My UX Experience

CAMPS Inc. 1
(Consolidated Air Mobility Planning System)

Hi. I’m Katy.

 
“I believe AI’s greatest potential lies not in replacing human judgment, but in amplifying it. My mission is designing that amplification for the people who protect our nation.”
 

 

I'm a Senior UX / Human Systems Designer specializing in mission-critical, AI-enabled systems for defense and intelligence environments.

I design human-centered workflows where decisions are high-stakes, data is fragmented, and AI must augment—not replace—human judgment. My work focuses on modernizing legacy systems within real government constraints while enabling trustworthy automation.

Where I’m Coming From

My four years as Lead UX Designer for CAMPS Inc. 1 taught me a costly lesson: traditional UX approaches fail when facing complex government systems. We spent 4.5 years with a 90+ person team but never shipped because we designed humans as task-doers instead of decision-makers.

That failure taught me what government AI really needs: systems thinking that recognizes patterns across workflows, and interfaces that position humans as intelligent reviewers of system-generated recommendations—exactly what CAMPS should have been.

Now, using AI as my research partner, I can accelerate domain learning from months to weeks while maintaining the human validation that's critical for mission-critical systems. This approach addresses the core challenge that killed CAMPS: understanding the underlying patterns that connect complex government workflows.

 

What I Do

 

Automation → Agentic Evolution
Safe, incremental paths from rules-based to AI-assisted decisions

Legacy → Modernization
Translate brittle tools into operator-ready workflows without breaking operations

Ambiguity Leadership
Lead design where requirements are incomplete and stakes are real

Human-in-the-Loop Design
Model authority and oversight so AI increases trust, not risk

Mission Context First
Start from mission phases, constraints, and users—not UI chrome

 

“CAID” Methodology

 

Throughout the Fall of 2025, I developed what I call the “CAID (Collaborative Adaptive Intelligence Design) Methodology” to address how to adapt my UX practices to this new technology.

The Challenge: Traditional UX design assumes static interfaces and human task-completion. But when AI becomes your user's thinking partner, everything changes.

The CAID Approach: A methodology purpose-built for human-AI collaboration in mission-critical environments, combining proven user-centered design principles with AI-era velocity and systems thinking.

Core Principles:

  • AI handles data processing complexity; humans handle strategic judgment and decision authority

  • Multi-agent systems that adapt in real-time while maintaining transparent reasoning chains

  • Design interfaces that amplify human expertise rather than replacing professional judgment

  • Holistic workflows that recognize patterns across complex organizational processes

  • Continuous human oversight with confidence indicators, override capabilities, and appropriate escalation

The Result:

Adaptive intelligence systems that government operators trust, understand, and want to use—transforming cognitive burden into strategic advantage.

Learn more
 
 

 

“Operation Helping Hand”

Case Study #1

Transforming AF Barrel Operations

Case Study #2

COA Generator

Case Study #3
 
 

Work with Me

 

AI Partnership: This site demonstrates my approach to AI collaboration—human ideas enhanced by AI capability.
Content and insights: 100% my experience and thinking.
Organization and articulation: Claude AI assistance.
Design mockups: Figma Make.
Imagery: Midjourney.

Learn more about human-AI collaboration in my methodology.