AeroMed Lab
Operator Interface Design
AeroMed Lab is a drone company that delivers blood and medical supplies to soldiers.
I designed a concept interface for their operators
Who is
AeroMed Lab?
AeroMed Lab is dedicated to delivering critical medical support through autonomous drone technology in the challenging environments of contemporary battlefields. AeroMed Lab systems focus on humanitarian initiatives and will not be repurposed for aggression or harm. AeroMed Lab serves the global community, bridging the gap between medical necessity and accessibility - one flight at a time.
Wireframes
Information Architecture
*A quick caveat: This project is based off of my interpretation and I have not received any input or feedback from AeroMed Lab.
To define the information architecture for the operator interface, I began by studying the screenshots I had and reverse-engineering it while using my experience from the Israeli Air Force and project management to understand the objectives, different scenarios, the sequence of events, decision making processes, and feature relevance at each stage of the process.
Developing The Brand Language
Font: Titillium Web
The font had to be sans-serif and have the option of heavy font-weights. It needs to be easily readable, and have a cutting-edge look to it. Titillium Web fits those requirements and is also free on google fonts.
Style
The UI has got to be tactical and pragmatic, in that it only presents relevant information to give the operator a sense of the big picture. The system has to cater for both day and night settings, and colors have to be used modestly in critical places.
Tone
all information and buttons must be extremely concise. No long explanations, no fun micro-copy, and every description or button assume the operator is trained and familiar with the system.
How I got to
AeroMed Lab
I've been a Ryan McBeth fan since 2022.
Ryan does amazing videos on Youtube and Substack on identifying, and debunking disinformation, and at some point, he became the Chief Integration Officer at AeroMed Lab. He introduced what the company does in his videos, and since I'm a long-time drone enthusiast, it very much spoke to me.
I caught a glimpse of the operator interface in one of the videos, and I couldn't help wonder how I would design it - so I did.
I studied the screenshots, listed scenarios and began developing the UX for this interface in the most mothedic way I could.
User Journeys
UJ 1: Routine Delivery
A field unit is expecting a resulpy of light equipment in order to keep operating without having to leave their position.
The operator defines the unit's coordinates, the time of intended delivery, the required items for delivery, and the mission's urgency. This notifies the ground crew what they need to prepare and when, and the field unit get a delivery time estimate.
UJ 2: Critical Delivery Request
During a battle, two soldiers were wounded and required blood transfusion. A critical request came in from their unit, which includes their coordinates. The operator receives the information (where, what, when, how) and defines other mission parameters.
If the flight plan includes a heavy payload and the distance to the delivery coordinates exceeds 50% of the drone's capacity, the system recommends packing a solar charging kit.
When the operator approves the plan, the information is sent to the ground crew, and the field unit receive a delivery time estimate.
UJ 3: Edit Angle of Approach
In a contested environment, a field unit or an operator who has real-time information about ongoing battles and potential threats would likely want the drone to avoid enemy territory. Either the field unit indicates the drone should come in from a specific direction, or the operator defines that direction when creating the mission plan.
Suppose the unit is in contact with an enemy positioned to their north, and a dense forest to the south, but a clearing to the south-west, the flight-plan could account for hostile environments and approach the coordinates from a safe direction.
*There are additional user journeys I developed, but will not publish in my portfolio at this time.
Create New Mission Page
'Request Pending' Alert
When a delivery request is received, both the mission list and the notifications indicator on the header alert the operator.
Designing The Interface
With
Day
And
Night
In Mind
Homescreen Dashboard Design
That's it for now, but more is on the way!
I'm still working on this project and will update this page as soon as more screens are ready, or when I have time. I'm currently job-hunting, and try to give this project my free time.
I will also be updating this page with .gifs of individual components' behavior later on, so be sure to check in from time to time!
Finally, a short disclaimer:
I am not affiliated with AeroMed Lab at the moment. My work on this project is sort of fan art for my portfolio. I'm a junior UX designer and I need to gain experience. To that end - if anyone at AeroMed Lab happens to see this project and want to collaborate, I would absolutely love to!
In fact, if you're looking for a junior UX designer, I'm your man!
Hover over drone on map
The operator may want to know the actual or estimated status of each active drone, and although the system may not always know where the drone is due to EW, it knows the flight plan and can calculate where the drone should be at any given moment.
If the operator clicks the hovered-over drone, they will open the mission overview page.
Select Payload
To manually select the paload, the operator selects it from the dropdown menu. Each item's weight is known, and will affect the flight plan.
