Working to improve the warfighter user experience as much as the technologies that underlie that goal is critical to ensuring mission success, according to Renata Spinks, the former chief information security officer and deputy chief information officer of the Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (C4) division in the Office of the Deputy Command for Information in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Speaking at a GovExec event on Dec. 5, Spinks said that many issues encountered by deployed military personnel can be solved by working to address challenges encountered in user experience. This includes understanding the unique needs of personnel and their operational context and designing technology that is not only function but easy to use, reliable, and secure.
Recognizing the diverse needs of personnel and promoting adoption through engagement are key steps in improving user experience.
“The user experience will be solved by people, people who have the insight and the wherewithal to take technology and couple it with human experience and being able to change as time changes and to change as the need changes,” said Spinks, who now runs her own CyberSec International firm.
“Care just a little bit that we have cross-generational experiences when we’re thinking about user experience, real time data, and how to support the warfighter.”
Spinks emphasized the importance of accurately understanding real-time information in warzone situations, noting that personnel often rely on their past experiences when making critical decisions and using technology.
“We have to be able to keep up with real-time data and real-time analytics so that you can take that enhancement perspective and reduce the element of surprise as best as possible,” said Spinks.
Making technology engaging is key to ensuring smooth adoption, Spinks added. By getting personnel excited about using new technology, it helps warfighters see its value not only for the mission but also for their own benefit.
“Technology is crazy, it’s hard to implement sometimes – but how do you make it fun? That is how you address adoption,” said Spinks. “I will tell you that the warfighter is looking for fun … how do you take technology that you need, real-time data at the time of readiness, and then you’re making it fun? You do that by showing them the value – what’s in it for me … how do you make my life better?”
She said that other steps to enhance user experience include ensuring systems work seamlessly together to reduce complexity, delivering efficient solutions aligned with operational needs and readiness, training users for scenarios where technology fails, and maintaining capabilities under adverse conditions.
“It’s not rocket science – if you just care enough to go the extra step and go the extra mile to think differently about the technology that you are wanting the warfighter to implement and put yourself in that warfighter’s shoes – all it takes is care,” said Spinks. “Think about if it were me, how would I want this person to present this information?”
