Visualising the complexity of the battlefield

Introduction

The more we learned about the interwoven and overlapping relationships between users and their needs during the Land Deployed Applications Discovery, the more we realised we needed something other than a traditional user journey to help us visualise and communicate what was happening. This is when we developed the concept of a Scene – a practical way to make sense of this complexity through rich, research-led storytelling.

What is a scene?

A scene captures a military activity undertaken to achieve an effect. It can span 100–250km, has a defined beginning, middle and end, and typically blends multiple user journeys gathered from various research sessions. Crucially, it shows how individuals, teams and force elements interact – and where pain points emerge.

Many scenes revolve around the challenge of achieving reliable communications and timely situational awareness. Each one included a scene overview – a visual map of components, touchpoints, and context.

What makes this valuable?

We made these Scenes interactive – with clickable elements that link to the source material, pain points or broader problem statements. But more than that, their strength lies in helping us all see the system as it really is. By visualising these lived experiences, we can move beyond surface-level fixes to understand deeper issues – and start designing meaningful solutions.

Every scene looks a little different because it’s shaped by the context it aims to explain. And that’s the point.

Map view used to visualise Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD)

Tube Map used to visualise the end-to-end Fire process.

If you’re struggling to visualise your users’ context clearly, MilUX can help you make sense of the complexity and bring it to life.