Boosting Operations for National Defense
How innovative designs led to the overhaul of project management processes, replacing outdated methods with an integrated workflow solution that streamlined operations and communication.
2024
Year
Solo Product Designer (end-to-end)
Role
Mobile, Desktop, Tablet
Platform
5 Months
Duration
Stakeholders, Developers, Engineers, Advisors
Collaborators
Figma, Jira, Google Analytics
Stack
Problem
As consultants for a government national defense client, we identified that engineers currently rely on Excel and Outlook to manage and track thousands of complex items related to submarine maintenance. This reliance hampers efficiency and collaboration. The existing system is cumbersome and slow, leading to delays and potential errors in managing maintenance records and project workflows. There is a critical need for a new, specialized system that facilitates faster, more efficient, and collaborative work, automates workflows, and ensures accurate communication and approvals with the Department of National Defence in a high-stakes environment.
Solution
Address the complexities of automating workflows for engineering and first-level maintenance teams, ensuring faster, more efficient, and collaborative work. This includes managing critical communication and approvals with the Department of National Defence in a high-stakes environment where accuracy and operational agility are essential.
Expectation
Envisioned a single, comprehensive application for submarine maintenance management.
Aimed to streamline all workflows into a unified digital solution.
Planned for seamless integration of document management with project tracking functionalities.
Reality
Developed separate applications tailored to distinct user needs.
Encountered complex workflows involving approval processes with the Department of National Defense (DND).
Navigated budget constraints that led to a strategic realignment of project goals and resources.
Results and Impact
The positive feedback and demonstrated efficiency improvements generated strong interest from additional teams, highlighting the potential for broader adoption of the product across the organization.
Achieved an average 85% satisfaction rate from users during usability testing, with 80% of participants indicating they found the new interface significantly easier to use.
Identified a potential 30% reduction in time spent on document management tasks, projected to save an average of 10 hours per week per user.
Design Approach
To address the complexities of submarine maintenance workflows, we adopted an object-oriented UX design strategy. Each operational step—such as document reviews, approvals, and compliance checks—was conceptualized as a distinct object. This approach facilitated the development of a flexible, drag-and-drop interface empowering users to customize workflows according to mission-specific requirements.
Key Features:
Object-oriented design principles applied to create reusable components for common operational tasks.
Visualization of workflow objects and their relationships to streamline complex processes.
Challenges Faced
The project encountered several critical challenges inherent to managing first-level submarine items and integrating complex workflows across diverse operational domains. Key challenges included:
Dual Applications Realization: Transitioning from a single to dual-application approach to meet divergent user needs.
Information Architecture Debate: Iterative discussions on organizing vast amounts of data and workflows by job status, life cycle, and document hierarchies.
Object Design Implementation: Designing and implementing object-oriented UX solutions to accurately represent and automate intricate operational processes.
Design Methodology: Iterative Development
We engaged in iterative design processes, collaborating closely with the client to explore various architectures for organizing objects, lifecycle stages, and document management within a complex environment handling first-level submarine items. Our approach involved continuous refinement based on user feedback and operational requirements, ensuring intuitive discovery, tracking, and management capabilities across diverse teams and stringent DND standards.
Why It Wasn't Shipped
Due to the positive feedback and demonstrated efficiency improvements, the project generated strong interest from additional teams within the government organization. This highlighted the potential for broader adoption of the product across various departments. However, in the context of a government setting where decision-making processes and approvals can be slow, the project faced a temporary stall as discussions centered around prioritizing which team should receive the full solution.
In response, we strategically pivoted towards developing a leaner version of the product. This approach aimed to create a more scalable solution that could be more easily adopted across multiple departments, maximizing the product’s impact and facilitating broader organizational use, while navigating the inherent pace of governmental decision-making.
Lessons Learned
Educating Stakeholders: The project highlighted the importance of educating stakeholders, including clients, on the benefits of UX design beyond aesthetics. We focused on demonstrating how intuitive interfaces and streamlined workflows could improve efficiency and user satisfaction, even in complex operational environments.
Navigating Regulatory Constraints: Dealing with structured government forms that couldn't be edited through the UI taught us the importance of flexibility in design solutions. We adapted by enhancing user interfaces to guide users through mandated processes while maintaining compliance.
Continuous User Validation: Throughout the project, continuous user validation proved crucial. We discovered that ongoing engagement with end-users not only validated design decisions but also uncovered new insights that influenced feature development and usability enhancements.
