Designing a tablet app to support pilot awareness
2020
Industry giant
Tablet app
Context
NAVBLUE, an Airbus company, provides digital solutions and flight data to support airline operations. I joined their Mission+ project as part of a multidisciplinary design team composed of 4 designers, 2 flight ops engineers, and 1 human factors specialist.
Our goal was to develop a tablet-based electronic flight assistant to support pilots throughout every stage of a flight—from preparation to closure.
Challenge
Mission+ was built within a SAFe Agile framework and required alignment across several multidisciplinary teams. The design team was central to multiple development squads, which led to numerous dependencies that had to be addressed early to avoid bottlenecks.
Designing for aviation also brought unique constraints: strict safety and usability requirements, high-stakes operational scenarios, and the need to work with advanced aeronautical concepts.
My approach
I focused on maintaining alignment and promoting collaboration across disciplines—designers, flight ops engineers, developers, product owners, product managers, sales, and pilots.
To ensure we delivered the right data at the right time, I worked to clarify the context of use for each feature and validated user needs through direct engagement with airline pilots. I balanced research, design, and delivery by adjusting the level of fidelity and testing format to fit the project timeline and constraints.
Outcome
My contributions over more than a year helped bring the app to market in November 2021. Since then, Mission+ has been adopted by a growing number of flight operators—from 8 in 2022 to 35 in 2024—and is now used by thousands of pilots around the world.
The app not only supports day-to-day flight operations, it also contributes to reducing environmental impact by replacing paper-based workflows at scale.
* Figures from NAVBLUE website and LinkedIn
(Number of pilots and paper pages are limited to data shared by Delta Air Line company)
Mission+ demo from Navblue's YouTube channel
Collaborating in a SAFe agile environment
Working on a large-scale project meant constant coordination—not just within the design team, but also with flight ops engineers, human factors specialists, developers, product managers, and sales.
I helped organize work, ensure alignment, and advocate for good design practices and pilots’ needs—even under tight deadlines.
During each PI planning session, I contributed to identifying design dependencies and potential bottlenecks. Between planning cycles, I closely tracked tasks on our Jira Kanban board to manage workload and anticipate delays.
Design dependencies on a PI planning board
Taking ownership of map interactions and weather data
Each designer led specific topics, often pairing with a flight ops engineer to ensure the operational feasibility of design proposals.
I designed several interactive map layers, including weather data for airports and along the flight path—critical for helping pilots plan their route and identify alternates during unexpected situations.
Researching with pilots
I led and participated in pilot interviews to understand how weather data is consumed at different flight phases—such as preparation or in-flight—and which information is prioritized in diversion scenarios.
More broadly, we ran regular research sessions with Airbus test pilots and commercial pilots from various regions, using interviews, focus groups, and on-site observations (e.g. simulators), depending on availability.
I helped define interview protocols, moderate sessions, and synthesize findings.
Research meeting with pilots (Anonymized)
I also conducted secondary research using internal documents and public resources to explore how weather data is typically visualized in aviation.
Screenshot from aviationweather.gov showing turbulence over the United States
Ideating with the team
Based on research, it appeared that weather data, depending on the mission phase, was not always reviewed in detail but rather strategically parsed for establishing a big picture of the weather conditions.
I leveraged information architecture and visual hierarchy to sketch several options for progressive disclosure to ease this strategic parsing. Then I discussed them with a flight ops engineer to ensure operational validity before presenting my sketches to the team for design feedback.
When broader ideas were needed, I also organized ideation workshops such as 6to1 or brainstorming, sometimes involving pilots directly.
Ideation with the team (Anonymized)
Prototyping
I usually adapted the prototype to the context of the feature, the timeline, and the intended audience. Since test sessions with pilots had to be scheduled in advance, careful planning was key.
For early validation of user flows: I used paper prototypes to keep the focus on flow rather than visual detail.
For operational scenario-based usability tests: I created high-fidelity interactive prototypes using Sketch or Axure RP.
When testing visual hierarchy or layout: I used lo-fi mockups with internal stakeholders like flight ops engineers.
Paper prototype and high-fidelity design example
Testing
I collaborated with human factors and flight ops engineers to create consistent test protocols and limit bias. Each session typically included:
1 user
1 moderator
2 observers
Depending on the test topic, I participated as either the moderator or observer. I also contributed to writing the test result summaries, helping the team synthesize and prioritize insights.
Testing revealed for instance that organization of weather layers and their representation on the map performed well, but the default display didn’t make it easy for the pilot to quickly identify eligible airports in case of a diversion scenario.
Pilot testing the app in a cockpit environment (Anonymized)
Google Calendar event for weekly design meeting
Designing interfaces & delivering specs
High-fidelity UI design and spec handoff were a major part of my responsibilities. I created detailed designs in Sketch and managed design system updates through Abstract, ensuring consistency across the app.
I collaborated with human factors specialists and flight ops engineers to meet aviation safety and usability standards, and contributed to the design system by refining or adding components as needed.
Each design task concluded with clear specs for developers and QA to support smooth implementation.
Sketch for high-fidelity design and Abstract for design system versioning
Reflections & key learnings
What worked well
Working within a multidisciplinary team that included designers, flight ops engineers, and human factors experts fostered creativity while maintaining operational accuracy.
Engaging directly with airline pilots gave real-world context to our work and helped guide decisions with confidence.
What I would do differently
The design team was expected to deliver on time despite being central to multiple teams. This sometimes created pressure to compromise quality for speed. In hindsight, I would shift my mindset:
Accept constraints as part of the design environment.
Prioritize effort based on user impact.
Deliver “good enough” solutions for secondary features and reserve polish for core interactions.
