ConnectThroughline partnered with the United States Air Force (USAF) to pilot a “Citizen Designer” program, creating practical learning modules and toolkits that teach product-focused design methods, later deployed in the USAF learning system for broad, scalable use.
The U.S. Air Force had long struggled to modernize critical field-facing applications. Integrator turnover, contract disruptions, and weak requirements led to delayed delivery and systems that frustrated the more than 600,000 Airmen who depended on them. Process fixes alone failed to resolve the underlying issues.
Working with Throughline, USAF leadership identified poor requirements quality as the root cause and set out to build internal product and design capability—rather than rely on vendors. The goal: equip mission teams to define problems clearly, validate solutions early, and own outcomes. Throughline helped design a training and enablement program to build this capability from the ground up.
Throughline partnered with the USAF to create and pilot the “Citizen Designer” program, a hands-on learning experience embedded in real software delivery. From late 2024 through mid-2025, the team conducted user research, ran in-person and remote pilots, and developed five interactive modules and 17 practical toolkits covering product discovery and design. The curriculum was deployed in the Air Force LMS for scale.
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.”
Despite rollout delays, the pilot showed strong results. Participants reported clearer problem definition, better prioritization, and more effective validation in their day-to-day work. Leadership saw the program as a viable path to improving requirements quality and system usability, and is now exploring broader rollout, coaching, and deeper integration into the Air Force SDLC.
.png){kind=logo}
