Mission Planning System

Project overview

The air force's mission planning system was outdated and riddled with usability issues, creating inefficiencies and long training periods. 

The system needed to support highly complex, multi-step planning processes involving numerous parameters, yet it had to cater to two distinct user personas: experts and novices.
The challenge was to design an intuitive interface that streamlined workflows for both groups while addressing the system’s inherent complexity.

My role

As the Lead UX Designer, I owned the entire user experience strategy:

• Conducted in-depth user research to identify pain points and define personas.

• Designed information architecture, user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.

• Led collaboration with product, engineering, and key stakeholders to ensure technical feasibility and alignment with business goals.

• Advocated for user-centered design principles throughout the project lifecycle.

 Goals & Objectives

• Redesign the entire mission planning system to improve usability and performance.

• Create solutions that cater to both expert and novice users with tailored workflows.

• Reduce mission planning time and shorten the training period for new users.

• Enhance the visualization of mission data for better decision-making.

The Challenges

Diverse User Personas:

• • Experts required a highly efficient, flexible interface for rapid mission planning.

  • Novices needed guidance to navigate complex workflows without feeling overwhelmed.

System Complexity:

• • The system needed to handle multiple steps, parameters, and data points while remaining intuitive.

Visualization Gaps:

• • Users struggled to contextualize mission data, which limited their ability to make informed decisions quickly.

Research & Insights

• • Conducted extensive interviews with both novice and expert users to identify their pain points and unique needs.

  • Observed users in real-world scenarios to uncover usability challenges and bottlenecks.

  • Synthesized insights into actionable design requirements, paving the way for a dual-mode system that balanced simplicity and flexibility.

Design Solutions

Wizard-Type Process for Novice Users

• • Developed a step-by-step guided workflow that broke mission planning into manageable tasks.

  • Simplified complex processes to build user confidence and minimize errors in execution.

Expert Mode for Advanced Users

• • Created a streamlined interface that allowed experts to bypass guided steps, access advanced features, and work faster.

  • Designed shortcuts and customization options to enable efficient, flexible planning.

Advanced Visualizations

• • Dynamic Mission Data Forms: Organized parameters into a clear, user-friendly format for simple data input and adjustments when needed.

  • Interactive Visualizations : Integrated map-based visualizations to spatially display mission data, providing users with a comprehensive view of mission parameters and better insights into planning requirements.

Prototype & Usability Testing

• • Designed high-fidelity prototypes and iteratively tested them with user personas.

  • Incorporated feedback to refine workflows, ensuring an intuitive and efficient interface that addressed user needs.

  • Validated designs through multiple rounds of usability testing to guarantee alignment with operational goals.

Results

Reduced Mission Planning Time: 

• • Users completed complex processes significantly faster, improving operational efficiency.

Shortened Training Periods: 

• • Training time for new users was cut in half (as reported by the military training unit), making the system more accessible to novices.

National Recognition: 

• • The project earned the prestigious Israel Security Award, a testament to its innovation and impact on mission-critical operations.

Reflections

This project taught me the importance of designing for diverse user personas in a high-stakes environment. 

By balancing simplicity and flexibility, I delivered a solution that transformed complex workflows into intuitive experiences. 

The project deepened my understanding of the importance of dynamic visualizations to further enhance decision-making processes.

My deepest insight was about the importance of observing users in their natural work environment and, if possible, also involving development teams in these observations.

Key Contributions & Skills

• Led end-to-end UX design for a complex, mission-critical system.

• Delivered tailored solutions for both novice and expert users.

• Conducted in-depth research, usability testing, and iterative design improvements.

• Collaborated cross-functionally to align user needs with technical and business goals.

• Designed advanced visualizations that improved clarity and usability.

This project not only solved critical usability challenges but also demonstrated my ability to lead innovative UX solutions in high-pressure, complex environments.