OneNS Pre-login Informational Portal
MINDEF • 2023
The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) aimed to transform its digital channel from web-only to both app and web, improving service for various national service user groups, including core conscript servicemen, parents, and employers.
350,000
Operationally ready National Service men (NSmen) at any given time
50,000
New conscripts every year
Overview
Background
Like most Accenture projects, this high-profile endeavor involved multiple upper echelon stakeholders and many parallel tracks, all aimed at providing Singaporean national service people the best experience and service.
I joined this project when it was already well underway, after completing a previous project. Initially, I was slated for a different project, but since this was the kind of transformative national project I joined Accenture for, I sought involvement.
Coincidentally, the overall design lead needed another design lead for the pre-login informational portal. Knowing I was finishing a project, he wanted to ask me before I was assigned elsewhere. After some negotiation, I joined the OneNS project.
My role
In this project, I was paired up with another designer which was a departure from leading a team of designers that I was used to for the last few years. Together with my partner-in-crime, our first task was to understand the citizens' needs for information about national service and evaluate the content available to them on the internet including the NS Portal.
Next, we synthesise the findings into insights, which we then use to define the experience strategy and interaction models for a scalable informational portal to serve our users’ intent.
I was truly excited about this role as it gave me the chance to be hands on and get into the nitty gritty details of the work.
Activities
Planning
User Research
User Experience Strategy
Interaction Models
Information Architecture
User Story Mapping and Grooming
Wireframing
Discover
Understanding user needs and mental models
Understanding the needs of our users and their thought processes of how they find information related to national service is essential for designing a meaningful experience that encourages deeper engagement.
Discovery process
Defining discovery research objectives and hypothesis
→
Identify relevant users of the website and app
→
Conduct user interviews to deepen our understanding of the users’ mental model
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Synthesising research insights into actionable outcomes
Discovery objectives
Identify users’ intent, challenges and how they overcome those challenges
+
Match users’ mental model in relations with content related to national service
→
Provide relevant content or introduce new content based on users’ mental model
→
Develop a comprehensive experience strategy with focus on content to deepen engagement and support self service
Discover
User interviews
Enlistment creates uncertainty not only for the recruits but also for their families
National service enlistment is a significant transition for many Singaporeans and their parents, often causing worry and apprehension. To address this, we aim to understand the perspectives of national service and parents.
Our strategy includes conducting interviews to learn about their concerns, expectations, and needs. This feedback helps us design the experience to be more responsive, aiming to lessen anxiety by providing the right information at the right time.
Interviewees:
Parents
Pre-enlistees
Full-time national servicemen
In-service personnel
National service volunteer corps personnel
24
Participants
4
Number of sessions per day
1-1.5hr
Interview duration
2 weeks
Total time taken
Discover
Deciphering users’ mental model
4
Topics explored
4
Key themes
Before the user interviews, we hypothesised that the users were interested in 4 main topics: Day-in-life-of, engagement (such as open house events), career opportunities, and safety and well being.
The topics were extracted from various pre-login information that participants sought. Based on their feedback, we identified potential content we could offer, aligned with their mental models of national service. We also considered how to structure this information to trigger engagement based on their intent.
We further refined these insights into four key themes through an affinity mapping exercise.
Discover
Synthesis and affinity mapping of insights
Discover
Emerging themes identified
Following an affinity mapping exercise, these 4 key themes surfaced which would later serve as our guiding principle throughout the project.
1.
#transactional
Users from all profiles see NS Portal as a platform to primarily perform transactions. Some participants want to find information relevant to transactions they are performing, especially if they are required to prepare relevant information or documents beforehand.
2.
#obligations
Most participants visit the NS Portal due to external prompts notifying them to perform transactions as part of their NS obligations.
3.
#peaceofmind
Most participants are keen to find out more information about experiences that others have went through based on their profile/phase of NS journey. They noted that this allows them to have expectations on what they are about to go through.
4.
#discoverability
Some participants claimed that they are not able to find certain information that they need on NS Portal. It is noted that some of these information are already available but they are scattered on other sites. Due to lack of discoverability of information, participants rely on Google to find exact information they need.
Discover
At the same time, we did a content audit.
First, we did a high-level content inventory of all available NS content in various NS-related portals and, subsequently, did an audit on a sample size of the content. From this exercise, we were able the stakeholders an idea of how big the task was to create and govern their to-be content.
Problems identified after audit
Content can be found scattered and overlapped across the multiple content providers. Overlapped content might have gaps or inconsistencies.
Users might not have the full picture because they don’t navigate between the different NS sites since the search result brings them directly to a specific page.
Unable to get their answers from the NS sites, users turned to sites like Reddit or relied on friends and family for more information.
Proposed solution
Define
Information architecturing
Those themes form the mental model of our users and with that in mind, we embark on a journey to create the information architecture and design how the content will flow from information to the relevant digital services.
We defined 5 key principals thats serves as guidance when we design the experience
Focus on creating, maintaining and being the authority of the content that users need for OneNS. In terms of information architecture, informational content should mirror the post-login features and functions so that the users are assured that support is available at every step of the way.
1:1
Content needs be structured sequentially against the different points in the moment of the specific obligation so that users know what they should do now and anticipate whats coming.
Instructable
OneNS should be a scalable and flexible platform to learn about user and business needs and to respond to those needs whenever necessary. This is so that OneNS will always be current, and users will feel engaged at all times.
Respond to needs
Redirect user to more content from other NS sites or platform, including Pioneer magazine and MINDEF’s/SCDF’s/SPF’s YouTube channel, etc, to increase the quality, breadth and depth of NS content on OneNS.
Casting a wider net
With the quality, breadth and depth of content across the different NS sites, we should do more to introduce them to users and bring about greater awareness of the topics they cover. This is especially if the users who is viewing a single piece of content via search engine, the user can be aware of similar content and/or deep dive into one topic .
Discoverable
… which translated into our wireframes.
Using the Object Oriented UX framework, we were able to tailor our design to the users’ mental model and break down the content into a simple flexible structure.
Conclusion
The project started with some ambiguity, but we made significant progress in designing the experience by gathering data and reframing the problems based on user insights.
After two months of work, unexpected circumstances necessitated that someone urgently lead the project I was initially assigned to. Regrettably, I had to depart from OneNS before the project's completion. Nevertheless, the solid foundation laid at the start, along with the capable hands of my young team member, allowed the completion of the work within a few more months without any significant issues.
The portal was launched in the first quarter of 2024. While the reaction to the app and the newly designed digital services has not been entirely positive, the public's opinion on the informational portal is yet to be determined. Given the complexity we had to manage in such a short time, we knew it wouldn't be a smooth journey. However, rest assured that the team is committed to continuously improving the overall user experience.
