Setting standards for drone training

A web-based utility tool that helps professionals balance work and learning by having a flexible training schedule and track learning activity anytime, anywhere.

Client

Garuda Robotics

Drone startup

Timeframe

6 months to MVP launch in Q3 2020

Team

1 Designer (me), 3 Engineers (🇮🇩 & 🇵🇭), 1 Marketing Executive, 1 Head of Training

Context

With the launch of the new UA (unmanned aircraft) training and licensing framework in Singapore, drone users are urgently seeking to obtain an UA pilot license from CAAS-approved UA Training and Assessment Organisation (UATO) in 9 months before regulations are enforced.

This means that there would be an influx of drone users urgently seeking to obtain an UA pilot license in response to the implementation of new UA regulations.

With the launch of the new UA (unmanned aircraft) training and licensing framework in Singapore, drone users are urgently seeking to obtain an UA pilot license from CAAS-approved UA Training and Assessment Organisation (UATO) in 9 months before regulations are enforced.

This means that there would be an influx of drone users urgently seeking to obtain an UA pilot license in response to the implementation of new UA regulations.

With the launch of the new UA (unmanned aircraft) training and licensing framework in Singapore, drone users are urgently seeking to obtain an UA pilot license from CAAS-approved UA Training and Assessment Organisation (UATO) in 9 months before regulations are enforced.

This means that there would be an influx of drone users urgently seeking to obtain an UA pilot license in response to the implementation of new UA regulations.

Problem

Our training system was not designed to handle a surge in the number of customers who looked to us for training.

Without a digital infrastructure to scale training operations, we’d miss a time-sensitive business opportunity to lead the market and comply with new aviation standards. Internally, it meant rethinking not just the product, but the entire service delivery model.

Key challenge

  • Tight regulatory timelines set by government rollout of licensing

  • Limited manpower to develop and launch a highly polished app

  • Diverse user journeys spanning individual and enterprise training

Our training system was not designed to handle a surge in the number of customers who looked to us for training.

Without a digital infrastructure to scale training operations, we’d miss a time-sensitive business opportunity to lead the market and comply with new aviation standards. Internally, it meant rethinking not just the product, but the entire service delivery model.

Key challenge

  • Tight regulatory timelines set by government rollout of licensing

  • Limited manpower to develop and launch a highly polished app

  • Diverse user journeys spanning individual and enterprise training

Our training system was not designed to handle a surge in the number of customers who looked to us for training.

Without a digital infrastructure to scale training operations, we’d miss a time-sensitive business opportunity to lead the market and comply with new aviation standards. Internally, it meant rethinking not just the product, but the entire service delivery model.

Key challenge

  • Tight regulatory timelines set by government rollout of licensing

  • Limited manpower to develop and launch a highly polished app

  • Diverse user journeys spanning individual and enterprise training

Solution

Business priority: Move from paper-based operation into a digital-first education provider.

Provide a full learning experience by centralizing everything from course registration to assessment — and each step in between, including flexible class management, intuitive grading workflows, and effective progress tracking.

Business priority: Move from paper-based operation into a digital-first education provider.

Provide a full learning experience by centralizing everything from course registration to assessment — and each step in between, including flexible class management, intuitive grading workflows, and effective progress tracking.

Business priority: Move from paper-based operation into a digital-first education provider.

Provide a full learning experience by centralizing everything from course registration to assessment — and each step in between, including flexible class management, intuitive grading workflows, and effective progress tracking.

Impact

  • The team's efforts paid off as CAAS chose us to be Singapore's first CAAS-approved UATO! 

  • Accounted for 30% of the company’s sales revenue 6 months after launch.

  • Reduced monthly customer enquiries by 10%.

My role

As the sole UI/UX designer, I owned the end-to-end experience—from research to design and launch. I coordinated with leadership and training instructor to align business goals, requirements, and project timeline.

As the sole UI/UX designer, I owned the end-to-end experience—from research to design and launch. I coordinated with leadership and training instructor to align business goals, requirements, and project timeline.

As the sole UI/UX designer, I owned the end-to-end experience—from research to design and launch. I coordinated with leadership and training instructor to align business goals, requirements, and project timeline.

What I did

  • End-to end UX / UI design

  • Project management

  • Creation of design system

  • Prototyping

  • Email templates

  • Gather and evaluate user requirements

  • End-to end UX / UI design

  • Project management

  • Creation of design system

  • Prototyping

  • Email templates

  • Gather and evaluate user requirements

  • End-to end UX / UI design

  • Project management

  • Creation of design system

  • Prototyping

  • Email templates

  • Gather and evaluate user requirements

Process

Research insights​

To understand operational pain points, I talked to our instructors and looked into previous trainees’ sentiment on the existing training programs. We discovered that:

  • Instructors want information organised and accessible

  • Trainees desire adaptive training

I mapped out fragmented workflows of existing training system across trainees, instructors, and administrators—revealing systemic inefficiencies where our team spend most of their time with administrative duties like creating invoices, sending reminder text messages, and adjusting schedules to accommodate requests.

User Archetypes

Design guidelines

With these findings in mind, we pinned down the high-level design principles to guide us.

  • Less is more: Be lightweight and reliable enough that loading time would not be compromised while outfield.

  • Tailor to context: Present relevant information that's actionable, offered in the right place at the right time.

Design concept exploration

A few examples of low-fi and production ready design screens for Course Enrolment page. I analysed the pros and cons of the concepts and conducted usability testing to determine the chosen design.

We quickly learned that all participants preferred Exploration B because they found it easy to reconfirm the course they are purchasing despite the course selection page looking wordy.

Design system

I created reusable components to foster a consistent user experience and make it easy to create new screens in the future.

Finished product

Upon launch of the web app, user growth picked up significantly as class capacity was quickly filled and instructors had to create additional classes to meet the high demands.

Flight e-Grading

Instructors can grade multiple trainees in minutes easily without any papers.

Class Scheduling

Trainees can book classes on days that worked best for their schedule.

Centralized administration

Easily manage trainees, classes, and purchase orders on a single platform.

Centralized administration

Easily manage trainees, classes, and purchase orders on a single platform.

Centralized administration

Easily manage trainees, classes, and purchase orders on a single platform.

Key takeaways

How to prioritize critical bug fixes under tight resource constraints to ensure that trainees could complete certification without delay and meet time-sensitive licensing deadlines. Looking back, I should have prioritised the creation of admin dashboard to track key metrics so that it is easier for instructors assess and improve their performance. From this experience, I learned that working in a small cross functional team during COVID-19 and tight timelines was not easy.

Germaine Lee

Germaine Lee

Germaine Lee