XD
Ascend Deals
Experience Design — B2B Aviation Finance
Dashboard framework and interaction model for Ascend's new subscription products, connecting banks, lessors, and manufacturers with the data and context they need to close aircraft deals. Developed at LBi for Ascend.
The Challenge
Ascend, an aviation intelligence company serving the aircraft trading market, was launching new subscription products and needed a product vision to match. Their subscribers — banks, lessors, and manufacturers — operate in a world where an airline may lease an aircraft or seek financing, and every deal depends on background, data, and timing. The challenge: define a dashboard that could put all of that in one place, in the context of a live deal.
[Visual slot: original project brief graphic, ecosystem map, or a dated framework diagram]
The Process
[Visual slot: interaction model diagram — clearly dated as original artifact]
[Visual slot: use case mapping / wireframes]
Client-Provided Color Palette, Generated with Claude
I worked from the deal outward. Rather than organizing the dashboard around data categories, we mapped the use cases of each player — the bank evaluating financing, the lessor tracking its fleet, the manufacturer watching the market — and built an interaction model around how a deal actually comes together. That framework became the shared language between our team and the client.
To guide Midjourney, I referenced architecture, fashion, and photography of women across ages — grounding the outputs in classical forms echoing the Temple of Aesculapius and a refined, editorial tone true to the audience. I brought the final imagery into Canva as editable flyer and video templates the client could adapt independently.
The Solution
[Visual slot: dashboard wireframes / visual designs — original versions, dated]
A dashboard framework that surfaces background, market data, and relevant news in the context of a specific deal — so a subscriber isn't researching an aircraft, an airline, and a market separately, but seeing them assembled around the decision at hand. The tool's goal was simple: provide connections and make deals happen.
The Impact
The framework and interaction model gave Ascend a concrete foundation for its new subscription products: the client was able to move directly into scoping for build and testing. The use case mapping meant that scoping started from validated user needs rather than a feature wishlist.
About
Ascend provides intelligence for the aircraft trading market — the ecosystem of banks, lessors, and manufacturers behind every airline's decision to lease or finance an aircraft. When Ascend developed new subscription products, our team at LBi was tasked with defining the dashboard experience that would anchor them.
I helped develop the framework and interaction model for the dashboard, mapping the use cases of each subscriber type and designing how background, data, and relevant news would surface in the context of a deal. We produced wireframes and visual designs that translated a complex, multi-party financial ecosystem into a single working view.
The framework enabled the client to begin scoping for build and testing, turning a product concept into an actionable plan grounded in real subscriber needs.
My Role: UX strategy, interaction design, use case mapping Impact: Framework + interaction model that moved the client into build and testing scope Client: Ascend | Agency: LBi | Year: [YEAR — confirm]