General Electric - R&D prototypes for GE's UX Center of Excellence

General Electric is a multinational conglomerate that operates through many segments: aviation, healthcare, etc. For a year, I was a contract designer for GE’s UX Center of Excellence (UX CoE) at GE Digital's headquarters.

Predix is GE’s software platform for the collection and analysis of data from industrial machines. At the beginning of my involvement, Predix (then called Gia) was still at the R&D phase. The focus was on blue-sky thinking and coming up with a vision for the future of Big Data at GE. Our first goal was to enrich the keynote speech for GE’s Minds + Machines conference, to be presented by GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt.

I was the sole UI and visual designer for Predix’s initial proof-of-concept prototype.

Gia took the form of an iPad app. We crafted a storyline showcasing an engaging use case of Predix: Excessive vibration is detected on an aircraft engine while in flight. Even before the plane lands, the technician starts analyzing the data and planning a response. Once on the ground, flight data, fault logs, diagnostic tools, checklists, and useful resources like spare parts order forms and maintenance manuals are at his fingertips.

I designed the interface of the app, including the look and feel and the logo. The app consisted of a browser and collections of cards.

The presentation was so well received that plans were immediately made to build our proof of concept into a real prototype.

I flushed out the design system and interaction models and worked on implementation with engineering.

In parallel, we wanted to demonstrate that Predix could be applied to multiple fields beside aviation. GE Healthcare was our next partner. We selected potential use cases for Predix, such as patient care and hospital bed management.

Today, Predix is a real product.

I was the sole designer for this GE proof-of-concept prototype, from temporary logo to visual and interface design