Senior Product Designer · 2023 · Percepto

An FAA rule was about to block Percepto’s US business. The fix was not a screen. It was getting four teams to see one system.

Clear the FAA block with one flow.

My role: Senior Product Designer
Focus: Remote ID
Outcome: US cleared

The stakes

A regulatory checkbox that was actually a revenue blocker.

In 2023, new FAA Remote ID rules required every drone flight in the US to broadcast operator and aircraft location. Percepto’s platform couldn’t do it. Without compliance, there was no complete US offering — what looked like a regulatory checkbox was a revenue blocker.

What the data said

Pre-launch was already fragile. Remote ID would land on top of it.

Before touching Remote ID, I pulled the preflight failure reports. GPS issues, heading errors, and sensor faults were already blocking missions. I paired that data with field interviews to see where risk actually concentrated for operators. That changed the design target: not “add a compliance step,” but make the whole pre-launch sequence survivable.

Power BI preflight failure analysis showing technical failure frequency by category — Preflight failure reports: where risk concentrated before Remote ID entered the flow.

The key decision

Map the system before anyone drew a screen.

Remote ID crossed four surfaces with four different owners — the AIM desktop app, an SMS handoff, a mobile browser, and native OS permission prompts. The pressure was to start mocking screens and surface the dependencies as they appeared. Instead, I built one swimlane model of the entire flow first: every decision point, every failure path, every constraint. It became the single artifact PM, Support, and Engineering argued against — instead of four separate mental models.

Remote ID cross-device swimlane showing decision points, error paths, and GPS constraints across AIM, SMS, and mobile — Swimlane detail: decision points, error paths, and constraints — including takeoff disabled until operator GPS is known.

End-to-end Remote ID narrative flow from mission start to compliance confirmation — End-to-end overview: a fast read for PMs and support leads who did not live inside AIM daily.

Three paths, one commitment

Stress-test the options before anyone builds.

SMS link journey, dedicated URLs, desktop browser path — each stress-tested against value, viability, usability, and feasibility with PM and Engineering before any build decision. The SMS handoff won: lowest friction for operators, no app-store dependency, workable in low-connectivity field conditions.

Solution and risk matrix comparing three Remote ID directions on value, viability, usability, and feasibility — Three directions stress-tested before implementation. Hidden constraints surface here, not in QA.

One mission flow across surfaces Percepto did not fully own

The operator starts a mission in AIM, receives an SMS on their phone, grants location through the browser, and sees confirmation back on the desktop — with recovery paths for weak GPS, denied permissions, and dropped connections. New components went into the AIM design system so the pattern could be reused.

Desktop AIM Secondary Control SMS modal beside a phone showing Remote ID location permission — Desktop-to-mobile handoff: AIM starts the mission; the phone completes the compliance step.

Mobile states across the SMS journey: auth, connect, pre-launch check, location prompt, and recovery.

AIM design system sheet for seamless Remote ID experiences across desktop and mobile — Remote ID patterns shipped into the AIM kit so the team could reuse location, SMS, and connection states.

Outcome

Surfaces: 4
Requirement: FAA Remote ID
Market: US cleared

The flow shipped and met the FAA Remote ID requirement that unblocked Percepto’s US market.

What stayed with me

The most valuable design work here was making the problem visible enough that four teams could stop debating it and build against one direction.