Given the greater automation of systems on Ambassador-class starships when compared to previous designs, the ship necessitated a smaller crew in proportion to its size. Nowhere was this more evident than on the bridge, which was smaller and had fewer work stations than older ships.
The aft wall contained three consoles, working clockwise from the viewscreen: science, engineering, and operations. In front of the captain were the flight control and tactical stations. At the very front of the bridge there was a master system display console, which could in an emergency be used to control any shipboard system, to give further redundancy to this new, more automated bridge design.