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[Side Project] Designing a Unified Operations Platform for Airline Pilots and Ops Teams

Pretend client: Airline Integrated Operations App

My Role & Contribution


In this pretend project, I owned the discovery-to-delivery workflow for an integrated ops tool that streamlined fragmented airline systems into one interface. I translated cross-functional needs into scalable UX while navigating MUI3 limitations, legacy UI debt, and high-stakes aviation use cases.


  • Role: Lead UX Designer

  • Scope: Led UX from research through prototyping and visual design across desktop, iPad, and mobile

  • Focus: Modular UX, responsive behavior, accessibility (WCAG AA), night mode, system-based design

  • Collaboration: Product Owner, Engineers, Solutions Architect, Delivery Manager

🧐 Framing the Problem


Pilots, Airport Ops, and the Operations Center juggled multiple tools and sources to manage flight schedules, connections, baggage, and aircraft readiness. This fragmented experience created delays in communication, cognitive overload, and manual errors that impacted on-time performance and passenger experience.

There was no single source of truth. A simple gate change or missed connection required digging through 3–5 systems to understand the knock-on impact.

🔎 How I Gained Clarity


I collaborated with the Product Owner and Solutions Architect to define primary user personas, their goals, and the key delay-prone moments across a typical passenger journey.


Key Personas:

  • Pilots – need real-time visibility into flight readiness, under-wing status, and schedules

  • Airport Ops – need manual PTS overrides, timestamped updates, and better visibility of boarding issues

  • IOC Teams – need to monitor flight status, respond to connection risks, and coordinate across ports


Insights:

  • Multiple data sources = fractured context

  • Lack of hierarchy = slow scanning and missed info

  • UI lacked responsiveness and semantic structure


I also studied dense UI patterns and information architecture models to guide our layout, progressive disclosure strategy, and component grouping.

“We need an easier way to keep information on our finger tips. Too many devices and apps can get confusing and distracting."

— Regional Airline Pilot

🧰 My Approach


I focused on clarity, modularity, and system scalability:

  • Reframed interface structure using progressive disclosure and glanceable UI for iPad and mobile

  • Introduced clear typographic hierarchy, reduced visual clutter (unnecessary shadows, padding mismatches)

  • Designed touch-first layouts with consistent tab interaction models

  • Consolidated repeatable patterns into a component-based approach aligned with MUI3

  • Improved scannability through layout simplification, grouping logic, and use of color for critical states


While foundational UI improvements were constrained by time and legacy decisions, I delivered iterative upgrades that balanced delivery speed with long-term UX value.

🛠 Final Design Solution


Summary of UX changes:

  • Prioritised view of flights requiring urgent intervention

  • Color-coded manual/auto events, delay codes, and baggage triggers

  • Maintains function during tarmac and flying time blackspots

  • Aircraft-specific ops view with tail filtering/navigation

  • Cabin Totals & SeatmapVisibility into passenger loading, onloads, and staff upgrades

  • TSAT/TOBT highlighting, disruption reasons, zone summary

  • Optimised layouts for mobile, tablet, and desktop, including landscape and portrait iPad views

📊 Outcomes & Impact


  • Reduced decision-making friction by unifying ops data into a single platform, reducing the need for multiple devices

  • Improved clarity and hierarchy helped reduce support reliance and cognitive load during IROPs

  • Increased tool reliability and accessibility across desktop, iPad, and mobile, supporting glanceable and touch-based use

  • Enabled real-time event tracking from pilots, enhancing operations visibility


Constraints:

  • MUI3 library limited visual flexibility

  • Legacy foundations and inconsistent Figma/code parity slowed design system improvements


Next Steps:

  • Continue extending systemic patterns across modules

  • Improve micro-interactions and animations for scanning

  • Advocate for foundational redesign and shared library governance

🧐 Learnings


  • Mental model alignment across stakeholders unlocks better systems thinking

  • Small layout and hierarchy shifts can drive large performance and clarity wins

  • Balancing design excellence with engineering velocity requires principled tradeoffs

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