OpenGym
Designing for staff who support intimate partner violence victims
For HCI capstone, I worked with a team of four to design a tool for the Allegheny Department of Human Services to support staff assisting families facing intimate partner violence.
Role
UX Research & UX Design
Duration
4 months
Tools
Figma
Google Suite
? About DHS
The Allegheny Department of Human Services (DHS) supports a wide range of human needs across the county, from disability services to family strengthening. Within its network, DHS funds local Family Centers where case workers build long-term, trusted relationships with families, even supporting them from a child’s birth through their early school years if needed.
To see our mapped out process, hover here!
♜ Challenge
Help DHS design resources to better support victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the staff who support them.
☌ Research
Mapping out what we know, what we want to learn, what we don't know activity to figure out our research objectives.
Key Research Questions
How does DHS currently operate?
What support does DHS currently provide for people experiencing IPV?
How does the transition from DHS services to IPV support happen currently, if at all?
What are the key IPV signals that DHS service providers notice?
Primary Research
Conducted 8 Zoom and in-person interviews to better understand the daily experiences of family center case workers.
Secondary Research
Researching Different Counties
Analyzing available IPV resources and support structures
Different Screening Tests for IPV
Exploring general IPV screening tests
Identifying confusing or unclear UX related to IPV on DHS's website
⛅︎ Interview Takeaways
From our interviews, we found:
Insight 1
Building a trusting relationship with families is essential so they feel comfortable sharing their situation and struggles.
Insight 2
How might we create a tool that can be used flexibly, in time and setting?
Insight 3
Prioritizing staff mental health is essential in delivering life-saving care.
☁︎ Ideation
Crazy 8's
Ideate crazy ideas to tackle our insights
Concept Mapping
Mapping out everything we know
User Journey
Mapping out the experiences of multiple user personas
Empathy Map
Understanding our user group's feelings and intentions
4 Key Idea Areas
♜
Case Management System
Tracking staff interactions with IPV victims through casework history and meeting notes for a relationship timeline.
⚛︎
AI System
Input information about case and AI analyzes case details and generates questions or suggestions to advance it.
✍︎
Training & Reflection
Tool to train new and current staff, strengthen team relationships, and provide mentorship.
♜
Messaging System
Messaging platform across family centers, share cases and advice (peer to peer mentoring and support system).
⚙︎ Feedback
After consulting our client, we found that…
We should be aware of technical feasibility of our solution, considering the varying levels of tech literacy among staff and providers.
Data concerns
Resistance to tech
Lack of access to tech systems
So this became our Insight 4.
✌︎ Choosing our product
To help us decide which direction we should narrow down, we compared each idea to our insights to see which idea area targets the most insights.
We can see that the Training and Reflection area satisfied the most areas.
☁︎ Second Round of Ideation
Within the Training & Reflection area, we ideated another 5:
⚙︎ Feedback round 2
After another round of feedback from our client, we found that…
Hitting Insight 1
Prioritize group use over individual
Hitting Insight 4
Prioritize physical activity over digital
Hitting Insight 3
Target key themes like reflection
Introducing, Say More.
A structured card toolkit designed to open space for vulnerable, respectful, and informed conversations around IPV.
Prompting Meaningful Convos
This tool uses prompt cards with questions like, “Tell us about a time you had a tough conversation about IPV,” “What made it challenging?” to spark meaningful conversations. It encourages staff and providers to reflect and share their experiences, fostering dialogue and peer learning.
7 different categories
46 cards
Each of these categories and questions were decided based on research & feedback.
☀︎ Impact
Currently internally implemented at DHS. They are continuously evolving the prompts and formulating a resource guide.
✈︎ Takeaway