Objective - The AN/PSS-14 IMI course was developed to create a more time/cost efficient method for Soldiers to train, and be certified to use the hand-held mine detector. The courses had to be developed using U.S. Army-developed software compatible with the Blackboard online education program. Each lesson contained detailed videos, images and interactive simulations to properly train students on the operation of the product, and if applicable, how to facilitate the actual course.
Challenge - Work within the requirements and software used by the military
Myself, another designer, and PM traveled frequently to Fort Leonard Wood, MO to gain an understanding of the users. We built out our personas through user research and interviews with soldiers. We started to then build our the curriculum for this course. We had to work very closely with our clients to make sure we were building a course that was accurate to what the soldiers needed to learn.
Working for the military meant learning new software that was custom built for them. During this project we had to make sure our product was designed and built in a way that fit into their requirements.
We created prototypes and tested these with soldiers. We wanted to make sure what we designed had interactive games, videos, and quizzes. It was important to test and QA this product to make sure we were providing accurate information.
We uploaded the course onto Blackboard (a learning management system) and we also created an .exe file of the application, for soldiers to use in the field where there is no internet access.