Summary
How do you design engaging communications experiences when the audience you serve faces obstacles to connect? The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD) strives to provide Veterans with tangible resources and information to help with mental health and seeking treatment. Historically, there’s been a significant portion of the Veteran population NCPTSD has not been able to reach and they needed to better understand their audience’s pain points and how to connect effectively. Over the past two years, we’ve taken a human-centered approach to empathize with and understand the Veteran experience to better reach and communicate with them.
Key Insights
-
•
Up to 30% of Vietnam veterans experience PTSD in their lifetime, vastly higher than the 6% average among civilians.
-
•
Nearly three-quarters of those exposed to violent trauma report alcohol use disorders, linking PTSD with substance abuse and suicide risk.
-
•
Less than half of veterans who died by suicide had contact with VA healthcare in the two years prior, highlighting access and trust issues.
-
•
Military culture often stigmatizes admitting mental health challenges, making veterans hesitant to seek help.
-
•
Aligning clearly articulated goals with measurable success criteria is essential before designing outreach communications.
-
•
Superficial audience segmentation is insufficient; deep personas revealing demographic and emotional diversity improve outreach precision.
-
•
Mapping audience journeys with key touchpoints enables targeted messaging that addresses veterans' real concerns and obstacles.
-
•
Effective campaigns rely on combining core messaging themes with the appropriate communication vehicles—emails, SMS, social media—tailored to audience preferences.
-
•
Digitizing initiatives like the PTSD Pledge Form can dramatically increase participation and awareness.
-
•
The PTSD Coaching app campaign saw a 65% initial download increase, evidencing that direct digital engagement can empower veterans to manage symptoms.
Notable Quotes
"At any given year, 10 to 20% of veterans will suffer from PTSD, compared to only 6% of civilians."
"Nearly three quarters of those surviving violent trauma report alcohol use disorders, which can lead to thoughts of suicide."
"Military training focuses on strength and protecting others, not admitting vulnerabilities or asking for help."
"Knowing generally where you’re going is not the same as having clearly articulated goals, objectives, and measurements for success."
"Without alignment on goals, communication efforts get scattered, resulting in ineffective outreach."
"We created personas that address who the veteran is, what their goals are, their pain points, and their experiences with the VA."
"We break down overarching messages into pillar messages and key proof points to create digestible, empathetic communication."
"Between February and March 2020, promoting the PTSD Coaching app led to a 65% increase in downloads."
"The Step Up for PTSD Virtual Walk exceeded its goal of 2,700 participants, with more than 30,000 app downloads for the event."
"This veteran-centric approach gives us a foundation to grow outreach and better serve veterans struggling with PTSD over time."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The System Usability Scale’s question about needing a technical person to use the system is confusing and inaccurate for screen reader users."
Sam ProulxSUS: A System Unusable for Twenty Percent of the Population
December 9, 2021
"Design Ops in government requires a lot of diplomacy – it’s about managing relationships and stakeholder expectations."
Michael LandEstablishing Design Operations in Government
February 18, 2021
"We stuck with NPS because it was a pure metric with a long history we could trend, instead of muddying things with loyalty or revenue."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"Communication matters—sending an email to an executive with spelling mistakes can ruin your respect."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"The chief of staff serves as a bridge between the design program managers, executive assistants, and other ux and product chiefs of staff."
Isaac HeyveldExpand DesignOps Leadership as a Chief of Staff
September 8, 2022
"Async communications helped us reduce emails and meetings, improving overall efficiency."
Amy EvansHow to Create Change
September 25, 2024
"Super strength is the resilience and endurance to partner and drive strategic impact backed by customer obsession."
Kate Koch Prateek KalliFlex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
September 30, 2021
"People don’t share their beliefs; you have to search for and understand them to get true buy-in."
Dave GrayLiminal Thinking: Sense-making for systems in large organizations
May 14, 2015
"Product teams want quick, grab-and-go research results, but reusable insights are more abstract and take longer to digest."
Matt DuignanAtomizing Research: Trend or Trap
March 30, 2020
