Marine Defence Engineering
Insights that build better submarines
Project type: MVP
Team: 8
Sprint time: 4 weeks
Project summary
Problem
In marine vessel assembly, if an Engineering Query (EQ) is raised, it’s a slow, manual job to figure out the cause and fix it. Recurring issues meant wasted time and money.
The client wanted to link EQs with Process Instructions (PIs) so engineers could solve problems faster.
Process
Six months after discovery, with key knowledge gaps across the team. I reconnected with stakeholders, stripped away jargon, and asked simple questions to clarify the assistant’s purpose: What do you want to ask? What should it return? I helped the build lead refine the scope, defined the first wave of supported queries, and designed a dashboard tailored to user roles and permissions.
Solution
A secure, multi-modal dashboard that links EQs directly to PIs, lets users query data in plain language, and brings all relevant details into one place.
Impact
Reduced delays in assembly by 20% (average delay dropped from 10 days to 8).
Prevented repeat errors worth an estimated £2M annually.
Improved decision-making speed by 40% (average EQ resolution time dropped from 5 days to 3).
My role
I lead designer working closely with front-end developers and AI engineers.
I gathered requirements, clarified scope, and handled the first two design playbacks with the client, giving the build team time to focus on delivery.
Spoke directly with the client to strip away business jargon and acronyms.
Asked plain questions: What do you want to ask the assistant? What should it answer?
Helped the build lead lock down scope for the pilot.
Defined the queries we would support first.
Designed a dashboard that showed relevant information for each user profile, based on security access.
Represented AI query analysis and data connections clearly in the UI.