Designing a Unified Command & Control Information System (CCIS) for Multi-Service Collaboration

Designing a Unified Command & Control Information System (CCIS) for Multi-Service Collaboration

With the evolving operational needs of military users across air, land, and sea domains, a unified yet flexible Command and Control Information System (CCIS) was essential. The challenge was to design a system that allowed different service branches to configure, aggregate, and display data their way while maintaining a single source of truth for high-level situational awareness. This case study explores how we designed a unified yet flexible Command and Control Information System (CCIS) that empowered multi-service collaboration while ensuring a single source of truth.

With the evolving operational needs of military users across air, land, and sea domains, a unified yet flexible Command and Control Information System (CCIS) was essential. The challenge was to design a system that allowed different service branches to configure, aggregate, and display data their way while maintaining a single source of truth for high-level situational awareness. This case study explores how we designed a unified yet flexible Command and Control Information System (CCIS) that empowered multi-service collaboration while ensuring a single source of truth.

DURATION

1 year

MY ROLE

Senior UX Designer

COMPANY

DSTA

TAGS

UX Design, User Research, Complex Domain System

My Role

My Role

  • User Research (Interviews, Focus Groups, Workflow Analysis)

  • UX/UI Design (Wireframing, Prototyping, Interaction Design)

  • Design System Development (Ensuring consistency across 8 modules)

Key Pain Points

Key Pain Points

The existing CCIS suffered from several critical issues:

  1. Domain-Specific Preferences, No Unified Structure

    • Each service (air, land, sea) had different ways of inputting, aggregating, and visualising data.

    • This led to inconsistent reporting, manual workarounds, and difficulty in cross-service collaboration.

  2. Low Engagement & High Training Burden

    • Since the system was only used twice a year during exercises, users struggled to retain familiarity.

    • Training was time-consuming, and NSmen often required re-training.

  3. Stovepiped Modules & Data Gaps

    • Information lived in disconnected modules, forcing staff to manually compile reports.

    • Command Post data preparation took up to 2 hours before briefings.

  4. Outdated UX Hindering Adoption

    • The legacy system followed an obsolete design, making interactions unintuitive.

    • Users expressed frustration with unnecessary complexity.


Impact of These Issues

  • Delayed decision-making due to manual data reconciliation.

  • Increased cognitive load for operators juggling multiple tools.

  • Reduced trust in system accuracy because of inconsistent updates.

Defining Problem Statement

Defining Problem Statement

How might we design a flexible, modular CCIS that allows different service domain to work in their preferred way while maintaining a single, reliable source of truth for real-time situational awareness?

Design Goals

Design Goals

Based on research, we prioritised:

  1. Unified but Flexible Design – A single system that allowed domain-specific configurations.

  2. Zero Manual Training – Intuitive UI resembling tools users already knew.

  3. Live Data Integration – Eliminating manual updates to improve accuracy.

  4. Modular Interoperability – Ensuring all modules could share data seamlessly.

Process

1. Research Phase

  • Conducted user interviews & focus groups with operators from all three services.

  • Mapped existing workflows to identify pain points and inefficiencies.

  • Performed heuristic evaluations on the legacy system to pinpoint UX flaws.

Key Insight:
Users wanted a system that felt familiar (like commercial dashboards) but could handle complex military data structures.

2. Design Phase

  • Co-creation workshops with military users to define key features.

  • Developed a modular design system allowing widgets and dashboards to be customized per domain.

  • Introduced smart onboarding (interactive tutorials, contextual tooltips) to reduce training needs.

3. Validation Phase

  • Tested prototypes with 300+ users during mid-year exercises.

  • Measured usability via SUS & BERT scores.

  • Gathered qualitative feedback for iterative improvements.

Solutions

We developed 5 interoperable modules, including:

  1. Customisable Modular Dashboards

    • Users could drag-and-drop widgets to build their own views.

    • Role-based templates → Pre-configured for quick setup

  2. Live Presentation Mode

    • Pulled real-time data from multiple modules for briefings.

    • One-click export for command-level reports

  3. Incident & Readiness Trackers and Widgets for Dashboard

    • Aggregated inputs from different units for command-level visibility.

  4. Smart Onboarding & Wizards

    • Guided new users with interactive tutorials instead of manuals.

    • Smart tooltips → Contextual help during tasks

  5. Card Builder (Flexible Data Pivoting)

    • Dynamic data cards → Users reformat fields on demand (e.g., toggle between tables/maps/charts)

    • Formula support → Expert users create custom calculations without IT help

    • Save & share presets → Teams reuse common configurations

Solutions

Results

We developed 5 interoperable modules, including:

  1. Customisable Modular Dashboards

    • Users could drag-and-drop widgets to build their own views.

    • Role-based templates → Pre-configured for quick setup

  2. Live Presentation Mode

    • Pulled real-time data from multiple modules for briefings.

    • One-click export for command-level reports

  3. Incident & Readiness Trackers and Widgets for Dashboard

    • Aggregated inputs from different units for command-level visibility.

  4. Smart Onboarding & Wizards

    • Guided new users with interactive tutorials instead of manuals.

    • Smart tooltips → Contextual help during tasks

  5. Card Builder (Flexible Data Pivoting)

    • Dynamic data cards → Users reformat fields on demand (e.g., toggle between tables/maps/charts)

    • Formula support → Expert users create custom calculations without IT help

    • Save & share presets → Teams reuse common configurations

  1. Time Savings:

    • Data prep at Command Post reduced from 2 hours → 15 minutes due to automation.

  2. Training Reduced by 80%:

    • Users adapted quickly thanks to familiar commercial UI patterns.

    • Senior leaders noted:

    "The senior commanders were pleased with the new system and have thanked the team for their good work. They have requested for follow ups by respective complexes to bring capabilities to new heights, including proliferation of the Apps to wider user groups in the Network."

    "Very happy that many of the features now use intuitive user interface from common commercial applications so that staffers who are all part-timers, do not require lengthy special training before becoming conversant."


  3. Higher Adoption & Trust:

    • 300+ users validated the new system in exercises.

    • Commanders praised the real-time data accuracy.

  4. Scalability & Future Growth:

    • The modular design allowed for easy expansion.

    • Leadership requested proliferation to wider user groups.

  5. Achievement: Won 2019 DSTA Excellence Award 🏆

Results

  1. Time Savings:

    • Data prep at Command Post reduced from 2 hours → 15 minutes due to automation.

  2. Training Reduced by 80%:

    • Users adapted quickly thanks to familiar commercial UI patterns.

    • Senior leaders noted:

    "The senior commanders were pleased with the new system and have thanked the team for their good work. They have requested for follow ups by respective complexes to bring capabilities to new heights, including proliferation of the Apps to wider user groups in the Network."

    "Very happy that many of the features now use intuitive user interface from common commercial applications so that staffers who are all part-timers, do not require lengthy special training before becoming conversant."


  3. Higher Adoption & Trust:

    • 300+ users validated the new system in exercises.

    • Commanders praised the real-time data accuracy.

  4. Scalability & Future Growth:

    • The modular design allowed for easy expansion.

    • Leadership requested proliferation to wider user groups.

  5. Achievement: Won 2019 DSTA Excellence Award 🏆

Let's Collaborate

Let's talk about a project,
collaboration or an idea you may have

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Let's Collaborate

Let's talk about a project,
collaboration or an idea you may have

Contact Me

Book a Call

Let's Collaborate

Let's talk about a project,
collaboration or an idea you may have

Contact Me

Book a Call

Let's Collaborate

Let's talk about a project,
collaboration or an idea you may have

Contact Me

Book a Call

Introduction

Problem

Goals

Impact

Our Users

Process

What we learned

Future