Boeing Case Study
We built a powerful, innovative system that went from a local tool to a company-wide platform
Background
A lot of R&D but no way to manage it
Lacking a unified view of the company’s R&D, Boeing had no sense of how individual projects related to business strategies. Each business unit developed their own idiosyncratic tools and processes which were incompatible with the others. What the company needed was a single tool to rule them all, one that could manage the complex requirements of technology
portfolio management.
Step 1
Won the contract
We lacked a lot of information about the requirements for the project, including the IA. The client withheld a lot of information, and we had weeks to deliver a functioning prototype. I used pure design principles to create a versatile application that could handle unforeseen needs, plus a bit of show-offy elegance for effect. This earned us the contract.
Step 2
Documented the workflows
With the contract obtained, we had to re-think the product in light of the full context. There was still much we didn't know. Part of it was red tape but another part was the size of the organization in which knowledge was siloed. Moreover, the company was in flux with things changing. I led the effort to document the company's processes which we would be virtualizing.
Step 3
Mapped out the organization
Our application's IA was based on a simplistic and incomplete understanding of the company's structures. We would have to capture all of the objects involved. If we missed any, our application could be under-designed, and end up useless and unused. The information topography was tangled and often contradictory, but we created a clearer picture for the company.
Step 4
Created the first production version
We had been under pressure to deliver a first version, but I insisted on a thorough process to ensure a good product. The previous two steps led to a far more complete understanding of the company that we were virtualizing. We built an interface directly from the IA that we mapped out, creating a virtual replica of the company's R&D work, with consumer-grade UX to boot.
Step 5
Integrated consumer-grade search
Until this point, the application had no search, but relied upon faceted menus and crude SQL queries to find desired information. In order to expand the audience for this tool, we had to make it easy to use. We developed a search tool that came as close as we could get (especially before ChatGPT) to natural language query.
Step 6
Created a revolutionary navigation system
We had two big unsolved problems: a growing need to provide a central "dashboard", and an increasingly complex IA that made navigation cumbersome. I used two innovations to solve these problems: a data-driven map to visualize the entire organization, and a 3D "paper" based document display paradigm. The result was a revolutionary-yet-intuitive user experience.
Step 7
Turned the designs into reality
The next major challenge was actually implementing the new navigation system. In addition to getting the buy-in from the client, the kinks in implementation had to be worked out, including usability and technical feasibility. In this process, we made further improvements to the product.
Step 8
Made the product extensible
One major risk to the project the entire way through was that of internal competition. Other internal organizations wanted to develop their own information management tools, or use off-the-shelf software. In order to prevent our product from dying on the vine or falling into disuse after deployment, I would need to ensure its adaptability to the company's shifting needs.
Final product
A design born of challenges
Ultimately, the Portfolio Management Platform was a success beyond the original expectations. Its versatility allowed it to be adopted by other parts of the company and its usability made those other parts of the company want to use it. It ended up becoming a company-wide utility and applied to functions well beyond R&D management.