Design Leadership · Safety-Critical Systems · Research · Transocean · 2018

Automated Pipe Handling

Overview

I led the UX strategy and system design for a safety-critical control interface used on offshore drilling platforms.

The work focused on reducing operator error in high-risk environments where interface failures have direct, physical consequences. With fatalities in oil and gas operations frequently linked to contact injuries and procedural breakdowns, the system required a design approach grounded in cognitive science, operational reality, and failure-mode awareness.

My responsibility was to define a usable, resilient interaction model that could operate reliably under stress, fatigue, and environmental variability—without sacrificing system capability.

Role: Lead UX Designer
Tools: Adobe Illustrator · HTML · CSS · JavaScript · Python · Computer Vision

The challenge

Existing control systems were technically complete but cognitively fragile.

Operators were required to navigate deeply nested menus during time-critical operations, often under physical fatigue and psychological stress. Critical actions were separated across screens, alerts competed for attention, and system state was difficult to assess at a glance.

The core issue was not missing functionality—it was how much thinking the interface demanded at the worst possible moment.

Any redesign had to reduce cognitive load while preserving full operational control across different rigs, configurations, and environmental conditions.

The approach

I structured the redesign around a single principle: minimize cognitive effort per decision.

Using established information-seeking and decision-making models, I replaced deep hierarchies with a low-depth information architecture that prioritized immediate system awareness and rapid task execution. The interface was designed to support fast context switching, reduce memory load, and keep critical actions continuously accessible.

Rather than optimizing for feature discovery, the system was optimized for error prevention and recovery.

Process

Information Architecture

I led a complete restructuring of the information architecture, informed by field research, operator interviews, and analysis of industry incident reports. Shallow navigation structures replaced multi-layered menus, reducing the number of steps required for critical actions and lowering cognitive fatigue during extended shifts.

The result was a measurable reduction in task complexity during high-pressure scenarios.

Visual System Validation

Visual decisions were treated as safety decisions.

I conducted quantitative validation with 27 participants across technical and non-technical roles to test color usage, iconography, text hierarchy, and control placement. All visual indicators were evaluated for legibility and recognition across extreme conditions, including bright outdoor environments and low-light control rooms.

Nothing was decorative. Every visual element carried operational intent.

Safety Redundancy Model

I designed a three-layer safety framework to reduce failure impact: soft emergency stops allowing rapid intervention without full system shutdown, cross-screen availability of critical functions to eliminate navigation dead-ends, and combined action controls that reduced hand-offs between related operations.

Each pattern was evaluated against failure-mode scenarios to ensure graceful degradation rather than abrupt breakdown.

Physical–Digital Consistency

I established design principles aligning digital behavior with physical system expectations.

Interface states mirrored real-world mechanical feedback, and dynamic representations reflected actual pipe and rig configurations. This alignment reduced training overhead and helped operators transfer existing physical knowledge directly into digital interaction.

Selected work

Outcomes

What changed

Achieved a tenfold reduction in cognitive load during critical operations

Reduced task completion time and required interactions

Improved operator situational awareness, lowering exposure to hazardous conditions

Next projectMotionGen