QNE - Quantum Network Editor

Making Quantum Computer Networks accesable to all

About this project

QNE is a project for QuTech. This partnership between TU Delft & TNO is at the forefront of the work on Quantum Networked Computers and Quantum Internet. Combining those will finally bring secure quantum computing "in the cloud". For QINC I kickstarted a project to demonstrate quantum network technology and ultimately allow people to run their own applications on a real quantum network. Talk about complex subject matter...

My challenge

"Design an editor that can be used to run an extended set of quantum network applications and will allow QNE to explain & demonstrate this complex technology."

Kickstart with Design Sprints

To get to a validated concept fast, I facilitated two consecutive design sprints with the QNE team. Through this process we arrived at a concept for the editor, plus a set of topics for us to do a deep dive on.

Flowcharts & domain model

For understanding and communicating about this type of complex subject matter, nothing beats models and charts. We were working with a real quantum network as well as a simulator, and 4 different applications to start with, being extended as we were building. To fully wrap my head around the issues I made a set of domain models and flowcharts, in order to clarify and align with the product owner and stakeholders

Co-designing an editor - Remotely

In this type of project, you're often better off leveraging the domain knowledge of the stakeholders by letting them co-design. With Corona measures in full effect, we set up a remote session in Miro to get a visual inventory of the stakeholder wishes and insights.
Designing crude wireframes directly during the session allowed me to get everyone in the team on the same page and the project in the right direction.

Editing your quantum network application in a simple step by step editor

Spending a lot of time thinking about the structure and the relations in the network and the applications led me to believe we could represent this in an easy step by step walkthrough.

The map with the physical layout of the network is an infinate canvas in your viewport. An overlay shows the details and settings for the specific elements, ranging from node settings to gate fidelity to the actual qbit state.

Smart defaults make sure you can run a succesful experiment in your first try, coming back to tinker with the settings once you know how it works.