Defence support hub and Check stock availability

Project overview

As the senior user researcher at the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) since July 2023, I led user research efforts for the Defence Support Hub and the Check stock availability service. These projects are part of the Business Modernisation for Support programme, a multi-billion pound, multi-decade initiative aimed at transforming support services across the MOD.

Key achievements

Secured approval for a beta phase to be implemented across UK barracks with potential for global expansion.
Led user research through discovery and alpha phases, consistently applying service design principles.
Developed comprehensive user journey maps and service blueprints that became central to project communication and decision-making.
Successfully validated key assumptions and user needs through both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Photo by Trevor Saint

Defence commissioned a project to enable Users to access Logistics data on mobile devices. The original hypothesis was that logistics staff lacked visibility of stock data when they were away from fixed terminals. Work-arounds bent logistics business process out of shape which resulted in reduced operational effectiveness (responsiveness and throughput) and reduced efficiency.

James and the team proposed and delivered a research methodology aligned to UCD best practices by carrying out qualitative, quantitative and ethnographic studies. James’ primary research uncovered some surprising conclusions, including critically, that we were seeking to solve a problem that didn’t exist; Log Users had little to no need to have Log data on a handheld device.

The research uncovered a far more critical business problem; Engineers could not see items available for issue, and so were unable to make practical decisions about equipment repairs. Lack of visibility meant Engineers were regularly waiting on spares to be delivered and were unable to efficiently use repair bays and sequence jobs according to spares availability.

The team built a prototype ‘Check Stock Availability’ microservice calling Stock Availability data from Defence’s enterprise line of business applications and surfaced that detail on a lightweight application aligned to the .gov design system. The UX development started out as a paper representation allowing end users to engage and shape how the new service looks and functions before wire frames and more complete iterations were developed. User feedback is incredibly supportive with one user calling it a genuine game-changer.

James was patient, diligent and collaborative with the programme commissioning team, the end users and the technical DevOps teams, acting professional in all his engagements and supporting us as we start to embed User Centred Design principles in how we deliver future enterprise digital services.

Patrick Dee │ BMfS - Service Owner

Methodologies and approaches

Research techniques

Balanced qualitative and quantitative research methods to validate findings.
Utilised filmed user research sessions in barracks for impactful stakeholder presentations.
Employed journey mapping and service blueprinting for comprehensive service understanding.Discovery phase
Defined and continually refined the problem statement, ensuring it remained central to all research activities.
Mapped end-to-end user journeys, incorporating both online and offline touch points.
Developed a service blueprint to identify critical touchpoints and pain points.
Focused initial research on mechanical engineers in frontline command, later expanding to other user groups.

Alpha phase

Emphasised rigorous assumption testing and ideation.
Conducted prototype testing with primary users to validate discovered user needs.
Tested assumptions, including those related to external APIs.
Expanded testing to additional user groups, uncovering unexpected positive reception.

Challenges and solutions

Navigated the complexities of conducting user research in military settings.
Balanced the needs of multiple stakeholders in a high-stakes, long-term programme.
Effectively communicated research findings to influence decision-making at senior levels.

Impact and outcomes

Research findings and methodologies convinced the Business Modernisation for Support programme to proceed with a beta phase.
Demonstrated the effectiveness of evidence-based, user-centered design in a complex military context.
Uncovered unexpected user groups who found value in the proposed service.
Successfully aligned short-term research outcomes with long-term programme goals.