University of Queensland designers have produced an award-winning strategy which could help Australian Defence personnel make high-stakes decisions when there is no obvious right answer.
UQ designers Professor Cara Wrigley, Dr Karla Straker and Dr Genevieve Mosely have developed a framework designed to prepare Defence personnel to make critical decisions in situations where there is no established playbook.
The research has informed the design and tender submissions for the Australian Defence Force's new intelligence and communications training facility at the HMAS Harman naval base in Canberra and has now been recognised at the 2026 Australian Good Design Awards.
Professor Wrigley said Designing the Intellectual Edge – A Strategy for Future Defence Learning challenged conventional thinking about how organisations prepare people for uncertainty.
"We know that developments in AI, cyber warfare and geopolitical instability will bring challenges over the next decade that are difficult to predict today,” Professor Wrigley said.
“Rather than training people for known challenges, our framework is designed to prepare defence personnel for situations where there is no textbook answer."
"This is an example of how design - often associated with products and buildings – is increasingly being used to solve complex challenges – in this case evolving military strategy.
Over a 12-month period an interdisciplinary team identified ways to fill a perceived gap between existing training models and the demands of complex, unpredictable military ecosystems, and came up with 3 unique approaches.
Professor Wrigley said while this project focussed on military challenges, the impact could extend beyond defence.
"Design is fundamentally about helping people navigate complexity," Professor Wrigley said.
"In Defence, the stakes are incredibly high, but the same complexities exist in sectors such as emergency management, healthcare, aviation and cybersecurity.
"To receive national recognition for work focused on the future of Defence learning is a powerful endorsement of design's capacity to tackle some of society's most complex challenges."
