Air Force’s Cyber Command and Control Mission System (C3MS)

01

Introduction

Project Overview

The Air Force Cyber Command and Control Mission System (C3MS) Redesign aimed to modernize and enhance the user experience of the existing system, providing critical capabilities for cyber operations while ensuring usability, accessibility, and adherence to cybersecurity protocols. The project involved collaboration with stakeholders from the US Air Force, extensive user research, and the development of innovative design solutions to meet the unique needs of military personnel.

Contributions

• Product Discovery
• Wireframing
• Prototyping
• UX Design
• UI Design
• Illustrations
• Iconography
• Accessibility
• Design Specs
• Design Reviews
• QA Collaboration

02

Role & Responsibilities

Role

As the Lead UI/UX Designer, I played a pivotal role in supporting and redesigning the C3MS application, collaborating with cross-functional teams and providing design support across departments to deliver a user-centric solution aligned with project requirements and technical constraints.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess and enhance the Air Force’s Cyber Command and Control Mission System (C3MS) for improved usability, accessibility, and design integrity.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, including Product Owner, users, and cross-functional teams, to define project requirements and technical constraints.
• Redesign the C3MS application with intuitive dashboards, data visualizations, and interactive tools to optimize user workflows for cyber operations.
• Develop wireframes, prototypes, and mockups to validate design concepts and gather feedback from stakeholders, ensuring alignment with military operational needs.
• Guide developers in the seamless implementation of designs, providing ongoing support throughout the development cycle to maintain design fidelity.
• Participate in usability testing sessions to gather feedback from users and iterate on design solutions based on user insights.
• Provide design support across teams, standardizing elements such as logos, web pages, and ServiceNow platform UI to ensure consistency in the C3MS system.

03

Despite its sizable user base, the project faced several significant challenges that hindered its effectiveness and competitiveness. These challenges included outdated UI design and legacy code, which compromised the application’s visual appeal, usability, and adaptability to evolving user needs and technological advancements. Transitioning to the Material Design framework posed additional complexities, requiring careful planning to ensure seamless integration and adherence to design standards. Moreover, the application featured complex and robust components and functionality, making it challenging to maintain a balance between functionality and simplicity in the user interface.

Addressing these challenges required strategic planning, collaboration across teams, and a commitment to enhancing the user experience and technical capabilities of the project. Efforts were made to streamline the user interface, modernize the underlying codebase, and optimize functionalities for improved performance and accessibility. Despite the hurdles posed by data-heavy content and accessibility issues, the project team remained dedicated to delivering a solution that not only met user expectations but also surpassed them, positioning the project for success in a competitive digital landscape.

04

Process

1. Discovery

• Conduct research to understand user needs, project requirements, and business goals.
• Gather insights from stakeholders, users, and market analysis to inform design strategy.

3. Design & Prototyping

• Design user experiences that prioritize usability, accessibility, and intuitive navigation.
• Create low-fidelity wireframes, develop interactive prototypes, and incorporate custom illustrations and icons to visualize design concepts and workflows.
• Ensure that the design complies with accessibility standards and document design specifications for development reference.

2. Strategy

• Define design objectives and establish a strategic approach to meet user needs and project goals.
• Develop a plan for addressing challenges and opportunities identified during the discovery phase.

4. Design Review and QA Collaboration

• Review the designs implemented by developers to ensure alignment with the intended designs.
• Collaborate with quality assurance teams to verify that the final product meets design specifications and user requirements.

05

• Successfully modernized the application’s UI design and transitioned to the Material Design framework, enhancing visual appeal and usability while aligning with contemporary design standards.
• Implemented strategic updates to the codebase, addressing legacy code issues and improving the application’s adaptability to evolving user needs and technological advancements.
• Streamlined complex functionalities throughout the application, striking a balance between robust capabilities and user-friendly interactions to enhance overall user experience.
• Developed innovative solutions to effectively present data-heavy content, improving information accessibility and readability for users.
• Prioritized accessibility enhancements, ensuring compliance with accessibility standards and creating a more inclusive experience for users with disabilities.