Intellibridge

Intellibridge

Intellibridge

Air Force Scheduling: Mobile Redesign

Air Force Scheduling: Mobile Redesign

Air Force Scheduling: Mobile Redesign

Role

Role

Role

UI/UX Designer

Length

2 weeks

Team

Individual

Year

2024

🚀 Impact

Mobile adoption skyrocketed by 2,440%! Before the redesign, only 5 users engaged with the mobile experience. After implementing structured navigation, role-based access, and task-focused UI, adoption soared to 127 users.

📝 Overview

📝 Overview

📝 Overview

The U.S. Air Force flies missions to respond quickly to threats, support ground forces, and carry out important tasks like rescue operations. Squadrons have tedious, manual processes to schedule missions, involving referencing whiteboards, physical papers, and multiple outdated websites. More time spent scheduling means less time in the skies. Puckboard is a 6,000+ monthly user digital platform that mitigates aircrew frustrations with one simple and intuitive experience so they can focus on flying.


Aircrew members are always on the go, so optimizing for a familiar, easy-to-use mobile version was crucial. This specific project aimed to deliver a cohesive and user-friendly experience across the platform, ensuring all users could efficiently navigate and leverage the scheduling features.

The Problem

The old mobile experience had only 5 users due to confusing navigation, unclear actions, and an unintuitive interface. Frustrated pilots, commanders, and squadron leaders relied on manual workarounds and outdated desktop tools, slowing down operations.

Product Comparison

Research & Discovery

US Air Force users dealt with busy schedules
and a difficult interface

The complexity of the product
steered users away

Several US Air Force squadrons were interviewed through online calls and they shared similar insights and frustrations with the mobile experience. I then concluded their pain points from a design perspective:

Based on these highlighted pain points, to create a more intuitive and functional mobile experience, I defined these key design goals to address usability challenges and enhance workflow efficiency.

The power of a design system.


The creation and implementation of a robust design

system can lead to consistency, scalability, and

improved efficiency in product design and development.

This experience has reinforced my belief in the

fundamental role of design systems in elevating the

craft of design.


It's important to prioritize scalability early.


The redesign not only improves the current state of the product but

also sets the stage for future growth and development. A

well-designed system is adaptable and efficient.

Using user flows to understand scheduler and aircrew complex tasks

I created a user flow to map out the steps users would take to navigate pages based on their role as an aircrew member (pilots, loadmasters) or mission scheduler. Defaulting to the member view instead of scheduler allows squadron members to carry out their main tasks more quickly on the go as schedulers use desktop to plan out missions.

Design Process

Refining the mobile experience

Good design sets up the product for
the future

I made changes from an older hi-fi iteration in order to make better use of vertical space and to categorize sections of information better. Below are key iterations that addressed the pain points with the improvement goals in mind.

The power of a design system.


The creation and implementation of a robust design

system can lead to consistency, scalability, and

improved efficiency in product design and development.

This experience has reinforced my belief in the

fundamental role of design systems in elevating the

craft of design.


It's important to prioritize scalability early.


The redesign not only improves the current state of the product but

also sets the stage for future growth and development. A

well-designed system is adaptable and efficient.

Main feature: Viewing Mission Information and Crew Members

Balancing all important information needed to fly missions while keeping a simple experience that wasn't too overwhelming was challenging for me. User insights and design feedback allowed me to hone in on my visual design skills to ensure better display of information.



Product Showcase

Schedulers

Schedulers can view missions that are filled or have empty seats and view requests to approve or deny.

Aircrew

Aircrew members can view their upcoming events, AI-recommended events, pending requests and can request for events.

Feedback & Results

🚀 Mobile adoption has increased by 2,440%!

Good design sets up the product for
the future

📈 Before the redesign, only 5 users engaged with mobile workflows. By implementing structured navigation, role-based access, and task-focused UI, adoption skyrocketed to 127 users.


"The difference is like night and day."
🗣️ Scheduler on usability improvements


"There are no complaints on the message channels from the haters; it's been silent!"
🗣️ Reduced friction and frustration


📊 This redesign transformed mobile from an underutilized tool into a core part of daily operations.

The power of a design system.


The creation and implementation of a robust design

system can lead to consistency, scalability, and

improved efficiency in product design and development.

This experience has reinforced my belief in the

fundamental role of design systems in elevating the

craft of design.


It's important to prioritize scalability early.


The redesign not only improves the current state of the product but

also sets the stage for future growth and development. A

well-designed system is adaptable and efficient.

Learnings & Reflection

Designers read in between the lines from users

Good design sets up the product for
the future

Balance familiarity with innovation.


Schedulers were used to a certain way of working. Instead of radically changing everything, we focused on incremental improvements, like reorganizing navigation while keeping key elements recognizable. This made adoption smoother and less disruptive


Research-driven decisions have power.


Initially, some schedulers requested more customization options, but research showed they needed faster task completion, not complexity. The redesign focused on simplifying workflows rather than adding more features, leading to a significant increase in adoption.

The power of a design system.


The creation and implementation of a robust design

system can lead to consistency, scalability, and

improved efficiency in product design and development.

This experience has reinforced my belief in the

fundamental role of design systems in elevating the

craft of design.


It's important to prioritize scalability early.


The redesign not only improves the current state of the product but

also sets the stage for future growth and development. A

well-designed system is adaptable and efficient.

Let's Connect! ☺️

Feel free to send a message, I'd love to chat about my projects, interests, design, or anything else!

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