At ABB Robotics, this understanding sits at the heart of how the UX team behind our RobotStudio offline programming tool approaches development, with a relentless focus on identifying and addressing user needs.
From simplifying robotic programming for first-time users to enabling advanced optimization through real-time data, all our robotics software tools are built through an iterative, customer-centered design process. Our goal is to empower users at every stage of their automation journey, regardless of their technical background.
The team behind the tool
RobotStudio is ABB’s flagship offline programming and simulation tool. It allows users to design, simulate, and fine-tune robotic systems in a virtual environment before any hardware is deployed.
At the heart of the tool’s development strategy is the RobotStudio UX team, headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Comprised of Product Manager, UX designers, developers, and testers, the team collaborates across ABB locations in Västerås, Sweden, and Bangalore, India, to ensure that user experience is embedded in every development cycle.
“We prioritize learning from our users to design software that truly meets their needs,” explains Grace O’Donelle from RobotStudio UX team. “By incorporating this learning into the development of RobotStudio, we can ensure that it provides the functionality to meet these needs, while also making the experience of using the tool as smooth and seamless as possible.”
Regular customer contact is a key part of gathering this feedback. In the past two years, the team has hosted over 35 user feedback sessions and made in-person visits to key customers including SKF, Alfa Laval, Electro Automatics, Graniten, PV Systems, and Jaguar Land Rover, providing valuable insights into how they use RobotStudio and their ideas for developing the tool further.
The team has also conducted collaborative development sprints with ABB’s Value Providers and held a user group event in Barcelona, where RobotStudio users from across Europe gathered to share their experiences and suggest new features. In addition to visits and events, the RobotStudio team also uses other techniques to keep in constant contact with users and gather, evaluate, and act on user experience feedback.
“We use feedback forms, interviews, site visits, and now even a ‘Submit Feedback’ button directly within the RobotStudio interface,” Grace O’Donnelle, notes. “For us, delivering on our goal of continuous improvement means co-creating solutions with the people who use them.”
The feedback-driven development of RobotStudio has led to major user experience enhancements. Recent features, such as collision-free path planning, optimized robot placement, and improved move and rotate tools, directly reflect user input and meaningfully reduce the time required to set up and commission robotic systems, while also improving overall accuracy and reliability.
A good example of the team's input is the newly implemented jog TCP (Tool Center Point) free-hand functionality, introduced in the 2025.1 release. Based on extensive customer testing, this update gives users the ability to move the robot manually and intuitively without the need for complex programming.
With the rise of remote work and global teams, collaboration features have also become a priority. The RobotStudio Cloud allows teams to access, share, and modify projects from different locations, while the Augmented Reality Viewer helps visualize robotic installations on-site using just a mobile device, streamlining decision-making and reducing costly surprises during implementation.
A customer-centered future
At the heart of our approach to developing every product in our robot software portfolio is the simple belief that automation should adapt to the user, not the other way around.
Through a deep commitment to understanding real-world workflows, ABB’s RobotStudio team continues to deliver solutions that are powerful, accessible, and, most importantly, shaped by the people who use them.
As the global take up of robots continues to grow, including into new sectors, our team’s focus on user-driven design is key to ensuring that ABB remains not just a technology provider, but a trusted partner in building the future of automation.
