ABMS OmniaONE
A cloud-based geospatial interface that assists the U.S. military in conducting surveillance mission protocols.
Lead UX Designer | Agile Design Sprint | 12 Weeks
Overview
The Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) is a secure communications network and part of an initiative by the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) to connect military assets across multiple domains.
The issue of private vs. public data within ABMS was a sensitive topic. The Department of Defense had been pigeonholed by proprietary software applications so much that there is a big push for more data transparency with the ABMS infrastructure.
Problem
A consistent and heuristic geospatial experience was needed for direct targeting protocols across more than twenty-six applications and microservices within the ABMS ecosystem. ABMS consists of several smaller bits of predefined code in libraries or packages. OmniaONE was to be showcased at an ABMS integration event within six months.
Solution
OmniaONE is the visual interface that displays data on the Common Operating Picture (COP) so Mission Commanders can quickly and confidently select targets and Courses of Action (COAs) for a desired effect. The system automates data flow from the sensors of military assets across every stage of military engagement.
Process
• Learn
• Discover
• Define
• Design
• Test
• Discover
• Define
• Design
• Test
Deliverables
• Usability Audit
• Content Writing
• User Flows
• Wireframes
• Interactions
• Content Writing
• User Flows
• Wireframes
• Interactions
Team
• VP of Design
• Senior Designer
• 6 UX Designers
• 3 Engineers
• 2 Developers
• Senior Designer
• 6 UX Designers
• 3 Engineers
• 2 Developers
Tools
• Confluence
• Google Docs
• Jira
• Figma
• Slack
• Google Docs
• Jira
• Figma
• Slack
Research
Usability Audit
A strategic evaluation of the legacy geospatial application named Kinetica, one of over 26 applications and microservices within ABMS, was conducted to understand the previous design and development, and how it caters to users' needs.
A strategic evaluation of the legacy geospatial application named Kinetica, one of over 26 applications and microservices within ABMS, was conducted to understand the previous design and development, and how it caters to users' needs.
The audit identified and prioritized potential opportunities for improvement, and how they can be effectively implemented within the new platform design.
The results were based on heuristic scoring system from one to ten (1-10) for five (5) key components:
• Features and Functionality (4 Heuristics): Total score: 15
• Home Screen (4 Heuristics): Total score: 10
• Content and Text (4 Heuristics): Total score: 19
• Navigation (5 Heuristics): Total score: 16
• Search (3 Heuristics): Total score: 9
Usability Audit Summary
Not many of the numerous features within the Kinetica application are intuitive to the user. Part of this is due to confusing iconography and complicated navigation. Additionally, not all current functionality will be needed for the new design.
Not many of the numerous features within the Kinetica application are intuitive to the user. Part of this is due to confusing iconography and complicated navigation. Additionally, not all current functionality will be needed for the new design.
We continued to make recommendations to stakeholders during the sprint on how to simplify available features and increase ease of use.
Military SME Interviews
I engaged with end users and SMEs to understand data hierarchy per their role and priorities within ABMS. The roles within the ABMS ecosystem were numerous, and depended on military domain and expertise. Below is a list of some of the military personnel who were interviewed:
I engaged with end users and SMEs to understand data hierarchy per their role and priorities within ABMS. The roles within the ABMS ecosystem were numerous, and depended on military domain and expertise. Below is a list of some of the military personnel who were interviewed:
• Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) Lead
• Joint Force Operator
• All Domain Mission Commander
• Mission Planners
• Imagery Analyst
• Geospatial Analyst
Focus groups were also conducted with SMEs from other project teams involved to get an understanding of how their respective microservices and applications worked together within the ABMS ecosystem.
Discovery
Pain Points
Per user interviews and research, a total of 157 pain points were uncovered within the ABMS application ecosystem regrading the Direct Targeting process. We focused on solving the high-impact pain points for the Common Operating Picture (COP):
Per user interviews and research, a total of 157 pain points were uncovered within the ABMS application ecosystem regrading the Direct Targeting process. We focused on solving the high-impact pain points for the Common Operating Picture (COP):
• Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Re-Tasking
• Digitizing manual data retrieving, correlation and fusion
• Reducing the number of steps necessary to engage a target
• Tactical vectoring of aircraft to coordinates
Team Goals + Objectives
Designing for the ABMS Integration Event
There are eight stages to the Direct Targeting process. However, the user must first set up their workspace based on a Mission Plan in order to conduct Courses of Action (COAs).
There are eight stages to the Direct Targeting process. However, the user must first set up their workspace based on a Mission Plan in order to conduct Courses of Action (COAs).
To illustrate an entire user journey, we focused on the processes of the user developing COAs from Mission Planning to two of the eight stages of Direct Targeting:
1. Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Tasking, when the user is inspecting vector objects on a map
2. Engaging, which is when a military asset (drone, jet fighter, tank, etc,) is assigned by the user to inspect or target an object based on mission protocols.
Features
Simplified Mission Planning
Features for setting up a Mission Plan are defined as six (6) different user settings panels called "Managers". The user customizes each Manager based on their mission plan. In the design phase, each feature was assigned to one of six UX Designers, including myself, to collaborate on wireframing and interaction design exploration.
Features for setting up a Mission Plan are defined as six (6) different user settings panels called "Managers". The user customizes each Manager based on their mission plan. In the design phase, each feature was assigned to one of six UX Designers, including myself, to collaborate on wireframing and interaction design exploration.
• Home Manager: Workspace settings and preferences
• Map Manager: Any vectors to appear on the map
• Track Manager: Object label vectors (Friend, Hostile, etc.)
• Overlay Manager: Surveillance lane vectors
• Grid Manager: Surveillance grid vectors
• Quick View: Collapsed view of the Manager panel
Design Decisions
• Mobile First Thinking
• Focus on Nested Navigation
• Prioritize Viewing Geospatial Vectors
• Create Customizable Workspaces
• Highlight Data Classification (ex. Public, Private, Top Secret)
• Highlight Data on Available Military Assets
• Display a Real-Time Activity Feed
• Use Toggle Interactions
User Story
Map Manager
As a user, I want to customize my geospatial map by selecting which vector objects appear in the Common Operating Picture (COP) workspace .
As a user, I want to customize my geospatial map by selecting which vector objects appear in the Common Operating Picture (COP) workspace .
Acceptance Criteria
Map Types
• Satellite
• Simplified
• Airflight
• Nautical
• Simplified
• Airflight
• Nautical
Map Settings
• Brightness
• Opacity
• Layers
• Labels
• Opacity
• Layers
• Labels
Map Objects
• Cities
• Hospitals
• Airports
• Schools
• Hospitals
• Airports
• Schools
Wireframes
Iteration: Minimizing Design Debt
Due to the timeframe and complexity of the project, I was proactive in making wireframe components and a style guide. With each of designer working remotely, this approach minimized cognitive overload when presenting to stakeholders by unifying the visual output, and eliminating rogue designs.
Due to the timeframe and complexity of the project, I was proactive in making wireframe components and a style guide. With each of designer working remotely, this approach minimized cognitive overload when presenting to stakeholders by unifying the visual output, and eliminating rogue designs.
Visual Design
Mission Accomplished
Below are examples of an active mission plan using the Preferences panel to designate the geospatial area, labels and vector objects for surveillance, inspection and/or targeting depending on mission status within a military domain.
Below are examples of an active mission plan using the Preferences panel to designate the geospatial area, labels and vector objects for surveillance, inspection and/or targeting depending on mission status within a military domain.
Project Output
Renamed "JERICO2", OmniaONE becomes the first successful product solution of its kind for the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
• Successfully collaborated with multiple cross-functional product teams
• Algorithms reduced the number of steps required for direct targeting
• Hypergiant awarded a 3-year/$61M contract to continue development
• A consumer version, ARGUS Command Center, is available on the AWS Marketplace and priced at $7,000,000/year. View here.
1. Understanding the Supply Chain Business Model
In Retrospect
Being by far the most impactful and complex user problem I’ve ever seen, this project involved the largest multi-disciplined group I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with. It was a true lesson in cross-team collaboration. Some key takeaways from this project are:
Focus on team efficiency.
With so many other teams involved, it's important to reduce design debt within your as much as possible so all teams can deliver to the best of their ability.
With so many other teams involved, it's important to reduce design debt within your as much as possible so all teams can deliver to the best of their ability.
Bite off small pieces.
I’m always eager to learn as much as I can about a product, but there were so many aspects to the ABMS ecosystem that I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. Taking a step back to focus on the high impact pain points put things into perspective.
I’m always eager to learn as much as I can about a product, but there were so many aspects to the ABMS ecosystem that I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. Taking a step back to focus on the high impact pain points put things into perspective.
