Project Aether
Award Winning SaaS for Gov’t: Lightweight GIS Editor for Energy & Electricity Sectors
Role
Lead Product Designer
Social Impact
$10M+ Funded
Public Sector for Electrical Grid in Disaster Relief
Platform
Desktop
Software as Service (SaaS)
Progressive Web Application (PWA)
Sponsors
National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)
Puerto Rico Utility - LUMA
National Transmission Project
Hanford Waste Management
Background
Aether is a SaaS solution designed for government agencies, streamlining Geospatial Information System (GIS) data storage and sharing to enhance collaboration and visual clarity in complex projects.
Our Must-Used Standard Module - Visualization Editor
Future Concept - Table & Map Editing
How Aether Supports the Public Sectors
Standard Modules
We introduced uniform modules at a fixed contract cost, ensuring sponsors could access the service immediately without any delays.
Companion Apps
For dedicated data analysis, we provide customized modules as part of our extra service model in product design and development.
Standard Module - API Endpoint for Advanced Audiences
Customized App - Connect Sponsor's Data for Advanced Analysis
Approach
Strategy — Roadmaps & Vision alignment
Understand Context of Use — Whiteboard sessions with SMEs, sponsors and PMs
Define Requirements — Documented design brief, user stories and success criteria based on Statement of Work (SoW)
Design — Pen & Paper, Lo-fidelity, Mid-fidelity and Hi-Fidelity with annotations for the engineering team
Evaluate — Restricted usability testing & cross project team knowledge transferring
Files Standard Module - Enable Secure Data-Sharing for Maps and Other File Forms
Design Challenges
End User Access
Building Trust — Fostered collaboration with sponsors unfamiliar with UX by sharing our process.
Overcoming Barriers — Used secondary research (academic papers, Generative AI) to create user-centered designs without direct user access.
Streamline Engineer-Design Collaboration
Efficiency & Delivery — Met deadlines and budgets by creating a design system in Figma inspired by Material, Ant, and Atlassian Design, enabling engineers to deliver high-quality work independently.
Complex and Unfamiliar Application Design Space
Innovative Design — Tackled niche government app challenges by drawing insights from finance (data visualization) and project management (workflows) tools through cross-disciplinary research.
Example Annotation For Development - No Long In Use w. Design System Maturity
Design Leadership
Team Growth — Expanded team from 2 to 5, including seniors, juniors, and interns.
Systems & Processes — Established task tracking, design critiques, and reporting workflows in Figma and Confluence.
Team Support — Led weekly check-ins to balance workloads, enhance collaboration, and ensure quality.
Mentorship — Adapted leadership to individual strengths, fostering growth across all levels.
Referenced — Inspired by The Making of a Manager, Project Management for Humans, and my dad's leadership.
