Company:
Atech S/A | Embraer Group

Type of project:
Establishing a User-Centered Design Team and Processes

Outcome / Output:

• 70% cost savings in project expenses and 45% reduction in development costs
• 25% increase in delivery acceleration
• 25% reduction in support calls, leading to a 5% profit increase
• Reduced average time without direct user interaction from 69 days to 3 days
• Launched 9 strategic products

Date:
February 2015 – July 2019 (4.5 years)

Role: Head of UX

I began by taking an operational role, leading strategic projects to demonstrate the value of user-centered design, creating specialized roles and clear career paths.

My contributions included:

• Developing a flexible process model to support both agile methodologies in B2B projects and more traditional approaches in defense and air traffic management (ATM).
• Leading the creation of the first Design System to ensure visual consistency and improve delivery efficiency.
• Restructuring B2B, defense, and ATM product families, directly impacting how solutions were developed and marketed.
• Collaborating with the marketing team to define product promotion strategies for events and fairs.
• Launching the company’s new website and partnering with external agencies on branding initiatives.
• Establishing the UX Coffee, an internal forum for knowledge sharing and discussion, while representing the team at industry events and strengthening Atech’s image to attract talent.

Lack of User Focus:

The company’s engineering-driven culture excluded users from the development process. Comments like “The user will use what we deliver” reflected this neglect.

Absence of a UX Team:

No dedicated design professionals or UX structure existed to support user-centered solutions.

Traditional Development Processes:

Conservative methodologies excluded co-creation, usability testing, and continuous feedback.

Adapting to the B2B Market:

Entering markets like Petrobras and Vale demanded elevated usability and quality standards.

Inconsistent Processes:

Existing workflows lacked optimization, impacting product quality and customer satisfaction.

Structuring and Scaling the UX Team: Grew the UX team from 1 to 18 members, developing specialized roles and clear career paths.

Establishing User Interaction Consistency: Implemented the User Contact Dashboard, reducing average time without user interaction from 69 to 3 days and promoting continuous validation.

Creating a Design System: Developed Atech’s first Design System, ensuring visual consistency and efficiency while reducing project delivery time by 25%.

Redesigning Complex Products: Redesigned critical systems like OPMET and Sigma, cutting message execution time by 76% and significantly improving operational efficiency.

Launching New Products: Delivered 9 innovative products, including Cosmos (remote air traffic control), LES, Arkhe Governance, and data analytics solutions.

Achieving UX Maturity: After two years, Atech reached Level 3 in the Keikendo Model, reflecting successful UX implementation and growing user involvemen

Understanding Business Goals (Why): Aligning design solutions with the company’s strategic needs.

Building the Right Team (Who): Recruiting skilled professionals tailored to the business context and initiatives.

Establishing Effective Processes (How): Optimizing workflows to deliver high-quality, user-focused solutions.

Conducted strategic mapping and board engagement to reposition design as a cornerstone of product development.

Launched 9 new products, including Cosmos and Arkhe Governance.

Restructured B2B, defense, and ATM product families to improve coherence and sales effectiveness.

Adapted the Block Management Model to support agile B2B projects and structured approaches in defense and ATM.

Guided discovery and development using the Double Diamond framework and introduced OKRs to measure UX impact.

Led the development of the first Design System, boosting team productivity by 25%.

Team Development:

I initially worked hands-on in projects like OPMET and Sigma, demonstrating the value of UX before scaling the team. Later, I expanded the team from 1 to 18 members, creating specialized roles, including UX designers, UI designers, information architects, and front-end developers.

Career Tracks:

I established clear career paths and implemented a more efficient recruitment process by developing detailed job descriptions and defining team needs.

Integration with Sales and Engineering:

To ensure UX success from the start of projects, I closely collaborated with technical sales and engineering teams, integrating design into the early stages of project planning. This also improved internal communication and reinforced the perception of design as a strategic function.

Creation of UX Café:

I launched the UX Café, an internal forum promoting workshops and discussions about UX best practices, educating the organization on the importance of user-centered design.

Training and Industry Presentations:

I participated in internal training sessions and industry events, showcasing our work and strengthening the company’s reputation in the market. This also helped position Atech as an attractive destination for design talent.

Collaboration with Marketing:

I contributed to defining the product experience for exhibitions and events, while also spearheading the launch of Atech’s new website. I worked directly with external vendors on branding and manual creation.

Enhancing the Atech Brand:

These partnerships, combined with strategic UX integration, elevated Atech’s visibility in the market and improved its relationship with the Embraer Group.

TUser Engagement: Early usability tests revealed gaps in team alignment, prompting pre-test briefings that improved outcomes and made clients eager for future tests.

Hiring Strategy: Transitioning from UI-focused designers to usability and information architecture specialists ensured success in technical contexts.