• Project Overview
Boeing’s Innovation Labs were building a suite of advanced digital tools (FHX – Fleet Health Experience) to assist maintenance engineers in identifying and solving aircraft issues more quickly. I worked as a Senior UX Designer, focusing on the redesign of Smart Explorer — a tool that consolidated data from over 80 internal databases.
• Problem & Objectives
• Engineers had trouble locating the right documentation, repair protocols, or diagrams due to siloed data across multiple systems.
• Smart Explorer needed to be streamlined and intuitive, offering fast access to repair instructions, part diagrams, and related records.
• My Role & Team
• Led interviews with Boeing engineers to uncover usability gaps
• Conducted research, mapped workflows, and designed new UI for Smart Explorer
• Collaborated with PMs, senior engineers, and developers in a scaled Agile environment
• Cleared protocols to access restricted government-linked databases
• Design Process
– Discovery & Research
• Interviewed aircraft maintenance engineers to understand behaviors & pain points
• Audited FHX tools for redundancy, friction points, and opportunity areas
– Synthesis & Ideation
• Created user journeys and task flows
• Identified information hierarchy needs
– Wireframing & Prototyping
• Redesigned Smart Explorer UI
• Integrated intelligent filtering and contextual search
– Testing & Handoff
• Internal walkthroughs with SMEs
• Delivered annotated prototypes and design specs for dev teams
• Key Screens / Solutions
• Search-based interface with advanced filters based on aircraft model, issue type, and document relevance
• Visual hierarchy redesign: prioritized most-used functions and surfaced relevant content early
• Smart logic to suggest related files and procedural diagrams
• Results & Impact
• Project cut short by COVID-related layoffs, but Smart Explorer redesign was implemented
• Positive internal feedback, especially from maintenance leads
• Design foundations used to inform FHX toolset continuity
• Reflection
• Gained hands-on experience designing for high-risk, high-regulation environments
• Strengthened rapid synthesis skills within a highly structured Agile enterprise
• Worked under strict protocols due to government data clearance — a valuable skill for Service Design and public sector UX
