Riggers go through 14 weeks of combined airborne and parachute rigging courses. At training facilities like Fort Gregg-Adams, students learn to rig airdrop loads, repair parachutes, and operational procedures. Each rigger's training culminates in a jump using a parachute they've packed themselves—a rite of passage that underscores the seriousness of their craft.

Riggers thus live by the motto,

A message so ingrained in ADFSD that it can be found everywhere in their facility, including painted on this C-130 training hull

However, the manual parachute packing process is tough. It’s time-consuming, physically demanding, and carried out in a cluttered, noisy environment where every mistake could have severe consequences. Our mission was to make the process faster, safer, and more ergonomic—without compromising on quality.

Our team worked closely with over 25 riggers and inspectors, just a small subset of the organization's...

2000+

Parachute Riggers

who support an average of

250000

Jumps Annually

We set out to transform a traditionally manual process into one that's more adaptable, intuitive, and future-ready.

We created a multi-component, human-centered ecosystem to optimize safety and efficiency in parachute packing. Our solution integrates four key components:

01

Ergonomic Smart Table

We designed the Smart Table to address the physical strain on riggers. Through our contextual inquiry, it became clear that the wooden, one-size-fits-all tables currently in use failed to accommodate the diverse statures and ergonomic needs of riggers.

02

Central Inspector Hub

An inspector will typically oversee four riggers, responding to their rigger check calls in a somewhat timely fashion.

The Inspector Hub shifts the role of the inspector from a reactive to a proactive model. Positioned central to the workspace and able to be moved, the Hub allows inspectors to monitor multiple riggers simultaneously and stay aware of their progress.

Real-time task management

Inspectors can see all active packing stations in real-time, with each station's status clearly displayed as a component on the dashboard. The Hub assigns inspections based on rigger requests, ensuring an efficient queue system. No more verbal shouts or missed calls– everything is logged, timestamped, and visible at a glance.

Visual queues, like component size and color, enable quick assessment of the pack floor's status.

03

RFID-Enabled Inventory Management

Managing parachutes and all of their components is logistically overwhelming. The RFID-enabled system ensures every item is accounted for, from canopies to deployment bags. This digital ledger replaces the manual DA-3912 form, ensuring that each parachute is linked to its rigger and inspector, and its progress is documented in real time.

From day one, the goal was not to simply deliver a technological solution but to design with the riggers, understanding their unique challenges, needs, and constraints. This required more than just standard usability testing or prototyping– it demanded on-the-ground immersion and genuine co-design session where the riggers became active participants in shaping the tools they would eventually use.

Contextual inquiry: immersing in the user's environment

We traveled to Virginia and spent days on-base, shadowing riggers and participating where we could. We used this immersion to uncover pain points that might not have surfaced through traditional research methods.

We even participated in training simulations.

For example, we noticed riggers using different techniques for the same task, like closing the pack tray with the curved pin. When we asked about this discrepancy, riggers pointed to differences in height and strength. This was a recurring theme with other parts of the pack process, which led us to investigate repetitive strain injuries.

My team and I asking questions about packing techniques to riggers at Fort Gregg-Adams, VA

Co-design sessions: designing with, not for

Rather than assume what the solution should look like, we involved the riggers and inspectors in co-design sessions.

Inspectors in red hats work with our Capstone team to design the Inspector Hub user flow

In the conversation pictured above, we proposed using RFID-enabled wearable bands to enable riggers to quickly check off on tasks using their identity. The feedback was swift:

"These bands would get lost in the chutes, or riggers would forget them„

Instead, a rigger suggested using an existing tool:

"Why not use our CACs?„

The rigger's suggestion made us realize we were overcomplicating this user flow by adding a wearable band. Each rigger has a Common Access Card (CAC), which is already associated with the rigger's fingerprints and identification. It was a practical, simple solution we adopted immediately.

This project succeeded because it was built in close collaboration with the riggers themselves. By iterating on real-time feedback in the riggers' environment, we eliminated friction points we hadn’t anticipated, like accidental sensor triggers or misplaced dashboard elements. These insights could only have come from testing in the chaotic pack floor.

In sum,

Reframing the problem from automation to augmentation fundamentally shifted our approach

Initially, automation seemed like the obvious path to increase efficiency, but by reframing the challenge, we expanded our perspective to focus on supporting the riggers’ expertise rather than replacing it. This shift led us to design solutions that enhanced both human performance and ergonomics, like the Smart Table and Inspector Hub.

Involving users early in the design process was critical to our success

By bringing riggers and inspectors into co-design sessions from the outset, we were able to validate key assumptions and quickly discard ideas that didn’t resonate with users, like the table-mounted dashboard. Early involvement allowed us to adapt the design to their workflow in real time, preventing missteps and ensuring that the final solution felt intuitive and valuable to those using it daily.

Lean prototyping gave us the agility to test assumptions quickly and iterate based on real-world feedback

Instead of spending months perfecting a high-fidelity solution, we started with paper and cardboard mockups and tested them on the pack floor, where insights could be gathered in days, not weeks. This approach allowed us to make rapid adjustments—like redesigning the table adjustment module or reshaping the table—based on immediate user input.