timeline
My role
The team
Release (forecast)
Disclaimer:
Due to a confidentiality agreement with the company, all key information related to this project, including specific data, designs, and proprietary processes, has been intentionally omitted or generalized to protect the company's confidential and proprietary information. For further details or inquiries, please feel free to reach out to me directly.
MDAT is a key initiative to enhance Boeing's quality control process going forward.
MDAT (Mobile Defect Authoring Tool) is a Windows application for tablet and desktop, designed for quality inspectors to create and submit issue records to the manufacturing system, ensuring that technicians and engineers can address issues efficiently.
As part of the company's broader focus on enhancing quality control, redesigning MDAT was one of the key initiatives. As the UX lead, I lead a team of one designer and was responsible for designing MVP of the next generation of MDAT, which was built from scratch using the .NET MAUI framework.
Users were overwhelmed by the issue finding and reporting process.
To thoroughly understand the problem areas and define project goals, I met with dozens of quality inspectors and reviewers at multiple sites and observed 10 quality inspections firsthand. The research and design process spanned approximately 6 months.
Through my research, I discovered that there are various types of quality inspection processes. To narrow the scope of the MVP, we prioritized a specific type of inspector as our primary user group because, despite being the most active users of the app, they reported the lowest satisfaction rate. One reason for their frustration is that they report issues four times more than other groups on average.
Let's help inspectors report issues more efficiently with MDAT.
The primary goal was to improve efficiency and reduce the time required to complete tasks, from issue record creation to submission, by streamlining the workflow. To achieve this, I concentrated on below design goals.
- Enhance the information architecture and navigation
- Simplify user tasks
- Implement error-prevention methods
I adopted a strategic approach to expedite the design process and meet the timeline.
To achieve the project goals, I developed over 20 new features that aligned with the design objectives. Subsequently, I organized the team to work on multiple features concurrently, accelerating the design process to meet management's expectation for a prompt delivery.
Additionally, I leveraged third-party solutions to streamline the process and stay within the tight timeline. For instance, I chose to implement Microsoft's WinUI 3, which saved significant time by utilizing a ready-made design system, eliminating the need to build one from scratch. These strategic decisions allowed the design team to focus on core functionalities and stay aligned with the project’s primary goals.
I delivered a design that satisfied 100% of the testers in time.
All key information has been intentionally omitted or generalized to protect the company's confidential data.
Easily navigate between records with automatic saving of progress.
Users can easily switch between records for multitasking or during the review process.
Automatically organize records by customer and track the status.
Records are automatically grouped by airplane when created, allowing users to easily track the progress of issue recording and submission. This view ensures that all records are successfully submitted to the manufacturing system.
Review all records at a glance and track individual record statuses.
Users can quickly view a list of records along with the photos taken for team review sessions.
This led to a 50% reduction in task completion time.
As a result, the redesigned app achieved a 100% user satisfaction rate from testers across various teams and reduced task completion time by 50% compared to the previous version in the test environment by reducing the number of steps required to generate and submit records.
The app is currently in the testing phase and is scheduled for official launch in Q4 2024.
From this project, I learned...
From this project, I learned the importance of thinking strategically and prioritizing design features, especially when working with limited resources and tight deadlines. I gained valuable insights into defending my design decisions with proven data, ensuring that I can effectively communicate and advocate for my choices when collaborating with developers and stakeholders. Additionally, I developed skills in managing relationships with stakeholders and leadership, which proved essential for the project's success.
If I could go back in time...
Looking back, if I could change anything, I would engage with developers earlier in the process to better align design work with the development workflow and priorities. Both the project manager and I initially underestimated the specific processes that the development team needed to follow when building a new app from scratch. This oversight led to confusion during the early stages, particularly when we presented the wireframes to the developers. In future projects, I will prioritize this alignment to prevent similar issues and foster a more seamless collaboration.