Fragmented readiness data
Operational information was distributed across programs, systems, and planning cycles, and the scope and requirements were undefined when the work began.
DOD · MISSION READINESS · PREDICTIVE MODELING
From readiness data to mission foresight.
Designing the first tool for this organization to provide military analysts this level of predictive customization and insight, supporting maintenance planning, readiness decisions, and mission planning.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Mission readiness required a shared view forward.
A defense organization needed a predictive readiness framework that could give military analysts a customized view of readiness and help them respond to military leadership requests. The tool was designed to support maintenance planning, readiness decisions, and mission planning—with insight into supply chain needs and the allocation of resources and personnel.
As lead experience designer, I translated high-volume operational data into a tool military analysts could use to build and compare scenarios, explain projected readiness, and inform leadership decisions.
01 · THE CHALLENGE
Readiness data existed. The ability to test what comes next did not.
Reactive decisions
Maintenance and logistics decisions often followed issues rather than anticipating them.
Technical complexity
Advanced modeling had to remain understandable to people in distinct roles and across multiple operational and classification levels, while supporting real-time accuracy and a defensible audit record.
High consequence
A small, specialized, zero-fail fleet meant sparse, high-impact data, where one asset's status could ripple across the whole readiness picture. Every insight needed to support confident, accountable mission planning.
02 · THE PRODUCT VISION
A customized view of fleet readiness
For the first time in the organization, military analysts had a tool with this level of customization and predictive insight to answer military leadership requests. It was designed to support maintenance planning, readiness decisions, and mission planning, while helping teams assess supply chain needs and plan the allocation of resources and personnel across aircraft and the wider fleet.
Propulsion sustainment fleet display. Select an airframe from the roster to see its engine health, fuel, maintenance, filter differential pressure, phase-inspection schedule and part serviceability. Illustrative data only.
Delivered as a custom predictive modeling solution for a U.S. Navy organization, supporting mission readiness and fleet planning. Client CUI details withheld.
03 · THE EXPERIENCE MODEL
Explore readiness scenarios with confidence.
The predictive readiness framework brought familiar e-commerce patterns to modeling: military analysts could create, run, save, and adjust scenarios, then rerun them as assumptions changed. They could pin scenarios for quick access, compare results, and archive scenarios that were no longer active.
Designed to support NIPR and SIPR data, the tool also enabled analysts to generate reports for leadership review, connecting detailed analysis to maintenance planning, readiness decisions, and mission planning.
Build and refine scenarios
Build a scenario around a leadership request, adjust its assumptions, and run or rerun the model as conditions change.
Keep models organized
Save and pin useful scenarios, compare results across models, and archive scenarios that are no longer in use.
Move insight into decisions
Work with data on NIPR and SIPR, then generate reports that help leaders review projected readiness, supply chain needs, and resource allocation tradeoffs.
04 · FROM INSIGHT TO IMPACT
Research, design, and delivery moved as one.
Understand mission work
Led weekly interviews and collaborative workshops with military analysts and stakeholders to understand leadership requests, workflows, planning priorities, and readiness challenges.
Make prediction usable
Tested visual and interaction models, moving from divergent concepts to high-polish prototypes.
Set the foundation
Coordinated specifications and design governance for scalable predictive capabilities.
05 · KEY NUMBERS · MISSION READINESS 2025
In three months, we built a readiness model the client wanted to build on.
What this established
The work established a predictive readiness framework that gave military analysts a customized way to explore readiness scenarios and prepare insight for leadership. The client adopted the design direction as the gold standard for additional readiness work across the branch, prompting conversations about the funding and requirements needed to move forward. It also strengthened collaboration across data, design, and engineering.
Discovery
Gold standard
Funding discussions
Figures above reflect program scope and observed outcomes where available. Underlying data sources were classified and outside the design team's view. Delivered for a U.S. military branch. Client and program details withheld.
TAKEAWAY
Predictive systems matter when analysts can turn insight into better plans.
Human-centered design connects advanced analytics to the maintenance, readiness, mission, supply chain, and resource allocation decisions that shape mission outcomes.