For years, the United States Air Force (USAF) had sought to modernize critical, field-facing enterprise applications; yet integrator turnover and contract disruptions repeatedly delayed progress, and deployed systems often frustrated the Airmen they were meant to support. Meanwhile, remediation efforts focusing on internal process improvement proved largely ineffective. Leadership had grown increasingly concerned as criticism mounted from the more than 600,000 Airmen who relied on these tools and had spent years waiting for meaningful improvements to broken or ineffective systems.
Working with Throughline to assess delivery practices, USAF leadership identified poor requirements quality as the root cause of failed and frustrating systems. They set a goal for mission and application teams to build internal capability in leveraging the digital product management and design methods used by leading technology firms. Rather than add headcount or rely on vendors, leadership aimed to enable the teams closest to the mission to own problem definition, validate solutions early, and take accountability for outcomes. Throughline helped shape a training and enablement program as the primary mechanism to build this capability from the ground up.
Working with Throughline to assess delivery practices, USAF leadership identified poor requirements quality as the root cause of failed and frustrating systems. They set a goal for mission and application teams to build internal capability in leveraging the digital product management and design methods used by leading technology firms. Rather than add headcount or rely on vendors, leadership aimed to enable the teams closest to the mission to own problem definition, validate solutions early, and take accountability for outcomes. Throughline helped shape a training and enablement program as the primary mechanism to build this capability from the ground up.
To move out on this goal, Throughline collaborated with the USAF to design and pilot the “Citizen Designer” program as a hands-on enablement effort grounded in real software delivery work. From December 2024 through August 2025, the team conducted ongoing research with product owners, developers, and business process owners. Materials were tested and refined through three in-person sessions in February and June 2025, followed by a two-week remote beta in August 2025.
The pilot delivered five interactive learning modules and seventeen step-by-step toolkits covering core product discovery and design methods. All content was framed from a product and business perspective, emphasizing how to practically apply design methods during daily work and agile sprint cycles. Final materials were deployed into the USAF’s learning management system to support broad access and future scale.
Though contract timing and the October 2025 government shutdown delayed the full rollout, the pilot produced strong validation signals. Participants rated the training highly for clarity, relevance, and mission impact, and repeatedly cited its usefulness in real software delivery settings. As one beta participant shared, “The content provides a clear framework for identifying and prioritizing opportunities, and it emphasizes a mindset that’s critical for improving how we deliver.”
Learners described clear changes in how they approached problem definition, prioritization, and solution validation, particularly in environments where rework had been common. For leadership, the pilot confirmed that building internal capability could directly address long-standing issues with requirements quality and system usability. Based on these results, the USAF is discussing next steps, including expanding the curriculum, adding hands-on coaching, and integrating these practices more deeply into delivery workflows and the Air Force’s SDLC.
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