differentiated roles on a shared foundation
How do we allow scaling for user groups that grow in different directions?
We designed three base roles, then layered EDU-specific permissions so a single platform serves both worlds without feeling like a compromise.
Outcomes and Impact
38% YoY growth in monthly active users (142.7K → 196.7K, Sept '24–'25)
Monthly print jobs grew from 3K to 89K—a 28× increase