Transforming Fire Control
Revolutionizing Missile Defense User Interface
By Sheila Gideon
A Northrop Grumman-led team is modernizing a missile defense user interface (UI) that soldiers rely on daily for fire control, leveraging user experience (UX) design to place America’s warfighters at the center of the process.
"We spent a lot of time getting to know the users, understanding their needs, designing user journeys and validating our designs," said Joe Davis, team lead for the project. "You need to imagine yourself as the warfighter, sitting for 12 hours straight, looking at a sea of data on the screen, and being able to easily and quickly understand what's critical."
A Battle Plan to Mitigate Threats
For America’s warfighters, this user interface supports a key element of integrated, layered homeland defense known as fire control. Fire control is the complex process of incorporating threat information from many sources into a single, actionable view for situational awareness and, if needed, a battle plan to mitigate threats.
"It’s not just about modernizing the system; it’s about getting into the heads of the users, understanding their needs, and establishing a relationship based on mutual trust," said Joe.
Members of the team spent multiple 12-hour shifts on location with the warfighters to best understand their work and environment, with a rigorous focus on their real-world pain points.
This trust wasn't built overnight, said Joe. The team conducted 50 user events over two years, with the Northrop Grumman team leaning on decades of deep mission comprehension. From meeting regularly and conferring with other industry experts, to continuously evaluating and validating their designs, the Northrop Grumman team made the warfighters integral to the design process.
Creating Efficient Tools for the Future Battlefield
“The trust that was built through these efforts enabled honest and relevant feedback from the users. It was essential to demonstrate that we were listening and turning their feedback into real, usable software,” Joe said, noting this regular contact with the warfighters underscored the high stakes of the work.
As initiatives including Golden Dome for America fast-track next-generation missile defense, this is just one example of how Northrop Grumman is creating efficient tools for the future battlefield.
The new UI framework is modern, browser-based, and easy to deploy. It meets industry standards, features a modular design for easy updates, and supports rapid prototyping.
Responsive to all screen sizes, it is fully customizable and can be used across different product lines.
The collaborative efforts and relentless focus on user experience have raised the bar for military UI design, promising a safer and more efficient battlefield for future warfighters.
“We're not just designing a modern UI; we're fostering a collaborative environment where the warfighters know they are heard and valued. It's about creating a future battlefield where technology serves them effectively and efficiently,” Joe said.