MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE-GUNTER ANNEX, Ala. -- The Business and Enterprise Systems Product Innovation (BESPIN) team has successfully scaled a significant need for Air Force software developers by offering User Experience Monitoring (UEM) as an enterprise service for the Department of the Air Force.
With the constant evolution of technology, assessing and reassessing the needs of application users has become vital to ensuring the longevity of a product.
In this case, the likely user is an Airman, and the goal is to gain deeper insight into how Airmen use digital applications and enterprise-wide services so that we can improve these technologies and increase overall mission success for the Air Force.
BESPIN’s UEM fulfills that need by providing detailed qualitative and quantitative data about an application that enables product teams to pinpoint issues and successes more accurately.
“The true value of focusing on user experience comes from understanding how the user interacts with your capability and using those actions of the end users to adjust and provide the best product possible,” said Lt. Col. Tyler Hough, Chief Operating Officer for BESPIN. “BESPIN has designed a scaled capability to support the warfighter by increasing not only the effectiveness of the software but also the efficiency in which a human interacts with the software.”
UEM Subject Matter Expert Ron Stevens, of BESPIN vendor partner Omni Federal, echoed Hough’s words saying that UEM strives to help application teams understand their users.
“What are they doing?” Stevens said. “Where are they going? What issues are they experiencing? We’re dedicated to making sure we provide that level of transparency to our UEM customers.”
By tracking and accessing user data, BESPIN’s UEM helps mobile and web application teams make more informed decisions about where to invest time and money in addition to enhancing customer experience.
Powered by Matomo – the leading open-source web analytics tool that captures detailed information about a user’s complete journey on an application – BESPIN’s UEM can track:
• Location
• The type of device used
• Engagement behavior, such as when a user enters and leaves a page
• Content interaction, such as when a video plays and pauses
• How long it takes for a page to load
• The various ways users learn about applications
BESPIN will soon begin the UEM onboarding process, but Air Force organizations can contact BESPIN now via email at info@teambespin.us to let their interest be known and start organizing with the program office to map actions for onboarding.
Scaling this service for the Air Force enterprise was an ongoing effort for about a year. Before launching this service, BESPIN’s virtual learning platform Digital University (DU) piloted the initiative. BESPIN’s Data as a Service team also contributed by providing authentication services.
“After proving that it can work through the pilot effort with DU, we scaled it into a service that any team can use,” Stevens added.
Over time, BESPIN intends to incorporate features like user feedback and network monitoring into the service.
BESPIN’s UEM was created in joint-partnership with vendors Skylight and Omni Federal.