Heliophysics research, like many research areas, has increasingly evolved to include more than just pure science inquiries. Opportunities for interdisciplinary research and transitioning research to an operational environment are ever increasing. Thus, a need for a framework to aid in communicating a project’s progress has been identified. In response to this need, the Assessment of Understanding and Quantifying Progress working group, which is part of the international Forum for Space Weather Capabilities Assessment, developed the Application Usability Level (AUL) framework.