Accepted Solutions
Session Review: 10 Things I Love About Creo, and 10 Things I Wish They’d Fix
My session at the 2025 PTC/User Summit was a fantastic experience! The room was packed, and the energy was high from the start. I provided a QR code at the beginning, allowing attendees to submit their own ideas in real-time, which made the session even more interactive.
One of the biggest takeaways was clear - Creo must continue improving its usability. This was reinforced by a powerful moment when I asked how many people had encountered the same Easter eggs, and nearly every hand in the room went up. It was one of those shared experiences that brought the audience together in a mix of laughter and recognition.
PTC representatives were front and center, actively engaged, taking pictures of both the slides and the audience as they raised their hands. That level of attention gives me real confidence that some of these long-standing issues might finally be addressed.
After the session, many attendees came up to me, expressing how much they appreciated the talk and how fun it was. Several even shared new ideas. Both things they love about Creo and things they hope PTC will fix in the future.
Overall, it was an amazing discussion, and I’m excited to see how these ideas shape the future of Creo!
To see all the user feedback given during my talk you can see it here:
Things People Love About Creo
- Sketching & Surfacing – Strong sketching tools and robust surfacing capabilities.
- Large Assembly Management – Effective handling of complex assemblies and external references.
- Customization & Flexibility – Easy to configure for specific design needs.
- Rich Feature Set – Powerful modeling tools, multi-body design, and built-in applications.
- MBD & GD&T – Strong Model-Based Definition (MBD) support.
- Reference Management – Reliable external references, reference viewer, and top-down design.
- Integration & Interoperability – Works well with other software and systems.
- Mapkeys & Workflow Automation – Useful for efficiency and customization.
- Community & Collaboration – Active Creo community and knowledge sharing.
- Stability & Robustness – A reliable and powerful design tool.
- N-Sided Surfaces – Effective for complex surface modeling.
- Multi-Body Design – Enhanced part modeling flexibility.
- Component Replace – Efficient swapping of components in assembly mode.
- Right Click Menu Options – Provides quick access to frequently used commands.
Things People Want Fixed
- Annoying Dialog Box – That annoying dialog box that appears all the time.
- Menu Manager – Get rid of every menu manager.
- UI – Needs an overhaul and auto-update old GUI elements.
- Equations – Cumbersome and confusing to use.
- Repeat Regions – Issues with drawing table repeat regions and 3D annotation.
- Hole Annotations – Standard hole annotations require manual input for tolerances.
- STEP Export – Creo struggles to create reliable solid STEP files for large assemblies.
- Isolate Layer – Put Isolate Layer to RMB (right mouse button).
- Reference Designators – Allow application at any product structure level.
- Crashes & Ghost Files – Occasional crashes and creation of ghost files in workspaces.
- Too Many Clicks – Streamline workflows to reduce excessive clicking.
- GD&T Advisor – Improve integration into the MBD authoring workflow.
- Sketch References – Deleting sketch entities creates unwanted references.
- External Threads – Annotations are not controllable.
- Onboarding & Learning – Difficult for new and experienced users to learn new features.
- Family Tables & Windchill – Poor management and inconsistencies in Windchill.
- Traceback Errors – Errors that cause Creo to exit unexpectedly.
- Distance Analysis – The dimension dialogue box often covers the created dimension.
- Sweep Handling – Needs improvement in creating reliable sweeps.
- Pattern Group Feature – More flexibility and control needed.
- Workflow Menu – Needs refinement for better usability.
- Family Table UI – Improve usability for better efficiency.
Session Review: 10 Things I Love About Creo, and 10 Things I Wish They’d Fix
My session at the 2025 PTC/User Summit was a fantastic experience! The room was packed, and the energy was high from the start. I provided a QR code at the beginning, allowing attendees to submit their own ideas in real-time, which made the session even more interactive.
One of the biggest takeaways was clear - Creo must continue improving its usability. This was reinforced by a powerful moment when I asked how many people had encountered the same Easter eggs, and nearly every hand in the room went up. It was one of those shared experiences that brought the audience together in a mix of laughter and recognition.
PTC representatives were front and center, actively engaged, taking pictures of both the slides and the audience as they raised their hands. That level of attention gives me real confidence that some of these long-standing issues might finally be addressed.
After the session, many attendees came up to me, expressing how much they appreciated the talk and how fun it was. Several even shared new ideas. Both things they love about Creo and things they hope PTC will fix in the future.
Overall, it was an amazing discussion, and I’m excited to see how these ideas shape the future of Creo!
To see all the user feedback given during my talk you can see it here:
Things People Love About Creo
- Sketching & Surfacing – Strong sketching tools and robust surfacing capabilities.
- Large Assembly Management – Effective handling of complex assemblies and external references.
- Customization & Flexibility – Easy to configure for specific design needs.
- Rich Feature Set – Powerful modeling tools, multi-body design, and built-in applications.
- MBD & GD&T – Strong Model-Based Definition (MBD) support.
- Reference Management – Reliable external references, reference viewer, and top-down design.
- Integration & Interoperability – Works well with other software and systems.
- Mapkeys & Workflow Automation – Useful for efficiency and customization.
- Community & Collaboration – Active Creo community and knowledge sharing.
- Stability & Robustness – A reliable and powerful design tool.
- N-Sided Surfaces – Effective for complex surface modeling.
- Multi-Body Design – Enhanced part modeling flexibility.
- Component Replace – Efficient swapping of components in assembly mode.
- Right Click Menu Options – Provides quick access to frequently used commands.
Things People Want Fixed
- Annoying Dialog Box – That annoying dialog box that appears all the time.
- Menu Manager – Get rid of every menu manager.
- UI – Needs an overhaul and auto-update old GUI elements.
- Equations – Cumbersome and confusing to use.
- Repeat Regions – Issues with drawing table repeat regions and 3D annotation.
- Hole Annotations – Standard hole annotations require manual input for tolerances.
- STEP Export – Creo struggles to create reliable solid STEP files for large assemblies.
- Isolate Layer – Put Isolate Layer to RMB (right mouse button).
- Reference Designators – Allow application at any product structure level.
- Crashes & Ghost Files – Occasional crashes and creation of ghost files in workspaces.
- Too Many Clicks – Streamline workflows to reduce excessive clicking.
- GD&T Advisor – Improve integration into the MBD authoring workflow.
- Sketch References – Deleting sketch entities creates unwanted references.
- External Threads – Annotations are not controllable.
- Onboarding & Learning – Difficult for new and experienced users to learn new features.
- Family Tables & Windchill – Poor management and inconsistencies in Windchill.
- Traceback Errors – Errors that cause Creo to exit unexpectedly.
- Distance Analysis – The dimension dialogue box often covers the created dimension.
- Sweep Handling – Needs improvement in creating reliable sweeps.
- Pattern Group Feature – More flexibility and control needed.
- Workflow Menu – Needs refinement for better usability.
- Family Table UI – Improve usability for better efficiency.
