ECS: Electronic Communication System

TL;DR

The solution in all its forms

ECS is a streamlined real-time messaging tool designed to enhance communication between pilots and IOC.

Pilot's mobile app

The pilot-facing app they'll use to communicate with the Integrated Operations Center.

Integrated operation center app

The IOC facing webapp that will help schedulers interface with the pilot's requests.

Progressive Webapp

A PWA version of the app pilots have access to just in case.

Overview

Quick communication between pilots and the Integrated Operations Center (IOC) is crucial for smooth operations. However, traditional communication methods often lead to delays, miscommunication, and operational inefficiencies.

Richard Till

Director, Crew Schedule Planning

"Thank you for all your efforts on ECS. Being able to create great user experiences is one thing. Being able to create them in a politically charged environment with all eyes on you is another. Thank you for working with Lextech; for working with the APA; for working with me and my team."

Nuong Lu

Manager, IT Applications

"James, my sincere appreciation of your passion and dedication that you have put into ECS- you intentionally deep dive to broaden your understanding of the crew schedulers and crew trackers. You grasp the complexity of ECS workflow and data structure with ease. Your creativity and practical solution build a top notch set of tools to support ECS within CME."

The Challenge

A Fragmented Communication System

Before ECS, pilots relied on a mix of radio calls, phone conversations, and handwritten messages to relay critical operational updates to IOC teams. This led to a host of issues:

Pilot Frustrations

Delays in message responses frequently caused pilots to actively wait anywhere between 10-15 mins or up to 2hrs before receiving responses from IOC.

Urgent requests (e.g., gate changes, crew schedule modifications, maintenance updates) got buried under non-urgent communications.

Pilots had to wait for verbal confirmations while balancing other cockpit responsibilities.

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Operational Inefficiencies

Miscommunication often resulted in delayed clearances, incorrect crew assignments, and last-minute flight changes.

An estimated 60% of flight delays were linked to inefficient information flow.

IOC teams struggled to prioritize requests without a clear system for urgency levels.

From Research to Implementation

Before designing ECS, I conducted extensive research and design thinking exercises with pilots, IOC teams, and airline operations managers to understand their pain points. Through 50+ user interviews, usability tests, and workflow observations, here's what we found:

Pilots wanted clarity

Processes were confusing. They needed a simple, distraction-free interface that allowed them to send and receive messages with minimal effort.

Usability tests

We conducted tests with pilots to make sure ECS was intuitive and easy to use even with all its nuanced customization capabilites.

Surveys & Interviews

Everyone had an opinion about what we "needed" to build but it was important to keep the teams focused on the big picture.

IOC teams needed organization

They struggled with sorting urgent vs. non-urgent requests, leading to inefficiencies and misprioritization.

Manual processes slowed operations.

Without message history or automation, key information was often lost, requiring repeated clarifications.

Design Approach

Both the pilots and IOC users were going to need different things to help them succeed.

The pilots need immediacy.

Minimal, quick design

optimized interface designed for quick navigation and readability in cockpit environments

Clear communication

Precise language to describe the technical implications of performing key operational tasks

Reducing idle wait time

Giving the pilots a way to stay on top of their requests without having to actively wait.

IOC has different needs.

Prioritization

IOC members need a way to see which operational tasks require immediate attention and which can wait

"Hive-mind-like"

Different schedulers and trackers were going to need to take-on and off-load work as needed to other work groups.

Auditing functionality

Record history, logs, and permission mirrors were critical for the IOC to successfully troubleshoot complications on the field.

The Solution

Pilots are now free!

I designed ECS to replace the outdated communication methods with a structured, digital-first approach that prioritizes clarity, speed, and automation.

Quick one-way communication for pilots

Pilots no longer have to wait in a queue to relay simple information.

Live schedule updates

Quick access to critical info

Freeing up pilots with progress indicators

Pilots could now move on to more impending tasks without having to actively wait by their phones

Transforming Pilot-IOC Communication with ECS