Building products for pilots: a case study - Cristina Bustos (Swiss AviationSoftware)

What It Covers

Cristina Bustos, Product Manager at Swiss Aviation Software, details building their first mobile native application for pilots during the pandemic. The case study covers managing 10 founding customers, securing regulatory approval from European aviation authorities, replacing paper processes with digital workflows, and navigating the complex stakeholder landscape of pilots, cabin crew, mechanics, and regulators.

Key Questions Answered

• •Integrative Decision Making Process: When managing 10 founding customers plus regulators, split stakeholders into streams by audience (pilots, cabin crew, mechanics, quality departments). Use a structured process: present proposal, clarify questions, reaction round, amend and clarify, voting, then final decision with objection handling. This heavy workshop approach achieved consensus across competing interests and regulatory requirements for aviation software approval.
• •Mandatory End User Involvement: Contract founding customers to provide representative end users from each stakeholder group for every workshop session. Swiss Aviation hired an actual captain during the pandemic to co-create concepts and present to other pilots. Without direct pilot involvement from concept phase, the product would have failed to address real cockpit conditions like cold weather, five-finger glove use, and bright sunlight visibility issues.
• •Under Commit and Triple Validate: Limit scope to maximum five founding customers instead of 10, and validate in three distinct phases: pre-development with prototypes, during development with key users, then in real operational conditions on the tarmac and in cockpits. Test extreme scenarios like outstation connectivity loss, pilots who haven't logged in for three months, and actual flight delays rather than happy path lab environments.
• •Strict Process Documentation Requirements: In regulated aviation environments, document and version every business process and use case with formal review and approval stamps. When any element changes, reapprove the entire process. This applies to default workflows and each customer's specific version. Agile user stories for conversation are insufficient; aviation authorities require written, stamped, versioned documentation for compliance and regulatory approval letters.
• •Real-Time Data Integration Benefits: Digital cockpit applications enable mechanics to receive issue reports nine hours before aircraft landing, plan repairs during next shift, and have replacement parts ready upon arrival. This eliminates paper-based delays where mechanics must physically retrieve documents, verify issues, check parts inventory, and order missing components. The system also removes three tons of paper annually per customer while enabling predictive maintenance through consistent data collection.