2017 - 2020 • AirbusAiding disaster relief with geospatial data and machine learning
Disaster Relief / B2B SaaS / End-to-End Design
Airbus’s first enterprise SaaS platform combining satellite, aerial, and drone imagery for post-disaster response.
Project duration
MVP: ~9 months
Evolution: 3 years
Role
Product design (First Designer), Research
Team
Product manager, Geospatial Engineers (x4), Software Engineers (x4), QA Engineer
Tools
Sketch, InVision, Abstract, FullStory, Miro, JIRA/Confluence
2017-2018 marked a critical inflection point in climate-driven disasters, with unprecedented hurricane and wildfire activity overwhelming traditional insurance response systems.
As Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria battered the Gulf Coast in rapid succession and historic wildfires consumed California communities, insurers faced more than $200B in damaged or destroyed property, loss of life, and a new sobering reality: their fragmented, manual workflows couldn't scale to meet the new normal of disaster frequency and severity.
Against this backdrop of mounting climate urgency and strained response capabilities, President/CEO Jesse Kallman founded Airbus Aerial and set out to fundamentally reimagine aerial imagery collection and geospatial data analysis through a unified platform that could dramatically compress the timeline from disaster to recovery.
Context
Fragmented imagery sources and manual workflows created a critical efficiency bottleneck and delayed help to displaced policyholders.
Problem
As insurance companies attempted to respond to unprecedented damage and massive loss of property, multiple obstacles limited their ability to mount an effective response:
Manual correlation between policy locations and disaster imagery
Weather-dependent satellite imagery limiting response capabilities
Multiple disconnected systems requiring duplicate data entry
Lack of real-time visibility into field operations
Solution
My approach was to craft a cohesive product strategy that would bring to life the president’s vision of a unified platform integrating diverse imagery sources with detailed inspection workflows. This would increase CAT Response Managers ability to efficiently assess damage, prioritize resources, and dramatically reduce claims processing time. The Aerial Disaster Response platform consisted of three interconnected components:
Aerial Data Portal: Enabling customers to define areas of interest, order imagery, and visualize policies against ML-generated damage maps
Aerial Services Portal: Coordinating satellite, aerial, and drone imagery collection and fulfillment
Inspections & Reporting: Focused property inspection workflow enabling insurance adjusters to quickly process claims and generate reports with imagery evidence
The Problem
Reduction claims processing time
Faster end-to-end process reduced disaster-to-claims resolution time from 3-4 weeks to just 3-5 days.
-85%
Business Impact
Reduction in recovery operation expenditures
Streamlined coordination between office-based CAT Response Managers and claims adjusters in the field conducting property inspections.
$40 million
Increase in properties assessed per day
Optimized resource allocation by fusing customer policy data with damage maps and additional supporting geospatial imagery and data, reducing the amount of time families were displaced.
3x
Research & Discovery
How might we enable insurers to rapidly assess and respond to catastrophic events, helping displaced families return home sooner while optimizing operational resources?
Market context and opportunity
The catastrophic events of 2017-2018 exposed critical gaps in the $200B insurance industry's disaster response capabilities. Traditional workflows relied on satellite imagery - vulnerable to cloud cover and limited in resolution - or claims adjusters on foot conducting inspections with mobile phones and cameras, creating an average 3-4 week timeline from disaster to claim resolution.
Initial research identified a significant opportunity to combine Airbus's unparalleled access to satellite imagery with the rising use of drone photography by insurers and third-party contractors. This positioned Airbus Aerial to create an end-to-end solution integrating multi-source imagery, geospatial analytics, and insurance operations; dramatically compressing response timelines while reducing costs for both insurers and their policyholders.
Understanding customer behavior
Initiated and led nearly all quantitative and qualitative research efforts, including customer observation, interviews, findings synthesis and presentation, product discovery workshops, and usability tests with high-fidelity prototypes (Sketch/InVision).
Conducted onsite interviews with CAT Response Managers and Claims Adjusters across 3 major insurance companies.
Analyzed existing workflows, revealing the reliance upon multiple disconnected systems to triage and file claims.
Documented multiple customer journeys, from disaster to claim payment.
CAT Response Manager
Motivation: Coordinating efficient response to minimize policyholder displacement
Behavior: Manages response teams and prioritizes resources
Pain Points: Limited visibility, weather-dependent imagery, fragmented systems
Design Considerations: Need integrated view of policies and damage assessment
Claims Adjuster
Motivation: Completing accurate assessments efficiently
Behavior: Field-based operations with limited connectivity
Pain Points: Incomplete information, manual documentation processes
Design Considerations: Mobile-friendly interface, offline capability
Geospatial Engineer
Motivation: Delivering accurate analytics to support decision-making
Behavior: Works with complex imagery and runs specialized analyses
Pain Points: Data quality inconsistency, processing bottlenecks
Design Considerations: Need specialized tools for ML-assisted analytics
Customer Peronas
Direct Observation
Key to informing my approach were several rounds of field research at multiple insurance headquarters, directly observing CAT Response Managers and Claims Adjusters processing property damage claims.
This strategic research revealed system fragmentation and workflow inefficiencies, providing me with compelling evidence to develop a strategic approach to addressing the most critical pain points in the disaster response and claims processing workflows.
Customer Journey • CAT Response Manager
Strategic Approach
Explorations
Integrate multi-source imagery with insurance workflows in a unified platform, removing silos between imagery acquisition and property inspections.
Service Design: Mapping the experience with a service blueprint was my first step towards creating alignment and defining a cohesive product strategy and user experience.
For Design, the blueprint's visualization of the entire service ecosystem clearly illustrated where the needs of various user types intersect.
For Engineering, the blueprint helped them see beyond their immediate technical focus to understand how their work connected to satellite tasking, drone flight operations and the broader customer experience.
For Leadership, the blueprint provided a framework for making strategic decisions about feature prioritization.
⭐️ Design Leadership: Managing Complexity Through Service Design ⭐️
As Airbus Aerial's first designer, I worked directly with sales, product management, and engineering from end-to-end to launch the MVP product.
Faced with the deep complexity of our problem space - multiple user types, interconnected workflows, and diverse operational contexts - I created a service blueprint artifact to enhance clarity and create alignment.
This approach provided our team with a critical tool to visualize and manage the complexity of our ecosystem, ensuring we maintained a coherent experience across touchpoints.
I facilitated collaborative workshops using the blueprint to:
Map the complete journey across our interconnected products
Identify integration opportunities that would deliver outsized user value
Ensure our small team maintained a shared understanding of the entire experience
Workflows: Visualizing and Architecting Complex Systems
We were tackling a multi-faceted problem that touched numerous user types across multiple connected systems.
The blueprint, workflows, and information architecture sitemaps helped me break down many complex problems and revealed key opportunities for tight integration between the Aerial Data Portal and ASP. This created a foundation for shared understanding throughout all product and business functions.
Product Definition and Roadmap
Phase 1:
Establish core infrastructure connecting imagery ordering with acquisition and fulfillment:
Aerial Data Portal (ADP): Customer-facing map interface enabling CAT Response Managers to define Areas of Interest (AOIs) and order imagery packages
Aerial Services Portal (ASP): Back-end system connecting customer orders to satellite tasking and drone assignment
Basic policy visualization: Tools for overlaying policyholder location data on acquired imagery
Phase 2:
Expand the platform's analytical capabilities:
Damage assessment visualization: Initial implementation of damage classification and visualization
Advanced filtering and prioritization: Capabilities for identifying and sorting properties by damage severity
Phase 3:
Integrate Claims Management System and advanced geospatial analytics:
Fusion Analytics: Enhanced policy correlation with machine learning algorithms for analyzing policies against damage patterns
Property Inspection and Reporting: Focused inspection mode enabling adjusters to take precise measurements using photos and 3D models, automatically incorporating this evidence into comprehensive claims reports
Claims Management Systems: Secure API connection to insurers' existing claims infrastructure
Solutions
For launch we introduced a unified ordering system for satellite, aerial, and drone imagery while also supporting basic visualization of insurance policies in a map-based interface.
Design Goal: Rapid Disaster Assessment
The Aerial Data portal (ADP) provided a unified imagery ordering system for satellite, aerial and drone imagery. A simple - but bold - call to action surfaced a streamlined workflow offering customizable imagery and data packages for order.
For CAT Response Managers, the basemap, layered Workspace, and imagery comparison tools enabled near real-time tracking of the CAT event as it unfolded, reducing uncertainty in allocating claims adjusters.
For Claims Adjusters, claims policy upload and “Fusion Analytics” automated damage classification helped them prioritize property inspections by severity.
Design Goal: Imagery Acquisition & Fulfillment
The Aerial Services Portal (ASP) was the critical connecting point of the platform. I advocated for and designed a multi-role dashboard serving the needs of multiple users.
For third-party Drone Vendors, the ASP enabled efficient management of mission requests, pilots, and drone hardware.
For Drone Pilots, the ASP enabled quick task completion through integration with FAA flight restrictions monitoring and drone flight clearance requests.
For Geospatial Engineers, the ASP translated customer-defined Areas of Interest (AOIs) into optimized tasking plans for multiple imagery sources and automated the imagery ingestion and fulfillment processes.
Initial Impact
+8
Enterprise customers onboarded, Year 1
Customer response to our initial offering validated market demand.
-44%
Reduction in imagery acquisition time
By exposing multiple sources of imagery and packaging associated geospatial analytics, we removed weather-dependent delays and drastically reduced the time needed for CAT Response Managers to gain insight into a disaster-affected area.
Product Evolution
We built on the success of the initial platform and undertook a comprehensive redesign to reduce time-to-value and support expansion beyond insurance into multiple industries.
⭐️
Design Leadership:
Elevating Design & Expanding Influence
After successfully launching the MVP as a solo designer, I led the hiring process for our second designer and established design operations for the growing team. I mentored and managed the new designer while implementing structured feedback and iteration processes that increased our collective efficiency.
These initiatives elevated design's influence within the organization, creating sustainable design practices that scaled beyond individual contributors and directly enabled our ability to redefine our approach to driving value for insurers.
The Launchpad: Reducing Time To Value
The centerpiece of our redesign was the new Launchpad experience - a strategic reimagining of how users accessed high-value product features.
Surfaced critical workflows and data from within Inspections, Reports, and Workspaces, removing barriers and decision points
Reduced navigation complexity while increasing feature discoverability
Created personalized entry points based on user roles and common tasks
Focused Workflows: Property Inspections and Claims Reporting
Focused inspection mode enabling adjusters to take precise measurements using photos and 3D models, automatically incorporating this evidence into comprehensive claims reports
Integrated measurement tools allowing adjusters to calculate damage extent directly from imagery
One-click report generation with pre-populated damage assessments and supporting evidence
Desktop uploader for processing batches of field photos with automatic policy association
Seamless synchronization with Claims Management Systems through secure API connections
Scalable Design: Accelerating Product To Market
Working collaboratively with the junior designer, we developed a robust design system that would serve as the foundation for both current needs and future growth. Rather than optimizing solely for our current use case, I advocated for a more extensible approach that would position us for future market expansion.
A comprehensive type scale that created clear information hierarchy
A library of reusable and scalable interface components
A cohesive color system that supported both data visualization and UI elements
Custom iconography that communicated complex geospatial concepts at a glance
Business Impact
Airbus Aerial helped insurers streamline fragmented systems and property inspections, ultimately helping families return home sooner after a catastrophic natural disaster.
-64%
Reduction in time-to-value for insurers.
By eliminating weather-dependent delays and surfacing crucial inspection and reporting workflows, CAT Response Managers and Claims Adjusters were able to conduct property inspections and resolve claims with the efficiency and speed demanded by the situation.
-21%
Decrease in product development time.
Strategic design leadership directly impacted business growth through thoughtful design systems work, leading to expansion into three new markets: Utilities, Agriculture, and Oil & Gas (OGM).
-85%
Reduction in claims settlement time.
Faster claims resolution not only operational costs for insurers, but also significantly decreased the amount of time families spent displaced. Real-time tracking of imagery/data orders and claims adjuster progress enhanced transparency into claim status and expected resolution time.
+12
Enterprise customers onboarded.
In our first year, we onboarded 6 insurance customers and 2 utility providers. In year two, we added 4 more enterprise customers and further validated market demand.
It's not just about efficiency, it's about human impact.
Behind every policy number was a displaced family. Accelerating the claims resolution process meant getting people back in their homes faster.
Designing for crisis situations requires extreme clarity.
The high-pressure context of disaster response meant every interface needed to be immediately understandable with minimal training.
What did I learn? 🧐