SOLIDWORKS Design Role Themed Cockpits
Understanding how to easily navigate the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform in order to find and interact with your SOLIDWORKS designs is one of the most important areas for successful user adoption. When taking your first steps using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, it is strongly recommended that you utilise the ready-supplied SOLIDWORKS Design role-themed cockpit.
When a SOLIDWORKS Design role is assigned to a user, a corresponding user cockpit of the same name is also created. This role-themed dashboard presents all of the necessary features required for a SOLIDWORKS user to be instantly productive the moment that role is assigned to them.
The role-themed dashboard will appear under “My Cockpits".
Getting Started with the Welcome Tab
The SOLIDWORKS role-themed cockpit has been designed specifically to help guide a user through their first steps on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. After selecting the dashboard from the My Cockpits area, the user is presented with the Welcome tab. The Welcome tab contains all the necessary information that a user requires to get started.
The first step on the user’s journey to storing and managing their SOLIDWORKS Design files in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is installing the Design with SOLIDWORKS Add-In for SOLIDWORKS Desktop.
The Add-In is installed from the Apps area on the left side of the Welcome tab. After the Add-In is installed, this option will change to “Open”. Clicking “Open” will launch SOLIDWORKS Desktop and automatically connect the SOLIDWORKS session to 3DEXPERIENCE.
Note: When a SOLIDWORKS Design Cloud installed role is assigned, this same Install option will install the SOLIDWORKS Design Connected software on the user's workstation.
To help new users build their knowledge, the center of the Welcome tab contains the Learning Center. This area is preconfigured with a list of getting-started videos related to the SOLIDWORKS role that has been assigned. The videos explain the basic concepts of using SOLIDWORKS Design with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, including installation and creating and managing content.
Selecting “View All” expands the Learning Center area to fill the tab with a range of learning modules that cover the breadth of capabilities included in the Collaborative Industry Innovator role, and others. Working through the learning modules is a great way for users to discover the full range of capabilities that 3DEXPERIENCE offers.
On the right side of the Welcome tab is the Public Communities area. This contains links to public user communities with further information related to best practices. Showing users how to access the public communities as part of their initial onboarding is a great way to introduce the concept of 3DSWYM communities. Once users are confident navigating and interacting with the public communities, the next step will be to start creating their own.
Access to Content
Before saving your first SOLIDWORKS files to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, you must understand where your files are going to be stored and how to access them. The majority of users adopting the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will be familiar with organizing their designs in a folder structure. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform utilizes a different methodology for storing and managing content, which offers many benefits over folders. SOLIDWORKS designs are stored in a collaborative space, and different apps are used to organize, view, and interact with the design content.
The “Content” tab on the SOLIDWORKS Design role cockpit is preconfigured with the apps required to view and organize SOLIDWORKS content. The tab has been specifically designed to simplify the transition from folders to the platform and provide a familiar user experience. The 3DSpace app is displayed on the bottom right, providing access to Collaborative Spaces, the 3DPlay app used to view designs is on the top right, and the Content Explorer app, providing access to a folder-style content organization is displayed on the left.
Note: Prior to 2026xFD04 the Bookmarks Editor app was displayed by default on the Content tab of the SOLIDWORKS Design & Collaborative Design for SOLIDWORKS Cockpits. Customers with tenants from 2026x FD03 and earlier can replace the Boomark Editoer app with the Content Explorer app on the Content tab.The combination of Content Explorer and 3DPlay provides quick access to basic design-related information. Content Explorer displays key information related to each SOLIDWORKS file, for example, Title, Description, Owner, and Revision, in a familiar column-style layout.
Parts, assemblies and drawings can be previewed interactively by simply dragging and dropping them from their Bookmark folder on the left, over to 3DPlay on the right. Once opened in 3DPlay, a user can interact with the design via the pan, zoom and rotate, and section tools.
The “Content” tab is intended as the starting point for all new users who are learning the basics of how to organize and access their designs created in SOLIDWORKS.
For guidance on getting users started with organizing and controlling access to SOLIDWORKS content using Collaborative Spaces and Bookmarks, please refer to the adoption guide section titled Organizing and Controlling Access to SOLIDWORKS Design Content.
Adding additional value beyond the basics
Product Explorer
Once users have become familiar and confident with managing their SOLIDWORKS Design content using Collaborative Spaces and Bookmark folders, it is a good time to introduce the Product Explorer app. Product Explorer is used to view and interact with a SOLIDWORKS assembly structure and its related drawings, without having to open the design in SOLIDWORKS.
The Product Explorer app is located on the Product Structure tab of role cockpit.
Note: The Product Structure tab was included with the SOLIDWORKS Design and Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS role cockpits in 2026x FD04 and later. For tenants created prior to 2026x FD04, users can add a new tab to their existing role cockpit and then add the Product Explorer app to it.
Tasks and Communities
The SOLIDWORKS Design role dashboard contains preconfigured tabs for Collaborative Tasks and SWYM Communities. As design teams progress on their adoption journey beyond the basics of SOLIDWORKS content management, these tabs are ready to go to help users explore more of the collaboration capabilities that the 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers.
Summary
The SOLIDWORKS Design role cockpit has been designed to provide new users with an out of the box ready to go user experience from day one. The cockpit contains access to all of the capabilities required to install and launch SOLIDWORKS Design via the Welcome tab, followed by easy access to saved content via the content tab.
To avoid unnecessary overhead to the onboarding process, it is strongly recommended that the preconfigured role-themed cockpit be used.
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