Challenge
Ideate on a new product that will help to help ease the civilian transition for veterans returning from active duty
Focus
Understand the experience a veteran goes through after returning home and identify the coping mechanisms
Methodologies
Expert interview, secondary research, analogous research, user interview, ethnography
My role
Research recommendations and planning, participant recruiting, discussion guide design, interview moderation, data synthesis, report writing, strategic recommendations
Process
Expert interview - we got in touch with a VA counselor to explain what the process of transitioning from veteran to civilian life entails. A recurring component of the stories shared revolved around the rate of PTSD within the veteran population.
Secondary/analogous research - to get a better understanding of the effect of PTSD we looked to gather more information from support groups both inside the veteran community and within analogous situations such as help groups for rape victims suffering from PTSD. Their messaging often involved a component around building a community of support made up of friends and family.
User interview - at this point it was time to talk to actual veterans in hopes of learning more about what the military teaches them, what types of jobs they were likely to do, and what their story of coming home was like. An important theme we noticed during this phase was the degree of success in the civilian transition being tied to the amount of time they could keep themselves productive such as in a job that fulfilled them (although difficult to maintain with severe PTSD), spending time with their family, or taking up a new hobby.
Findings
Community is key
Excessive idle time can lead to destructive behavior
Taking up a new hobby can be therapeutic. Actual therapy is rarely seen as useful
A person that thrives in the military doesn’t do well in a 9-5 gig
Brotherhood takes on a new meaning when it comes to the military community
Recommendations
Create an Etsy for veterans. It would serve as a self-employment platform enabling vets to put positive energy towards creating something new and selling it to support themselves and their families. The site would not only allow them to create their own profiles to share their stories with others that have gone through similar experiences but also maintain a charitable donation function where users and supporters could opt into an additional fee with purchase that would go directly to the seller’s charity of choice.