GE Aerospace
FlightDeck Activation Hub
Work / GE Aerospace
Sectors
Aerospace & Defense
Enterprise Software
Client
GE Aerospace
Year
2024–Present
Our Roles
Product Strategy
UX Design
Information Architecture
Design System
GE Aerospace engaged Bttr. to modernize the FlightDeck Activation Hub, a mission defining internal SharePoint system used to operationalize behaviors, standards, and continuous improvement across the organization.
The work began under real enterprise constraints—delayed procurement, government grade infrastructure, and zero room for disruption.
Context
This was not a greenfield build
It was a live system, already in use, already politicized, and in the middle of a tenant migration.
Timeline Reality Check
March 28
Initial alignment emails surfaced two blockers immediately—procurement and access. Hardware deployment and SharePoint permissions were gated behind a PO that had not yet cleared. Laptop delivery timelines were uncertain and could not be guaranteed before April.
Despite this, the business expectation was still an April 1 kickoff.
April 1
Fieldglass support was contacted to validate that no configuration or compliance issues would block onboarding once procurement cleared. This allowed the team to eliminate unknowns before access even existed.
The result was a zero idle time ramp once systems unlocked.
What Existed
The structure was strong. The experience was not.
GE Aerospace maintained a FlightDeck Activation Hub organized around three core behaviors: respect for people, continuous improvement, and customer driven execution.
The system housed eight FlightDeck fundamentals including standard work, daily and visual management, value stream management, operating cadences, action planning, problem solving, Five S, and flow and pull.
Each fundamental had its own page with overview content, usage guidance, examples, templates, expert directories, and Smartsheets driven feedback loops.
The Constraint Stack
Design had to work inside the cage
This project ran directly into a non negotiable technical shift. GE Aerospace was migrating SharePoint into GCC High, Microsoft's government cloud, due to military relationships.
Reduced feature set
Stripped visual capabilities
Security driven UI limitations
Unknown migration timeline
No parity with standard enterprise SharePoint
A test site had already been migrated with minimal visual change, signaling that cosmetic redesign alone would fail.
User Reality
High risk, high complexity, zero margin for confusion
FlightDeck Leaders
Who lived in the system
Unofficial FlightDeck Leaders
Who inherited responsibility without training
KPI Owners
Operating at frontline and mid management levels
On top of that, the system needed to support external users including suppliers, customers, and consultants, with no permission model yet defined.
What We Did
We focused on what could be designed independently of access
Instead of waiting on procurement or migration clarity, the work was reframed around certainty.
Audited the full content model and fundamental structure
Designed a reusable visual template system compatible with GCC High constraints
Reworked information architecture to reduce clicks and cognitive load
Prioritized an example and pattern repository over abstract guidance
Planned a permission model that could flex once external access rules were defined
Scoped a technical audit to activate the moment migration timelines were confirmed
Everything was built to survive the environment it would actually live in, not the one people wished they had.
Outcome
By the time access unlocked, the team was not onboarding. They were executing.
While access, hardware, and procurement worked their way through enterprise systems, the project advanced without losing a week.
Rather than stall momentum, leadership alignment, staffing plans, and scope clarity were delivered upfront so procurement could move in parallel with strategy.
This is what enterprise work actually looks like.
Constraints first. Clarity second. Design that survives reality.
Client
GE Aerospace
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Sector
Aerospace & Defense
Enterprise Software
Team
Donny Smith
Chris Johns
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