Lead with insight - keep every cadet seen, supported, and on track.
To understand how the system works, it's important to first understand the organizational structure it was designed for. The chart below shows the chain of command — from the district commander at the top down to the cadets at its base:
As a former cadet commander in the Israeli Air Force, I saw how fragmented systems undermined both leadership and support. Critical requests were scattered across Google Sheets, WhatsApp messages, and verbal updates – leading to missed needs, cadet dropouts, and a reactive, overwhelmed staff.
Blue Dawn is a solo UX/UI project I initiated during my studies to tackle this issue. I led the entire process from research and insights to UX strategy, UI design, and prototyping – with one core principle:
Every design decision must serve the cadet directly.
Reduce cadet dropout from the program, leading to higher recruitment rates into the Air Force's technical corps, stronger recruitment quality, and ultimately a more capable and effective Air Force and, ultimately, better national security.
Blue Dawn aims to create earlier, more effective support by making each cadet's progress, challenges, and needs visible to the people responsible for them – helping commanders intervene at the right time and reducing the risk of cadets falling through the cracks or dropping out.
Cadet commanders were overwhelmed by ongoing bureaucratic tasks – spread across Google Sheets, WhatsApp messages, and verbal updates. Critical requests got lost, cadets were forgotten, and some even dropped out. The chaos left less time for leadership and mentorship – the core of our role.
Finding herself having to remind commanders in person or on WhatsApp about her requests until they are addressed or until giving up and handling things on her own.
Constantly putting out fires due to disorganized information scattered across different channels. Struggling to efficiently follow up on cadet requests and ongoing tasks, often having to piece together information repeatedly and risking important requests or tasks being forgotten.
To go beyond my own experience, I conducted 5 in-depth interviews with current and former cadets and commanders and 15-response survey to cadets from the unit I led.
What made your experience harder than it needed to be? What moments made you feel lost, unseen, or unsupported?
Did you feel equipped to support your cadets? If not, what got in your way?
Where communication broke down, what made cadets feel ‘unseen’, and what kind of platform could provide them the support they need in order to grow.
Here’s what I heard:
“What’s hardest for me is not knowing the status of my request for help. I can see how busy you are, and I feel uncomfortable asking repeatedly.”
“There have also been communication issues, because something urgent often comes up in the evening, and I don’t feel comfortable messaging your personal phone at night.”
“I felt like I was constantly putting out fires that only existed because of poor coordination which often came at the cadets’ expense.”
These findings pushed me to prioritize centralized information flow, emotional safety in communication, and a smart alert system for academic and behavioral changes.
I designed Blue Dawn as a system for cadet commanders- one that reduces admin overload, centralizes requests, and surfaces red flags early.
Every decision was filtered through one guiding question: Does this serve the cadet directly?
I mapped the system with sitemaps and user flows, then moved from low-fi wireframes to high-fidelity designs in Figma. I tested flows with former commanders and refined based on their feedback, especially around clarity and cognitive load. A key challenge was avoiding information overload while still giving context on each cadet's situation.
Here's how it turned out:
