Spacetime is a satellite network orchestration platform built by Aalyria to manage high-speed, high-altitude communications across land, sea, air, and space.
Spacetime is a temporospatial software-defined networking (SDN) platform developed by Aalyria to orchestrate high-speed communications across land, sea, air, and space. It enables real-time coordination of directional laser beams and dynamically optimizes link topologies to serve mission-critical needs.
Designing for Spacetime meant designing for the unknown. Operators needed to monitor and manage a global network of rapidly moving,
constantly shifting satellite links—often in high-stakes, time-sensitive situations.
The interface had to distill enormous volumes of technical data into something intuitive,
interactive, and immediately actionable.
To make things more complex, we weren’t just designing for one user type. Spacetime had to support:
Each group needed a different level of insight, from broad situational awareness to detailed time-dependent analysis, without being overwhelmed.
As a UX/UI Designer on the team, I focused on:
I collaborated closely with PMs, engineers, and mission experts to ensure design decisions aligned with real-world needs.
To address the varied needs of different users, we designed a multi-layered interface that allowed operators to zoom in and out of complexity depending on their context. I worked with the team to identify key operator use cases and map them to three layers of interaction:
At this layer, operators needed a quick, holistic view of the entire network. Were all links functional? Were external conditions, like weather or terrain, causing disruptions?
Design Solutions:
Clicking on a node opened an info panel with the most relevant stats and statuses. The goal was to surface what mattered without crowding the interface.
Design Solutions:
Operators needed to investigate and diagnose system behavior, especially when things went wrong. That meant designing for time-based data exploration.
Design Solutions:
Throughout the project, I:
I collaborated closely with PMs, engineers, and mission experts to ensure design decisions aligned with real-world needs.
Supported multiple audiences by designing a layered interface that addressed both real-time operator workflows and demo needs, while laying the foundation for scalable UX in future versions.
Designing for satellite networks taught me how to balance depth with clarity and how to show just enough to be useful, but never too much to be overwhelming. It also challenged me to think about time and space not as abstract concepts, but as crucial parts of interaction design.
This project sharpened my skills in systems thinking, interface hierarchyg, and real-world usability in high-stakes, technical environments.