Case Study: Technical User

Designing for Critical Ops

ROV Path // Research Built

The Mission: Rebuild for function and the working user. In an 8-hour sprint, I audited a decorative AI interface and re-engineered it into a high-fidelity, mission-critical telemetry suite for ROV pilots operating in high-stress underwater environments.

ROV Hero
AI Before Audit
The System Audit: Defining the Problem

In high-stakes operations, visual noise is a safety risk. An audit of the raw generative output revealed that this interface would fail in a darkened control cabin. Four critical faults were identified and flagged for immediate remediation.

  • SCALE ABSENCE No 1:1 spatial reference for underwater distance estimation.
  • HIDDEN TELEMETRY Critical mission data — Tether & Latency — buried in sub-menus.
  • VISUAL NOISE High-glare elements that wash out sonar video feeds.
  • TARGET SIZE Interactive elements under 60px — unusable during vessel motion.
Each fault was a mission risk. The redesign treated them as non-negotiables.

ROV Slide 2
System Improvements
System Improvements
  • Modular Dock Bottom-aligned navigation provides 60px+ touch targets for quick access to Vision, Flight, and Tools during vessel motion and pilot fatigue.
  • Active HUD Top-level telemetry allows for constant monitoring of Tether Health and Battery Draw, removing the need to navigate sub-menus during entanglement risks or power-critical maneuvers.
  • Functional Grid A 1:1 scale background enables the pilot to estimate depth and distance passively (1 unit = 1 meter) without activating secondary measurement tools, reducing cognitive load during precision welding.
Content Architecture
Category
Specification
Functional Logic
Typography
Roboto Mono
Monospaced system designed for high legibility and character variance in low-light, high-stress environments.
Titles
Bold / ALL CAPS
Immediate hierarchy for top-level telemetry categories to break tunnel vision.
Data
Reg / Sentence Case
High-readability labels for real-time depth, pressure, and coordinate values.
Tags
Wide letter-spacing
Prevents visual crowding of secondary metrics during monotonous 12-hour shifts.
Color Architecture

Each color was chosen for functional visibility, not aesthetics — high-contrast accents that preserve night vision in darkened control rooms and surface critical data without demanding active attention.

Error
Reserved exclusively for critical failure states and snag detection — seen once, never ignored.
Active
Confirms verified flight path and autopilot status — green means the ROV is flying clean.
Accent
Secondary telemetry surface for latency monitoring — calm enough to read continuously, distinct enough to locate instantly.
Primary
Mechanical strain and power management — warm enough to signal attention without triggering alarm.
Background
Deep navy operational canvas — absorbs ambient light, eliminates glare, and keeps the pilot's eyes on the feed.
ROV Slide 3

I converted the raw AI concept into a scalable technical blueprint where a token-based constraint system ensures the Persistent HUD remains anchored and unclipped across varying aspect ratios. This architecture guarantees that even under extreme vessel motion or hardware swaps, critical safety data is never obscured. This random prompt was very challenging, there is alot to learn about transitioning a interface from a decorative concept into a high-reliability operational tool.