THESIS PROJECT
Leia UX/UI: Designing Leia Online 

Project Description

About

Vinterstellar is offering a Master’s thesis on the user experience and interface of Leia, our mission analysis and flight dynamics platform. Leia already runs as a desktop tool, the next step is to put it online so new space developers can use it on their own. Most flight dynamics tools are built by engineers for engineers. Leia’s promise is different: turn complex orbital results into decisions that a systems engineer, programme manager or executive can act on directly. Here, interface is key.  

Thesis Objective: Research, design, prototype and user-test the interface for Leia online, and implement its core screens. The work covers Leia’s full decision cycle (Setup, Scene, Study, Support), so that a first-time user can go from a mission idea to a result they understand without a flight dynamics expert at their side. The result should be a tested design system and working front end that become the face of Leia online. 

What You’ll Gain

  • Hands-on experience taking a professional engineering tool from expert desktop software to a self-serve web product 
  • Insight into mission analysis and flight dynamics, and how satellite developers, operators and decision-makers use the results 
  • User research and usability testing with real users from the space industry 
  • Skills in designing data-heavy interfaces: inputs, plots, timelines, dashboards and reports 
  • Experience building a design system and front end that ship in a commercial product 
  • Collaboration with engineers, the product lead and the commercial team in the Swedish space ecosystem 

You will work on:

  • User Research: Interviews and observation with Vinterstellars mission analysts, systems engineers and programme managers. Map today’s workflow in desktop Leia, its pain points, and the key tasks of a new user (first mission sizing, manoeuvre planning, coverage checks). 
  • Information Architecture & Workflow: Structure the Setup, Scene, Study and Support cycle so a first-time user reaches a result quickly. Onboarding, sensible defaults, and advanced parameters revealed only when needed. 
  • Interface & Visual Design: A design system (components, typography, colour, light and dark modes) aligned with the Vinterstellar brand. Data-heavy views: mission inputs, result tables, plots, timelines, and reports a decision-maker can read without a briefing. 
  • Prototyping & Usability Testing: Interactive prototypes iterated through rounds of user tests, measured with task success, time on task and standard usability scores. 
  • Front-End Implementation: Build the core screens in a modern web framework against Leia’s Python back end, including progress, errors and results for long-running computations. 

Location & Collaboration

  • Close work with the Vinterstellar team 
  • Duration: about 5 months 
  • Hybrid setup, with touchpoints at the main office in Stockholm, Sweden 

How to Apply

Send your CV, transcript, and a short motivation letter to: thesis@vinterstellar.se

Applications reviewed continuously.

Who Should Apply?

  • Master’s students in Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Media Technology or similar fields 
  • Computer Science or Software Engineering students with a strong interest in front-end development and UX 
  • Engineering students (aerospace, engineering physics or similar) with a demonstrated interest in design and usability 

The ideal candidate has a portfolio of UX/UI work, experience with Figma or a similar tool, and a working knowledge of user research and usability testing. Front-end skills (HTML/CSS, TypeScript, React or similar) are a strong plus, and familiarity with Python and Git helps. No prior orbital mechanics is required, only a genuine curiosity about space and a liking for making complex tools simple.