Eight years designing and researching operator interfaces for nuclear and attack submarine sonar systems — the highest-stakes command-centre context I have worked in.
Thales Underwater Systems provides hardware and software for the French Navy. My work spanned improving existing sonar operator tools (SCUBE), a gamification project, mobile interface design, and R&D on new display devices and augmented reality.
Working in a defence context shaped a lasting discipline: designing for operators whose decisions carry real consequences, under strict security and confidentiality constraints.
Ergonomic improvements to the existing sonar operator tools, plus new interaction mechanics (voice chat, pointing) and augmented-reality UX exploration.

A serious game developed to showcase the advantages of the Thales 4120 sonar. My work: project management of a multidisciplinary team, and game design.

A future need was identified: a mobile tablet aboard the submarine to ease information transmission. I designed the app (mockups), managed development through to installation aboard, then ran user testing on the sailors' return.


Three studies were needed to confirm the value of replacing dual screens with a single vertical screen: activity analysis, mock-ups, eye-tracking, and user testing.
