Proactive Decision Support
BACKGROUND
The US Coastguard is looking to optimize their planning process for missions.
Note: This project is under strict NDA and For Official Use Only, so I will be sharing limited deliverables and content for this project.
BUSINESS NEED
Leadership's goal is to prove the value of a proactive decision tool for distributed planning to solidify future government contracts.
GOAL
Optimizing the existing planning process within the US Coastguard to help them plan missions more effectively.
CHALLENGE
RESEARCH
I learned the process US Coastguard planned use today require too many different platforms with scattered context of communicating between stakeholders.
Our Users
User Workflow
Key takeaways
US COASTGUARD WORKS IN SILOS
There are communication barriers that needed to be broken down so that planners have the full context of all their assets for missions.
FRAGEMENTATION IN PLANNING
Coastguard planners require multiple information sources, leaving room for missed context and leading to suboptimal decisions.
PROBLEM TO SOLVE
SOLUTIONS
Through continual iteration and receiving feedback from users, I devised 3 key solutions to help Coastguard planners plan more efficiently.
Dashboard Page
PROBLEM THIS SOLVED
Multiple planners can now view and add assets (cutters, aircrafts, people/operations, etc.), regions the assets will reside in, and the asset status involved in a mission plan.
WHY IT MATTERS
This creates a centralized planning tool across distributed teams and provides a single source of truth for the mission plan, thus reducing miscommunication.
Regional View
PROBLEM THIS SOLVED
Planners are able to visually see planned mission happening across various regions throughout the whole year to help with planning and coordination across distributed teams.
WHY IT MATTERS
No more blind spots and wondering if the inputs they receive are fragmented. Distributed teams now have the full picture of all missions planned throughout the year.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
Planners have the option to sort by:
• TACON (tactical use and assignment)
• Time zone / date - UTC time zone
WHY IT MATTERS
Planners have different preferences to either sort regions by time zone or by dates of occurring events. This flexibility delighted our users.
Asset View
PROBLEM THIS SOLVED
Planners are able to easily view the status changes of assets across time and to identify how the assets are being utilized throughout the year.
WHY IT MATTERS
This helps planners with resource management, to easily gauge if assets are over-booked, under-booked, conflicting in schedules, or due for maintenance.
A PINPOINTED SOLUTION
After handling core needs of US Coastguard planners, I decided to map out a solution to further enhance their planning capabilities.
Map View
PROBLEM THIS SOLVED
The US Coastguard is given visibility of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of other countries, so that it promotes cooperation between the US Coastguard and other nations.
WHY IT MATTERS
This reduces conflict and confusion between the US Coastguard and other nations, and incentivizes clear communication across nation stakeholders for planned operations.
IMPACT
APPROX.
increase in planning efficiency
APPROX.
hours of labor saved annually