Mission Control
Mission Control
On-road management that increased operator capacity by 15x
On-road management that increased operator capacity by 15x
Company
Company
Cruise
Cruise
Timeline
Timeline
2023
2023
Role
Role
Product design lead
Product design lead
Team
Team
Product manager, user researcher, 6 engineers, product operations
Product manager, user researcher, 6 engineers, product operations
Overview
Overview
On-road fleet management at Cruise involved keeping hundreds of autonomous vehicles running safely on city streets.
Previously, operations teams struggled with cognitive overload from monitoring scattered alerts across map tooltips and dozens of Slack channels.
With Cruise planning to scale from 500 to 13,000 vehicles, this fragmentation couldn't continue. I redesigned the system to unify fleet optimization, event response, and reporting.
On-road fleet management at Cruise involved keeping hundreds of autonomous vehicles running safely on city streets.
Previously, operations teams struggled with cognitive overload from monitoring scattered alerts across map tooltips and dozens of Slack channels.
With Cruise planning to scale from 500 to 13,000 vehicles, this fragmentation couldn't continue. I redesigned the system to unify fleet optimization, event response, and reporting.
Business problem
Business problem
How might we boost user capacity for more vehicles and events?
How might we boost user capacity for more vehicles and events?
How might we boost user capacity for more vehicles and events?
User problem
User problem
How might we simplify on-road monitoring while showing richer context?
How might we simplify on-road monitoring while showing richer context?
How might we simplify on-road monitoring while showing richer context?
Target metrics
Target metrics
Operator capacity
Operator capacity (AV to user ratio)
Operator capacity (AV to user ratio)
12 AV:operator
12
12
142 AV:operator
142
142
Alert volume
Alert volume (per hour)
Alert volume (per hour)
15,000 per hour
15,000
15,000
3,800 per hour
3,800
3,800
Alert resolution time
Alert resolution time
Alert resolution time
15 min
5 min
Leading discovery
Leading discovery
The project began during a leadership vacuum. Product team turnover coincided with a newly formed engineering team wanting direction. I jumped in to drive discovery, share operations workflows, and hold workshops between Engineering, Research, Operations, and our remaining Product team.
When our new PM joined, we quickly finalized our solution strategy: evolving Mission Control beyond its limited map-based interface into a hub of on-road issue alerts and fleet performance.
The project began during a leadership vacuum. Product team turnover coincided with a newly formed engineering team wanting direction. I jumped in to drive discovery, share operations workflows, and hold workshops between Engineering, Research, Operations, and our remaining Product team.
When our new PM joined, we quickly finalized our solution strategy: evolving Mission Control beyond its limited map-based interface into a hub of on-road issue alerts and fleet performance.
Alerts
Alerts
The design of the new alert handling system transformed a chaotic scanning process into a streamlined, personalized workflow.
Alerts are automatically assigned to users based on role, ensuring the right person receives the right information at the right time. Recommended actions and an event timeline allow speedy resolution while showing full issue context. The alert framework flexed to single-AV, multi-AV, or market-wide scenarios.
This approach eliminated guesswork, giving operators confidence in their responses while dramatically improving efficiency.
The design of the new alert handling system transformed a chaotic scanning process into a streamlined, personalized workflow.
Alerts are automatically assigned to users based on role, ensuring the right person receives the right information at the right time. Recommended actions and an event timeline allow speedy resolution while showing full issue context. The alert framework flexed to single-AV, multi-AV, or market-wide scenarios.
This approach eliminated guesswork, giving operators confidence in their responses while dramatically improving efficiency.
Dashboards
Dashboards
Dashboards fundamentally changed how operations teams made large-scale decisions.
Previously hidden patterns and trends became instantly visible, revealing insights about vehicle supply imbalances, staffing shortages, and emerging incident clusters across regions.
This visibility empowered teams to shift from constant crisis response to proactive resource allocation. They could finally balance fleet needs across markets while still tracking critical individual incidents.
Dashboards fundamentally changed how operations teams made large-scale decisions.
Previously hidden patterns and trends became instantly visible, revealing insights about vehicle supply imbalances, staffing shortages, and emerging incident clusters across regions.
This visibility empowered teams to shift from constant crisis response to proactive resource allocation. They could finally balance fleet needs across markets while still tracking critical individual incidents.
Dashboards fundamentally changed how operations teams made large-scale decisions.
Previously hidden patterns and trends became instantly visible, revealing insights about vehicle supply imbalances, staffing shortages, and emerging incident clusters across regions.
This visibility empowered teams to shift from constant crisis response to proactive resource allocation. They could finally balance fleet needs across markets while still tracking critical individual incidents.
Dashboards fundamentally changed how operations teams made large-scale decisions.
Previously hidden patterns and trends became instantly visible, revealing insights about vehicle supply imbalances, staffing shortages, and emerging incident clusters across regions.
This visibility empowered teams to shift from constant crisis response to proactive resource allocation. They could finally balance fleet needs across markets while still tracking critical individual incidents.
Results
Results
The new Mission Control system transformed fleet operations, cutting alert resolution time by over 74% (from 14.7 to 3.8 minutes) and reducing alert volume by 77%. At scale, each operator could support around 180 vehicles, far exceeding our 142 target. With Mission Control, Cruise could scale its autonomous fleet without proportionally increasing operations headcount.
The new Mission Control system transformed fleet operations, cutting alert resolution time by over 74% (from 14.7 to 3.8 minutes) and reducing alert volume by 77%. At scale, each operator could support around 180 vehicles, far exceeding our 142 target. With Mission Control, Cruise could scale its autonomous fleet without proportionally increasing operations headcount.