I've been leading UX design and research end-to-end, including usability testing, across the foundational interaction model: app home, top navigation, viewport navigation, toolbar system, core tools and manipulators. Three design decisions are worth highlighting here.

The Bash Tool: constraint as a design principle

During usability testing, I noticed something. Users weren't saying the 3D manipulators were overwhelming. But observing them, you could see it: the hesitations, the wrong clicks, the moments of uncertainty. The interface was getting in the way of the creative impulse.

That led to a lot of thinking and iteration. Do users always need all of these controls? What if the default only showed what mattered most for kitbashing?

This is how the Bash Tool was born. It's Falcon's default tool, present as soon as a part is selected, focused on the most relevant actions for kitbashing workflows. The experience stays clean. The viewport stays front and center.

For users who need more precision, more universal manipulators are accessible via the toolbar and hotkeys.

When nothing is selected, the toolbar disappears entirely. Tools surface only when needed. Progressive disclosure in practice.