HaloCortex
Redesigning & rebranding a suite of AI data analytic tools & military-based LLM to incorporate better brand presence, usability, & accessibility, allowing for new government contracts & an increase in sales
The user experience lacked end-to-end cohesion and accessibility. There was a misalignment in branding with the parent company’s brand rather than the overarching brand. I redesigned the user journey to reduce click-off rates, increase retention, and increase accessibility, allowing for an increase in contract sales.
UI/UX Design
Branding
Accessibility design
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Senior Director Fullstack & QA Engineers Senior Analyst
YEAR
2023-2024
Summary
Scraawl, now HaloCortex, is a data analytic platform under BlueHalo’s product portfolios that focuses on analyzing public information with AI to find insights from images and videos to text documents. The newest product rollout was called OSINT Analytics where the main feature was an LLM that could assist in analyzing data and writing open source information reports (OSIR).
As the lead designer on this productization and commercialization initiative, I was responsible for auditing and refining the user experience. The platform was built by integrating multiple AI data engines but lacked a user-centric foundation. With only a few months before launch, limited engineering resources, and a tight scope, I needed to prioritize high-impact, low-effort design changes that would improve usability and align with BlueHalo’s brand vision.
It's a ball, it's a plane—no, it's... a flaming hedgehog?
From the outset, the HaloCortex platform presented several UX and branding challenges:
Lack of Cohesion: The fragmented user experience made navigation cumbersome, leading to high click-off rates and lower retention.
Branding Misalignment: A flaming hedgehog logo created brand confusion and failed to align with BlueHalo’s identity.
Usability Constraints: The interface overwhelmed users with cognitive overload, poor accessibility, and inconsistent UI elements.
Understanding the Landscape: Research and Analysis
2. User Interviews: Engaging directly with security analysts to uncover pain points, workflows, and unmet needs.
3. UX Audit & Heuristic Analysis: Mapping site architecture, conducting cognitive walkthroughs, and identifying friction points within the existing platform.
Comp #2
Comp #3
Key Findings: Prioritizing the Most Critical Fixes
From my analysis, I identified five high-impact areas that required immediate attention:
1. Site Header – Overloaded with unnecessary tiers, causing cognitive overload.
Design Strategy: A Human-Centered, Feasibility-Driven Approach
Design Strategy: A Human-Centered, Feasibility-Driven Approach
Execution & Collaboration: Driving the Redesign Forward
To ensure a smooth implementation, I:
• Created a detailed UI/UX handoff with design documentation for engineers. • Worked closely with QA Engineers to validate accessibility and interaction improvements. • Managed an intern, guiding them in research synthesis, design tasks, and prototype creation. • Presented stakeholder buy-in decks to secure executive support for key design changes. • Worked closely with QA Engineers to validate accessibility and interaction improvements. • Managed an intern, guiding them in research synthesis, design tasks, and prototype creation. • Presented stakeholder buy-in decks to secure executive support for key design changes.
As we entered the final stages of design, I identified three major recommendations that needed special attention: 1. Site Header: The first decision I made was focused on reducing user’s cognitive overload with the header. I utilized the AI platform, Attention Insight, to take a look at where users had cognitive issues going through all of the decisions. The header was overloaded with multiple tiers, did not have a clear hierachy, and was convoluted with options for completing a task.
2. The second decision I focused on was improving the accessibility of the platform, particularly within the network and geo graphs. Users struggled with text contrast, darkness levels, and overall usability. The geo graph, in particular, posed challenges in terms of readability and interaction. To address this, I considered: • Data-Ink Ratio: Following Tufte’s principle of minimizing excessive decoration in visual displays, I aimed to reduce unnecessary elements—what he refers to as “chart chunk”—to ensure that every visual component served a purpose. • Essential Requirements: I evaluated the minimum set of visual elements necessary to communicate information effectively without compromising clarity or function. • Layout and Search Integration: By refining layout options and incorporating a search bar, I improved accessibility and streamlined workflows, allowing users to quickly locate specific areas or addresses.
3. Network Graph: Clarified connections and meaning through consistent color use and layout adjustments.
Final Prototype: The Evolution into HaloCortex
With these refinements, HaloCortex emerged as a sleek, user-friendly, and mission-ready platform, well-aligned with BlueHalo’s strategic goals.
Lessons from the Transformation
This project reinforced the importance of strategic prioritization, cross-functional collaboration, and user-centered design in enterprise AI products. 1. Maximizing Impact with Limited Resources • Focusing on high-impact, low-effort design changes ensured meaningful improvements within tight constraints. 2. The Power of Stakeholder Alignment • Navigating cross-functional teams and executive buy-in was key to driving design changes at scale. 3. Trust and Transparency in AI Products • AI can be perceived as a black box. Educating users about how AI-driven insights are generated fosters trust and credibility, even in the smallest tooltip or informational modal.
Closing the Halo
The transformation of Scraawl into HaloCortex was more than just a rebranding; it was a strategic overhaul that prioritized usability, accessibility, and business impact. By utilizing strategic UX interventions, and brand cohesion, the team and I refactored a platform that will enhance the analyst workflow. This was also the first time I was able to looking into AI/LLM design and it was interesting how there aren't a lot of military-based LLM softwares out there. Who knows, it may be an underdeveloped market.
WORK
Stick around and take a look
Stick around and take a look
VigilantHalo Interactive Training
UI/UX Design
3D Design
User Research
VigilantHalo Interactive Training
UI/UX Design
3D Design
User Research
Titan Drone Education
UI/UX Design
User Research
Market Analysis
Titan Drone Education
UI/UX Design
User Research
Market Analysis
HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
IN MIND?
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
HaloCortex
Redesigning & rebranding a suite of AI data analytic tools & military-based LLM to incorporate better brand presence, usability, & accessibility, allowing for new government contracts & an increase in sales
The user experience lacked end-to-end cohesion and accessibility. There was a misalignment in branding with the parent company’s brand rather than the overarching brand. I redesigned the user journey to reduce click-off rates, increase retention, and increase accessibility, allowing for an increase in contract sales.
UI/UX Design
Branding
Accessibility design
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Senior Director Fullstack & QA Engineers Senior Analyst
YEAR
2023-2024
Summary
Scraawl, now HaloCortex, is a data analytic platform under BlueHalo’s product portfolios that focuses on analyzing public information with AI to find insights from images and videos to text documents. The newest product rollout was called OSINT Analytics where the main feature was an LLM that could assist in analyzing data and writing open source information reports (OSIR).
As the lead designer on this productization and commercialization initiative, I was responsible for auditing and refining the user experience. The platform was built by integrating multiple AI data engines but lacked a user-centric foundation. With only a few months before launch, limited engineering resources, and a tight scope, I needed to prioritize high-impact, low-effort design changes that would improve usability and align with BlueHalo’s brand vision.
It's a ball, it's a plane—no, it's... a flaming hedgehog?
From the outset, the HaloCortex platform presented several UX and branding challenges:
Lack of Cohesion: The fragmented user experience made navigation cumbersome, leading to high click-off rates and lower retention.
Branding Misalignment: A flaming hedgehog logo created brand confusion and failed to align with BlueHalo’s identity.
Usability Constraints: The interface overwhelmed users with cognitive overload, poor accessibility, and inconsistent UI elements.
Understanding the Landscape: Research and Analysis
2. User Interviews: Engaging directly with security analysts to uncover pain points, workflows, and unmet needs.
3. UX Audit & Heuristic Analysis: Mapping site architecture, conducting cognitive walkthroughs, and identifying friction points within the existing platform.
Comp #2
Comp #3
Key Findings: Prioritizing the Most Critical Fixes
From my analysis, I identified five high-impact areas that required immediate attention:
1. Site Header – Overloaded with unnecessary tiers, causing cognitive overload.
Design Strategy: A Human-Centered, Feasibility-Driven Approach
Execution & Collaboration: Driving the Redesign Forward
To ensure a smooth implementation, I:
• Created a detailed UI/UX handoff with design documentation for engineers. • Worked closely with QA Engineers to validate accessibility and interaction improvements. • Managed an intern, guiding them in research synthesis, design tasks, and prototype creation. • Presented stakeholder buy-in decks to secure executive support for key design changes. • Worked closely with QA Engineers to validate accessibility and interaction improvements. • Managed an intern, guiding them in research synthesis, design tasks, and prototype creation. • Presented stakeholder buy-in decks to secure executive support for key design changes.
As we entered the final stages of design, I identified three major recommendations that needed special attention: 1. Site Header: The first decision I made was focused on reducing user’s cognitive overload with the header. I utilized the AI platform, Attention Insight, to take a look at where users had cognitive issues going through all of the decisions. The header was overloaded with multiple tiers, did not have a clear hierachy, and was convoluted with options for completing a task.
2. The second decision I focused on was improving the accessibility of the platform, particularly within the network and geo graphs. Users struggled with text contrast, darkness levels, and overall usability. The geo graph, in particular, posed challenges in terms of readability and interaction. To address this, I considered: • Data-Ink Ratio: Following Tufte’s principle of minimizing excessive decoration in visual displays, I aimed to reduce unnecessary elements—what he refers to as “chart chunk”—to ensure that every visual component served a purpose. • Essential Requirements: I evaluated the minimum set of visual elements necessary to communicate information effectively without compromising clarity or function. • Layout and Search Integration: By refining layout options and incorporating a search bar, I improved accessibility and streamlined workflows, allowing users to quickly locate specific areas or addresses.
3. Network Graph: Clarified connections and meaning through consistent color use and layout adjustments.
Final Prototype: The Evolution into HaloCortex
With these refinements, HaloCortex emerged as a sleek, user-friendly, and mission-ready platform, well-aligned with BlueHalo’s strategic goals.
Lessons from the Transformation
This project reinforced the importance of strategic prioritization, cross-functional collaboration, and user-centered design in enterprise AI products. 1. Maximizing Impact with Limited Resources • Focusing on high-impact, low-effort design changes ensured meaningful improvements within tight constraints. 2. The Power of Stakeholder Alignment • Navigating cross-functional teams and executive buy-in was key to driving design changes at scale. 3. Trust and Transparency in AI Products • AI can be perceived as a black box. Educating users about how AI-driven insights are generated fosters trust and credibility, even in the smallest tooltip or informational modal.
Closing the Halo
The transformation of Scraawl into HaloCortex was more than just a rebranding; it was a strategic overhaul that prioritized usability, accessibility, and business impact. By utilizing strategic UX interventions, and brand cohesion, the team and I refactored a platform that will enhance the analyst workflow. This was also the first time I was able to looking into AI/LLM design and it was interesting how there aren't a lot of military-based LLM softwares out there. Who knows, it may be an underdeveloped market.
WORK
Stick around and take a look
VigilantHalo Interactive Training
UI/UX Design
3D Design
User Research
Titan Drone Education
UI/UX Design
User Research
Market Analysis
HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
IN MIND?
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
HaloCortex
Redesigning & rebranding a suite of AI data analytic tools & military-based LLM to incorporate better brand presence, usability, & accessibility, allowing for new government contracts & an increase in sales
The user experience lacked end-to-end cohesion and accessibility. There was a misalignment in branding with the parent company’s brand rather than the overarching brand. I redesigned the user journey to reduce click-off rates, increase retention, and increase accessibility, allowing for an increase in contract sales.
UI/UX Design
Branding
Accessibility design
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Senior Director Fullstack & QA Engineers Senior Analyst
YEAR
2023-2024
Summary
Scraawl, now HaloCortex, is a data analytic platform under BlueHalo’s product portfolios that focuses on analyzing public information with AI to find insights from images and videos to text documents. The newest product rollout was called OSINT Analytics where the main feature was an LLM that could assist in analyzing data and writing open source information reports (OSIR).
As the lead designer on this productization and commercialization initiative, I was responsible for auditing and refining the user experience. The platform was built by integrating multiple AI data engines but lacked a user-centric foundation. With only a few months before launch, limited engineering resources, and a tight scope, I needed to prioritize high-impact, low-effort design changes that would improve usability and align with BlueHalo’s brand vision.
It's a ball, it's a plane—no, it's... a flaming hedgehog?
From the outset, the HaloCortex platform presented several UX and branding challenges:
Lack of Cohesion: The fragmented user experience made navigation cumbersome, leading to high click-off rates and lower retention.
Branding Misalignment: A flaming hedgehog logo created brand confusion and failed to align with BlueHalo’s identity.
Usability Constraints: The interface overwhelmed users with cognitive overload, poor accessibility, and inconsistent UI elements.
Understanding the Landscape: Research and Analysis
2. User Interviews: Engaging directly with security analysts to uncover pain points, workflows, and unmet needs.
3. UX Audit & Heuristic Analysis: Mapping site architecture, conducting cognitive walkthroughs, and identifying friction points within the existing platform.
Comp #2
Comp #3
Key Findings: Prioritizing the Most Critical Fixes
From my analysis, I identified five high-impact areas that required immediate attention:
1. Site Header – Overloaded with unnecessary tiers, causing cognitive overload.
Design Strategy: A Human-Centered, Feasibility-Driven Approach
Execution & Collaboration: Driving the Redesign Forward
To ensure a smooth implementation, I:
• Created a detailed UI/UX handoff with design documentation for engineers. • Worked closely with QA Engineers to validate accessibility and interaction improvements. • Managed an intern, guiding them in research synthesis, design tasks, and prototype creation. • Presented stakeholder buy-in decks to secure executive support for key design changes. • Worked closely with QA Engineers to validate accessibility and interaction improvements. • Managed an intern, guiding them in research synthesis, design tasks, and prototype creation. • Presented stakeholder buy-in decks to secure executive support for key design changes.
As we entered the final stages of design, I identified three major recommendations that needed special attention: 1. Site Header: The first decision I made was focused on reducing user’s cognitive overload with the header. I utilized the AI platform, Attention Insight, to take a look at where users had cognitive issues going through all of the decisions. The header was overloaded with multiple tiers, did not have a clear hierachy, and was convoluted with options for completing a task.
2. The second decision I focused on was improving the accessibility of the platform, particularly within the network and geo graphs. Users struggled with text contrast, darkness levels, and overall usability. The geo graph, in particular, posed challenges in terms of readability and interaction. To address this, I considered: • Data-Ink Ratio: Following Tufte’s principle of minimizing excessive decoration in visual displays, I aimed to reduce unnecessary elements—what he refers to as “chart chunk”—to ensure that every visual component served a purpose. • Essential Requirements: I evaluated the minimum set of visual elements necessary to communicate information effectively without compromising clarity or function. • Layout and Search Integration: By refining layout options and incorporating a search bar, I improved accessibility and streamlined workflows, allowing users to quickly locate specific areas or addresses.
3. Network Graph: Clarified connections and meaning through consistent color use and layout adjustments.
Final Prototype: The Evolution into HaloCortex
With these refinements, HaloCortex emerged as a sleek, user-friendly, and mission-ready platform, well-aligned with BlueHalo’s strategic goals.
Lessons from the Transformation
This project reinforced the importance of strategic prioritization, cross-functional collaboration, and user-centered design in enterprise AI products. 1. Maximizing Impact with Limited Resources • Focusing on high-impact, low-effort design changes ensured meaningful improvements within tight constraints. 2. The Power of Stakeholder Alignment • Navigating cross-functional teams and executive buy-in was key to driving design changes at scale. 3. Trust and Transparency in AI Products • AI can be perceived as a black box. Educating users about how AI-driven insights are generated fosters trust and credibility, even in the smallest tooltip or informational modal.
Closing the Halo
The transformation of Scraawl into HaloCortex was more than just a rebranding; it was a strategic overhaul that prioritized usability, accessibility, and business impact. By utilizing strategic UX interventions, and brand cohesion, the team and I refactored a platform that will enhance the analyst workflow. This was also the first time I was able to looking into AI/LLM design and it was interesting how there aren't a lot of military-based LLM softwares out there. Who knows, it may be an underdeveloped market.
WORK
Stick around and take a look
VigilantHalo Interactive Training
UI/UX Design
3D Design
User Research
Titan Drone Education
UI/UX Design
User Research
Market Analysis
HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
IN MIND?