Nemesis is a new generation high‑performance sailing display that delivers exceptional visibility and fully configurable data layouts for professional and recreational crews. It combines complete customisation, easy‑to‑use multi‑function templates, and automatic dashboards that adapt to the boat’s angle of sail, so sailors always see the right information at the right time, in any conditions.
As a member of the Research and Development team, I collaborated closely with engineers on user research and led the end‑to‑end design of Nemesis from early concept to launch. I defined the product vision, interaction patterns, and visual design language, and shaped the product roadmap that guided the product from first prototypes to market‑ready displays.
As a member of the Research and Development team, I collaborated closely with engineers on user research and led the end‑to‑end design of Nemesis from early concept to launch. I defined the product vision, interaction patterns, and visual design language, and shaped the product roadmap that guided the product from first prototypes to market‑ready displays.
Problem statement
Existing sailing displays were hard to read in extreme light and weather and lacked flexible layouts for different sailing situations. Sailors had to constantly tweak settings to see the right data, which was distracting and risky in high‑pressure moments. The primary problems we were addressing:
- Limited readability in direct sun, glare, and night conditions.
- No easy way to switch data layouts for different points of sail.
- High cognitive load from manual configuration during critical manoeuvres. weather.
Research
- Interviewed 10 sailors, from casual cruisers to professional racers, to understand their habits, conditions, and display setups.
- Mapped device usage: how many data sources they monitored, how often they recalibrated, and which metrics mattered most (e.g., wind, boat speed, depth, laylines).
- Documented customization patterns, including the layouts users tried to create but couldn’t with existing displays.
I discovered sailors needed a small number of reliable, scenario‑based layouts that automatically adapted, instead of endless manual tweaking.
Design strategy
After research and initial prototyping, we defined four core design pillars:
- High‑contrast modes for extreme conditions: Light, dark, and night themes optimised for glare, storm, and low‑light readability, inspired by cockpit‑style contrast ratios.
- Automatic context modes: Dashboards that switch automatically based on point of sail (Upwind, Reaching, Downwind, Pre‑Start, Motoring), reducing manual interaction during critical manoeuvres.
- Custom dashboards: A drag‑and‑drop layout editor with configurable font sizes and gauge styles, supporting both mast‑ and cockpit‑mounted use in portrait or landscape.
- A UI language aligned with brand's instrument ecosystem to ease adoption, installation, and cross‑device learning.
Key design decisions
The strategy translated into specific design decisions that shaped the final product:
- Chose large, high‑weight typography and simplified iconography to remain legible at distance and in motion.
- Designed modular tiles that scale and reflow between portrait and landscape without breaking the information hierarchy.
- Defined colour palettes that meet contrast thresholds while also encoding status and priority (for example, safe vs. warning states).
- Created interaction patterns usable with wet hands, gloves, and in motion.
Outcomes
Nemesis shipped globally as part of brand's flagship line of intelligent sailing displays and has since expanded into a family of 7, 9, and 12‑inch units built on the same design system and interaction model. The flexible layout and context‑aware dashboards proved scalable across different hardware formats, supporting installations from mast‑mounted racing setups to compact cockpits.
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Nemesis shipped globally as part of brand's flagship line of intelligent sailing displays and has since expanded into a family of 7, 9, and 12‑inch units built on the same design system and interaction model. The flexible layout and context‑aware dashboards proved scalable across different hardware formats, supporting installations from mast‑mounted racing setups to compact cockpits.
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