Astro UXDS
From June 2022 to June 2023, I worked on the Astro UX Design System, the only design system specifically designed for use on space applications, and compliant with both Space Systems Command and Enterprise Ground Services standards. These are some of my contributions during that year period.
Range Slider
Conducted 7 interviews of Astro users to uncover use cases. During each interview, I also showed 10 examples of existing range sliders for participants to audit what works and what doesn’t, and of those features that work, would they make sense in the use cases provided. I produced this prototype in Axure and shared it with one of our developers who was able to recreate it in code, and it should be released later this year. Additional features to be added in later releases include input on value fields and a clickable track for the user to jump to desired values.
Inline Select Menu
Three use cases demonstrated: column header, in-line with other text, Month/Year selection on existing date picker. Note: this is just a rough sample app to demo the component.
Heuristic Evalution Worksheet
Initially produced for use during a Space Force-hosted UX Forum, this worksheet is intended for use by Astro users (designers and developers) to audit the usability of a given application. The inclusion of a sketches section was informed by my years at Cyberworx, where I produced similar artifacts for sprint participants. This worksheet is available as a PDF but intended to be used as a hard copy, so it can be brought into SCIFs and other secure locations where recording devices aren’t allowed.
Segmented Button
I redesigned the segmented button when I discovered users might have difficulty discerning which option was selected in a binary choice.
In the physical world, the darkened option is selected because of how physical buttons get pushed into a housing, which causes a shadow to fall upon the pressed button. Traditionally, this model carried over to the digital realm, though that’s not always the case in modern design. As such, when shown a segmented button with just two options, it becomes hard to tell which option is selected. In a high-stakes, fast-paced environment like space command, it is even more important that an operator can make sense of information quickly.
As I looked into that issue, I discovered the existing design failed to meet WCAG accessibility standard of AA rating. Comparing text:background, each segment meets a WCAG AA rating, but comparing the buttons to each other, as one needs to do when discerning selected vs non-, text:text and background:background fell well short of the required 3.00:1 contrast ratio.
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