Army Design System Discovery

Situation

The British Army faced challenges in the coherence, usability, and efficiency of its software applications. With multiple projects operating in siloed environments, inconsistencies in design, user experience, and technical standards led to increased costs, skill fade among personnel, and inefficiencies in software development. The Army sought to implement a Design System, a structured approach to design consistency that aligns software interfaces across its various applications.

Context

The Army Design System Discovery was initiated under the Army Digital Services Deployed Applications Group, in alignment with the Government Digital Services (GDS) Discovery. The Discovery aimed to investigate the feasibility, governance, and operational impact of implementing a design system to unify and standardise software development within the Army.

At the time of initiation, software projects within the Army lacked a single source of truth for design principles, leading to fragmentation across teams. Various projects relied on independent style guides, creating divergence in UI/UX, technical integration, and interoperability. Additionally, the absence of a governance model meant that there was no mechanism to enforce compliance with Defence Standards (DEF-STANs), Joint Service Publications (JSPs), and industry best practices.

This project was closely aligned with the Land Deployed Applications Discovery, ensuring cross-pollination of insights between the two teams. The goal was to enable the Army to create software products that better serve soldiers operationally and in an enterprise environment while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

Activity

The Discovery was structured into multiple phases:

Mobilisation Phase: The team established the foundational research, defined the problem, and scoped out Systems Under Consideration (SUC). This included:

1. Lean UX Canvas to explore the problem space.
2. Mapping existing MOD design systems and style guides.
3. Stakeholder mapping across various Army digital initiatives.

Discovery Phase: A series of research activities were conducted, including:

1. Workshops and interviews with teams using or developing software within the Army.
2. Comparative analysis of existing military and industry design systems, including those from the Royal Navy’s Nelson Design System and other Defence Digital projects.
3. Evaluation of design systems from leading organisations such as Google, Salesforce, and Spotify to benchmark best practices.
4. Research on the impact of design systems on usability, development costs, and system scalability.

Governance & Commercial Model Development: The project explored different governance models:

1. Centralised approach (one controlling team sets the design rules).
2. Federated approach (design standards are distributed and co-managed by multiple teams).
3. A hybrid model, balancing oversight with decentralised contribution.

The team also assessed the commercial viability of the design system, estimating operational costs at approximately £100,000 per month for maintenance, with a projected need for 11 full-time roles, including developers, interaction designers, user researchers, and commercial specialists.

Result

The Discovery led to several key outcomes:

1. Problem Statement & Justification: The research confirmed that the Army lacked a standardised design mechanism, leading to inefficiencies in software development, high training burdens, and usability inconsistencies.
2. Baseline Framework for an Army Design System: The project established a set of principles, design patterns, and governance models required for implementing a standardised design system.
3. Stakeholder Buy-In: Engagements across MOD digital teams helped align efforts with broader Defence Digital initiatives, ensuring that the design system’s development would integrate with other MOD-wide transformation projects.
4. Design System Education Strategy: A training and onboarding approach was developed to ensure that future users—both within the Army and external contractors—could effectively implement and maintain the design system.
5. Potential for Scalability: The research provided insights into how the system could scale beyond the Army to encompass MOD-wide software development, ensuring coherence across defence applications.

Impact

The Army Design System Discovery project had significant short- and long-term impacts:

1. Operational Efficiency: By defining a common design language and component library, the Army can reduce the time and cost required for developing new software applications, leading to more agile and efficient software delivery.
2. User Experience Improvements: A standardised design system reduces cognitive load on soldiers, enabling them to operate software applications more intuitively, with reduced training requirements.
3. Cost Savings: A unified system minimises duplication of effort across teams, reducing the cost of UI/UX design, development, and maintenance.
4. Governance & Compliance: The design system ensures compliance with DEF-STANs, JSPs, and accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.0/2.1), enhancing interoperability across MOD applications.
5. Scalability & Future Adoption: The Discovery phase laid the groundwork for the Army Design System to be integrated into a MOD-wide framework, supporting the transition towards a unified, service-wide approach to software design.

The research findings and proposed governance models are now being considered for implementation in the Alpha phase, where an initial prototype of the Army Design System will be developed and tested across selected software projects.

Conclusion

The Army Design System Discovery project demonstrated the value of a coherent, standardised approach to software development within the British Army. By leveraging industry best practices and aligning with MOD-wide initiatives, the project positioned the Army for more effective, scalable, and cost-efficient software design. Moving forward, the success of this initiative will depend on stakeholder adoption, iterative refinement, and integration with broader MOD digital transformation efforts.