I was doom-scrolling through aviation accident news….the Boeing crashes, Nepal's tragedy, multiple runway incidents and honestly? I couldn't stop thinking about one thing: the warning signs were literally always there, just completely invisible to the people who needed to see them.

In 2023 alone, there were 30+ aviation incidents that could have been prevented if early warning signs hadn't been missed. That's 30 opportunities where better data visualization, clearer alerts, and smarter workflows could have saved lives.

Next thing I know, it's about 1 AM and I'm deep in accident report rabbit holes, ChatGPT'ing, YouTube searching, It was absolutely fixated on the same pattern: critical data buried in the most chaotic spreadsheets, alerts getting lost in pure noise, systems that only tell you what's broken instead of what's about to break.

The question that wouldn't let me sleep:

What if aviation ERP systems were designed with the same user-centered thinking that makes TikTok addictive or Netflix predictive?

Even though my aviation knowledge was basically nonexistent, this question lived rent-free in my head. It sparked this concept project my attempt to explore how design thinking could tackle one of the world's most critical safety challenges, domain expertise be damned.

Research Without Access: The UX Designer's Dilemma

The Challenge:

I couldn't interview real aviation engineers or access proprietary systems.

The Solution:

I developed what I call "Behavioral Archaeology", a research method that digs into real behaviors through available evidence.

The Core Problem (That Every Industry Faces)

Aviation ERP systems are reactive, not predictive.

Think about your last project dashboard. Does it tell you what's about to break, or just what already broke? Aviation faces this same UX challenge, amplified by:

• Information Overload: Engineers scan 200+ data points daily

• Siloed Workflows: Maintenance, operations, and engineering teams use different tools

• Alert Fatigue: Critical warnings get lost in notification noise

• Context Switching: Decision-makers jump between 5-8 different systems

Sound familiar? These are universal UX problems with aviation-specific consequences.

Design Principles That Drive Impact

1. Make the Invisible Visible

Traditional dashboards show what happened. My design shows what's about to happen.

2. Context Over Data

Instead of showing "Engine Temperature: 450°F," show "Engine running 15% hotter than similar flights—inspect cooling system."

3. Progressive Disclosure

Surface critical risks first, detailed diagnostics second. Let users drill down when they need more.

Curious how far this rabbit hole went?

Click here to read the complete case study on Behance → AeroSentinal