Product Designer @ Anduril | Sept 2023 - Nov 2024

Anduril Lattice

Designing end-to-end features for Lattice, Anduril’s core software platform, to transform military capabilities by autonomously managing complex assets

As part of a mighty and growing design team at Anduril, I had the privilege of designing as a means to solve unique problems for many customers, including the Department of Defense (DoD), military branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force), intelligence agencies, and homeland security organizations. During my time at Anduril, I was able to feed my growing knowledge of the defense space and bring my perspective to a diverse family of Lattice products. I've grown exponentially as a designer, working closely with peers at all levels in a high-velocity environment, and strongly encourage fellow designers to explore opportunities in the defense industry!

*Due to confidentiality, I cannot fully disclose details, but here are some highlights.
Check out Anduril's official site below*

Role
Product Designer
UX Researcher

Team
Design + Eng Leads
Product Managers
SW Engineers

Key Methods
User Research
Rapid Prototyping
Design Systems
Usability Testing

Duration
Sept 2023 - Nov 2024

Design Process
Shape Up Method
JUMP TO SOLUTION

CONTEXT

Overview

Anduril's Mission:
Transforming defense capabilities with advanced technology
👩‍💻 My Role

Designing core features for:

Lattice Live COP — Anduril's AI-powered operating system that brings autonomy and C2 (command and control) capabilities for a diverse range of hardware and robots by simplifying complex data and providing a real-time battlespace overview from integrating sensors into a cohesive operating picture in one interface.

Lattice Mesh Network — A mesh network that ensures secure, decentralized data sharing across military platforms, facilitating real-time decision-making by distributing critical information across services, domains, and remote, low-bandwidth environments.

CONTEXT

Background

Anduril's Lattice Live COP (Common Operational Picture) defines the current state of the world in Lattice, serving as a shared framework to describe objects and concepts (entities) that enhance an operator's situational awareness. It provides a common understanding of entities.

Entities are interoperable data structures that power a common operational picture (COP), providing a shared view of the current state of the world to enhance situational awareness and decision-making. They can be tangible, such as drones and vessels, or intangible, like signal detections and visual concepts, and are categorized into 3 main types:

Tracks = uncontrolled contacts like aircraft or signal detections
Assets = operator-controlled entities like Anduril towers
Geo-entities = non-physical locations or zones like training areas

These entities help operators manage and interpret dynamic environments by integrating real-time data across various sources (Anduril Entity Overview).
The Lattice Mesh and the Lattice Live COP work together to provide a unified and real-time view of critical operational data. The Lattice Mesh connects different nodes across a decentralized network, allowing entities—such as sensors or data points—to be published locally and automatically shared across the entire system. This ensures that the Lattice Live COP, which visualizes and aggregates this data, always displays up-to-date and accurate information, enabling real-time decision-making.

Administrators can control which data is distributed to specific nodes, ensuring the right information is available to the right users, enhancing the effectiveness of the Live COP and its ability to reflect the operational landscape (Anduril Entity Overview).

DESIGN

Lattice UI.

Before diving into finalized designs for Lattice, let's take a closer look at key surfaces of the Lattice UI that our users interact with.
** Due to confidentiality, while I cannot fully disclose all designs and processes I've worked on, here are a few highlights of sanitized projects for insight on some cool work I've contributed during my time at Anduril 🔒 **

FINAL PRODUCT 01

Entity Multi-Selection

Multi-selecting and actioning on entities (objects) from the Lattice live COP. Core actions include grouping and bulk editing selected entities.

AREA 01

Entrypoints.

Multi-select Entities by dragging over surfaces like the Objects List on the lefthand side or the Map to activate Multi-Select. Shift ⇧ + Click to add onto current multi-selection.
Entrypoint into Multi-Select via Object List
Entrypoint into Multi-Select via Map

AREA 02

Multi-Selection Panel.

Once entities have been multi-selected, users can view the Multi-Select icon in the left rail sidebar to navigate to the Multi-Selection panel, where one can view all selected entities.
Entrypoint into Multi-Select Panel

AREA 03

Refining Selection.

Once entities have been multi-selected, users can view the Multi-Select icon in the left rail sidebar to navigate to the Multi-Selection panel, where one can view all selected entities.
Refine Selection Bottom Sheet
Leverage dropdown inputs to further filter selected entities listed in the panel
Confirmation Snackbar
Once changes have been applied, confirmation snackbar is triggered at the top

AREA 04

Bulk Editing.

After selecting desired entities, users can efficiently modify metadata in bulk using the Bulk Action button in the bottom action bar of the Multi-Selection panel.
Bulk Edit Bottom Sheet
Click on 'Bulk Action' button -> 'Bulk Edit Metadata' to change metadata information for all selected entities
Confirmation Snackbar
Once changes have been saved, confirmation snackbar is triggered at the top

AREA 05

Grouping.

Users can also take their selection and create groups to better organize entities or to coordinate a team operations.
Create Group -> New Group Panel
Adding Objects to Current Group
Add Objects Bottom Sheet
Once group has been created, click on the '+' plus icon in the bottom action bar to add more objects / entities to current group
Confirmation Snackbar
Once objects have been successfully added, confirmation snackbar is triggered at the top
Ungrouping Objects
Ungroup Popup Modal
Select the trash icon in the bottom action bar to undo / ungroup objects by confirming action via the popup modal
Confirmation Snackbar
Once objects have been ungrouped, confirmation snackbar is triggered at the top

FINAL PRODUCT 02

Entity Starring

Starring entities of interest for close tracking by adding them to the new starred panel.

AREA 01

Entrypoints.

Star any entity / object via the Object Panels through object core actions or the Map by right-clicking on any visualized object. All starred objects are saved in the Starred Panel.
Starring from Object Panels
Starring via Object List / Cards
Hover over an object card to access core actions and star the object
Starring via Object Details Panel
Star an object using the top action bar in the object details panel. Click an object card to open its details panel
Starring from Map
Starring via Map Object
Right-click on a map object to open the context menu and star.

AREA 02

Starred Panel.

Once entities have been multi-selected, users can view the Multi-Select icon in the left rail sidebar to navigate to the Multi-Selection panel, where one can view all selected entities.
Entrypoint into Multi-Select Panel

REFLECTION

Key Takeaways.

🚀👊 Cultivate a thriving design culture!

Establishing a close-knit, fun design culture is essential! I enjoyed our fortnightly design critiques, where the team gathered to share project updates, gain broader company context, but also get more face-time with one another. In a fast-paced environment, it’s easy to get consumed by work, but team bonding and creative exercises are just as important. Some of my favorite memories come from our "mandatory-fun design workshops," which remind us why we love what we do and reinforced our commitment to supporting each other’s growth.

✍️💬 Keep everyone informed every step of the way

I've learned that providing frequent design status updates isn’t just valuable for your direct manager—it benefits the entire team (engineers, product managers, etc). This transparency fosters open conversations that ultimately strengthen the work you do. Whether it leads to questions, feedback, or new ideas, keeping everyone informed ensures alignment and collaboration, helping us all push toward building great products.

🗣️🗣️ Know how to articulate your work - they make or break your work!

I remember a brown-bag session on the art of presenting and articulating design work that really stood out to me. Designers often focus on explaining their process and showcasing high-fidelity designs, but I’ve come to realize that strong storytelling is just as crucial. Clearly defining the problem space and backing up design decisions with evidence not only strengthens your work but also demonstrates thoughtfulness and impact when bringing a product over the finish line.