Engineering - API Platform - B2B
Airbus
Engimart is an API platform designed for 13000 industrial engineers in order to centralise all the information involved in the management of resources, activities and budget.
My Role
UX/UI Product Designer
Duration
2022 - Current
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Google Meet/Sheets/Doc/Slides
Overview
In February 2022, we were given the opportunity to collaborate on designing a centralized platform to streamline Airbus Engineering's business management process, impacting around 13,000 users.
Currently, engineering teams rely on multiple disconnected data sources for critical operations such as activity planning, budget management, resource allocation, and tracking actuals. This fragmentation leads to inefficiencies, delays, and decision-making bottlenecks.
To address these challenges, we designed Engimart, a single source of truth platform accessible on desktop for all engineering teams and stakeholders involved in the business management process.
By eliminating data segregation, Engimart ensures reliable, reusable, and centralized information across different areas. This results in quicker and more effective decision-making in key areas such as activity planning, resource strategy, budget management, and risk and opportunity assessment, ultimately enhancing workflow efficiency and operational effectiveness.
Research
1) Pain points shared by the client
The initial research highlighted key challenges in the engineering business management process at Airbus:
Data silos & segregation: Each area works with its own tools, leading to disconnected and fragmented information.
Limited data accessibility: Users struggle to access up-to-date information, as they must manually search and request data from different areas.
Manual & inefficient workflows: The process relies on manual reconciliation of multiple documents to achieve alignment.
Inconsistent data formats: Different teams use varied document formats, which hinders data convergence and complicates decision-making.
2) Product discovery
We realised that a key step before jumping to conduct extensive research, was to get everybody on the same page, by defining a complete product mapping to comprehend the requirements and interconnections between the different roles in Engimart. As a first step, we needed to collect relevant context from the Product Owner to start understanding the global process and the existing dependencies.
3) In depth interviews
After a complete product discovery and valuable insights, we could see clearer and decided to move forwards with role based in-depth interviews (13 participants with 5 different roles) to:
Understand their roles and needs.
Understand what tools they are using today, difficulties and expectations.
Validate the initial pain points identified by Airbus.
Design
To ensure a seamless and user-centric design, we followed a structured approach that emphasized continuous user engagement, cross-functional collaboration, and the integration of a standardized design system while addressing specific needs:
Continuous user involvement & engagement: Users were actively integrated throughout the design process to ensure their needs and expectations shaped the final product. UX played a pivotal role from initial definition to final validation, reinforcing user motivation and engagement.
Transversal UX collaboration: A cross-functional UX approach was adopted to unify different areas and ensure a seamless user experience. Close collaboration with epic owners allowed for a well-structured and precise definition of each module within Engimart.
Design system integration with custom adaptations: The new design system was implemented across all newly designed screens, aligning the platform with established guidelines. However, a custom component library was maintained to address specific UX needs not covered by the system, such as nested tables, cards, and advanced filters.
Results
Since the platform is set to launch in 2025, the KPIs should focus on adoption, efficiency, and user satisfaction to evaluate its impact over time. Here are some key metrics to track:
User adoption rate: Percentage of engineering teams actively using the platform within the first 6 months.
Time saved on key processes: Reduction in time spent on planning, budgeting, and resource management.
Reduction in manual work: Number of spreadsheets replaced and decrease in data duplication.
User satisfaction (CSAT): Feedback from surveys on usability and effectiveness.
Collaboration effectiveness: Improvement in cross-team communication and knowledge sharing.
UX Awards within Airbus
We are proud to have received the 3rd place in the Airbus UX Awards during the Design week in 2024, recognizing our efforts in creating a user-centered solution for engineering teams. This achievement highlights the impact of our design approach, and motivates us to continue refining the platform as we prepare for its official launch in 2025.
