Defence and Veterans' Service Commission

To meet the tight six-week delivery timeframe, Morpht adopted a parallel, outcome-focused delivery approach that balanced speed with quality and assurance. Discovery, design, development, and testing activities were run concurrently, allowing the team to rapidly iterate while maintaining alignment with DVSC expectations.

To fast-track the design and build, we leveraged the capabilities, tools and structure of our Convivial for GovCMS starter site. We then prioritised additional core functionality to support both transparency and user safety. This included structured data tables to clearly present recommendations and support services, improved site search to help users quickly locate information, and the implementation of a prominent ‘Quick exit’ feature to support users in distress.

We scheduled discovery workshops early to define a clear and intuitive information architecture, ensuring that the site could effectively communicate the role, functions, and priorities of the DVSC from launch. As part of the workshops, we interrogated the purpose and objectives of the site, the audience, needs and requirements.

From the get-go, the design of the site needed to be calm, safe, and inclusive. To achieve this, we considered the interplay of colour schemes, visual elements, typography, photography, and iconography. We also paid close attention to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards.

To meet the DVSC’s consultation and engagement requirements, Morpht designed and implemented content types to support public consultations and the structured display of submissions. These content types enable the DVSC to present curated lists of consultation submissions in a clear, consistent, and transparent manner, supporting public research and ease of access.

Submissions can be collected through public consultation webforms, tailored to a specific consultation activity. To ensure consistency, scalability, and ease of ongoing content management, Morpht developed a standardised webform template. This approach allows future consultation forms to be created efficiently while maintaining a consistent structure, data quality, and user experience across the site.

Findability was a key focus of the build, ensuring users could quickly and confidently locate relevant information without any prior knowledge of the DVSC or its internal structures. We implemented search to support filtering by content type, and core pages alongside published resources were prioritised through targeted search boosting. This ensured that authoritative and high-value content appeared more prominently in search results, reducing friction for users and supporting clearer pathways to critical information. We also created a dedicated resource library to support the discoverability of publications, guidance materials, and supporting documents.