Human Factors for Software Engineering & Human-System Interaction at DLR
Intelligent Distributed Systems & Software Technology
My Role
Research Assistant
Tools & Tech
The Challenge
Working within a national aerospace research institute meant operating at the intersection of highly complex systems, diverse expert users, and strict confidentiality constraints. Across multiple projects, the core challenge was not a lack of technology, but a lack of alignment—between how systems were designed and how people actually reason, collaborate, and make decisions when using them. Many of the systems under development dealt with data-intensive, safety-critical, or long-running collaborative work, where users needed to interpret complex information, maintain context over time, and coordinate with others. However, user needs were often implicit, distributed across roles, or embedded in established practices rather than explicitly articulated. This made it difficult to design interaction concepts that genuinely supported sense-making, collaboration, and continuity of work. At the same time, as an external-facing research institution collaborating with industry partners, any design or evaluation work had to carefully balance human-centered insights with technical feasibility, organizational realities, and confidentiality requirements—limiting what could be shown, discussed, or iterated openly.
Approach & Solution
My role focused on introducing a human-centered, research-driven design perspective into these complex environments. Rather than starting from interface solutions, I worked from a deep understanding of users, workflows, and interaction dynamics. Across projects, I conducted and synthesized insights from user surveys, participatory workshops, community meetings, and direct engagement with end users, including researchers, engineers, and industry partners. These activities were guided by principles from Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), allowing me to frame findings in terms of collaboration, shared understanding, and cognitive workload. For projects such as MoDa (Models and Data for Future Mobility), this meant translating abstract user needs into interaction concepts for data-driven visualization tools, with a strong emphasis on sense-making, progressive disclosure, and exploratory interaction patterns. For eLab–Kadi4Mat, the focus shifted toward collaborative documentation practices, where I designed and evaluated interaction concepts that supported awareness, continuity of work, and shared knowledge across research teams. In parallel, during my work on VAST (Versatile Aeromechanics Simulation Platform for Helicopters), I applied a human factors lens to safety-critical aerospace software, studying interaction breakdowns, usability challenges, and cognitive workload. I worked closely with users from Airbus and DLR researchers, iteratively refining research questions based on observed behavior and translating findings into concrete evaluation and design recommendations. Throughout all projects, I collaborated closely with developers and researchers to ensure that interaction design decisions were grounded in empirical evidence, while remaining realistic within technical and organizational constraints.
Key Outcomes & Impact
Clear, evidence-based user requirements derived from qualitative and participatory research methods
Interaction concepts and prototypes that improved usability, comprehension, and engagement in data-intensive systems
Design recommendations addressing cognitive workload, interaction breakdowns, and collaboration challenges in safety-critical environments
Bridging artifacts—such as interaction flows, design rationales, and evaluation insights—that helped align human-centered findings with technical development
Strengthened integration of human factors and HCI perspectives within interdisciplinary research and industry-collaborative projects
Most importantly, this work reinforced my ability to operate effectively in high-stakes, confidential research settings, contributing value not through visuals or polished outputs alone, but through structured thinking, rigorous analysis, and human-centered design decisions that scale beyond any single interface.