Co-designing with the veteran community
This week Australia paused to recognise heroes past and present who have fought defending our country. It’s a time where we often reflect on stories of bravery, sacrifice and Aussie spirit. Yet it is isolation, and abandonment that continues to loom as persistent challenges for many ex-servicemen and women.
Transitioning from the Australian Defence Force to civilian life is complex, and at times a highly emotional experience. There are thousands of veteran services across Victoria established in ad hoc ways, in response to genuine veteran needs. The services range in quality and level of support, making navigation and entry harder than it should be — particularly for veterans and their families in great need or crisis.
Today the sector faces a slew of variable pressures stemming from the increased proportion of younger veterans, the fragmented system of
ex-service organisations (ESOs — ex: RSL, Legacy, Soldier On) and the
rise of digital services and peer-to-peer networks.
As organisations scramble to contend with these pressures, design can play a fundamental role in helping improve collaboration, aggregate service delivery and provide more human-centred innovation.
Veterans as we know them are changing, so are their expectations
As a sector rooted in traditional practices and perceptions reaches its point of inflection, the community must contend with major shifts in veteran expectations. Today, veterans expect to access trusted information and support anytime, anywhere.
This requires the sector to shift from reactive to proactive support. To achieve this, organisations can use data and technology to deliver better outreach at times when veterans are more receptive to information. This will limit isolation and ensure services are more efficient and holistic.
Helping veterans the first time they reach out
Veterans are highly emotive when services fail them. Bad experiences often lead to disengagement and a lack of faith in ex-service organisations. With a growing numbers of services available, the industry is strained by the lack of visibility and awareness of what services exists, where they’re offered and who they’re designed for.
Not only does this create service black spots but reduces the impact and scalability of successful services. In retrospect, it has created a great opportunity for design to centralise efforts and deliver shared resources.
The power of co-design
As the sector makes efforts to collaborate, there are opportunities for organisations to start prototyping partnership and service models to expand their existing capabilities.
Through co-design, ex-service organisations can push their explorations further, involving the broader veteran community to design and implement action orientated services. Working in this way, enables organisations to ideate, ‘on the fly’, test ideas quicker and build a better understanding of what might work well and what doesn’t in a more cost effective way.
The power of co-design, means the community is both empowered and trusting of its design and will become champions of future solutions. Being open, transparent and inclusive the sector can quickly learn from each other, reduce duplication and focus on smaller things that work well, making the experience great and building it up over time.
For any veterans or families in need of support, contact Young Veterans or the Women Veterans Network.
If you would like to reach out about our work with veterans please email: info@today.design
