Accelerating the future of aviation
The FSS is a highly reconfigurable modular flight simulator in which pilots can explore the potential impact on future flight decks from near-term changes, such as smarter, more autonomous engines and revolutionary technologies, such as electric, fuel cells and hybrid propulsion.
Our Process
Inspiration
We immersed ourselves in the complex service ecosystem at Rolls-Royce, observing engineers and mapping workflows to uncover critical friction points.
Concepting
Key insights shaped a clear design opportunity to unify disconnected tools, leading to collaborative ideation of future service system concepts.
Iteration
We rapidly prototyped and tested multi-level interface solutions with end-users, refining clarity, flow, and system trust through real-world feedback.
Discovery
Identifying key pain points in pilot decision making workflow, and creating a future-facing, integrated system that enhances decision-making, efficiency, and trust across the entire service lifecycle.
Why were B17 pilots retracting landing gear (causing damage), but C47 pilots were not?
The look and feel of these two controls were almost exactly the same and they were in very close proximity. Simply changing the feel of the controls fixed the issue.
Very subtle changes in the way information and feedback is presented to the pilot can have a profound impact on their performance.
Control of an aircraft today is essentially about decision-making based on the information available. While automation has helped to reduce a pilot’s workload. A vast majority of decision-making takes place at an automatic level by the aircraft.
Solution
FSS all touch-screen interface explores future display and interaction possibilities. Without the presence of physical controls, all-new interactions had to be designed and tested. Wireframing the cockpit layouts and various conditions allowed us to test all possible options.
