End-to-End Product • 2021
LoKi
An anti-DV and anti-Trafficking application.
Welcome to your safe space.
Note: This project was very personal to me, and is written and reviewed in first-person to reflect this.
Domestic Violence is a common crime.
“Every year, more than 10 million people in the U.S. are subjected to Domestic Violence”
At least 1 in 3 people assigned female at birth (35.6%) and 1 in 4 people assigned male at birth (28.5%) are victims of aggressive domestic violence. Whether that be stalking, rape, manipulation, or other physical violence.
I was prompted to think about this one day when I went to a public restroom and saw these kinds of posters:
Earrings are essentially worn in the ear lobe, but in recent times, the trend is to woman’s domain, men too have again taken to wearing earrings, like their ancestors.
I just looked at them and thought to myself: do these actually work?
Victims are expected to handle leaving on their own , with little guidance and lots of red-tape paperwork, phone calls, and endlessly reiterating their stories. This is what I call passive resources. Passive resources rely on victims having the time, energy, and overall ability to repeat this process over and over with any type of request.
This is 2021. We don’t have an excuse for this being so hard.
So, I came up with my problem statement:
“Victims of extreme domestic violence and trafficking deserve a more proactive method of reporting their situation and finding help. We need to give them more support and provide an easier method of getting in touch with the right people.”
What I propose is an app providing those suffering abuse a way to discreetly submit information.
This app is called Loki.
Loki would serve as a primary contact method for those looking to get help and leave their abusers. This means LoKi would have to record evidence (such as videos, pictures, voice messages, and other media), gather information from the victim so they can easily reach out to/apply to resources, and actually complete the process of applying for a resource so the victim doesn’t have to worry about it. If the victim has limited time this could help get them into a better position faster, and it could open the door to those who don’t have the hours to sift through resources in their area, call them, and reiterate their story for the 1000th time.
I then confirmed my theory.
I wanted to prove my concept out as something needed and necessary. I also needed a screener for user interviews, so I did both at the same time and the two main questions I wanted answered panned out exactly as I thought they would:
And with that, I hunkered down to nail out a timeline!
8 week timeline & chosen methodologies
I spent, over the course of 8 weeks, researching and designing what LoKi could be. All my decisions were rooted in what I uncovered during my discovery process and interview compilations.
Week 1: Discovery
Week 2: OOUX + Proto-Personas
Week 3: Interviews
Week 4: Compiling information & Proper Personas
Week 5: MLP Development
Week 6: Design & Prototyping
Week 7: Usability Testing
Week 8: Delivery
A rendezvous with Object-Oriented UX:
I went through the ORCA process of building UX informational objects to use as a compass for Loki. This includes:
- Noun foraging
- Object Defining
- System Modeling
- CTA Mapping
It was time to get the users involved.
I interviewed 6 participants, all with backgrounds in trafficking and dv.
- 1 survivor of human trafficking
- 3 survivors of domestic abuse
- 2 who are still being victimized by their abusers
The sobering truth from each interviewee was:
Resources weren’t doing enough, and they didn’t work for most people.
After categorizing my takeaways from the interview process, I boiled everything down into major observations and broad similarities.
Analyzing user archetypes came next.
I used my interview insights to create 3 personas based on victim types who might use LoKi.
On to design & wire-framing.
I chose a purple and blue color palette to represent the colors of domestic violence awareness and human trafficking awareness. The logo idea came from the concept of the new universal symbol for help: open-hand with thumb turned in, then closing the fingers over the thumb to make a fist.
I took my previously created objects and formed components to build out wireframes and potential wireflows.
I knew I wanted to focus on what I considered the most important introductory paths: Onboarding, getting out of the app quickly/hiding it, finding the way back in, and finding the emergency protocol.
This segued into creating templates for the mid and high fidelity wireframes.
Finalizing a high-fidelity prototype.
After several design iterations, I boiled my desired aesthetic down to a calming purple/blue gradient. I used Michael as the logo font, and Helvetica Neue for the body copy. I wanted to keep things simple and clean, since the app was created primarily for utility.
I designed both a light and dark mode for the application, focusing on melding the palette in a friendly, spaced-out and least intimidating way. I wanted the app to feel welcoming and not overwhelming as the main function is asking for information to fill out applications on behalf of the user.
Usability Testing
2 people, 30 minute tests & interviews.
Overall, the tasks I asked users to perform were done quickly and efficiently. The users were able to onboard and fill out their information easily. The precautionary features were easy for them to access and nothing failed my timed tests.
User 1:
Survivor
Tasks completed: 4/4
Time taken: 15 min
User 2:
Survivor
Tasks completed: 4/4
Time taken: 12 min
Key Takeaways
Victims need a better way of communicating with resources.
The way we ask victims to communicate with resources currently is “passive”, unhelpful, and often not feasible for those who really need the resource.
LoKi’s idea is favorable.
Potential users were really excited about LoKi and thought the premise and prototype were both very successful. LoKi is on the right track!
LoKi’s success is based around mitigation of personal risks.
LoKi needs to be perfect; it needs to hide itself quickly and leave no trace outside of the intended user. It needs to be secure, yet easy enough for a victim to get into it without too much stress.
Discretion is key.
LoKi needs to revolve around the primary user’s personal preferences and above all; allow them to control all levels of communication. It’s important for LoKi to give control back to people who are otherwise fearful and powerless.
LoKi needs to educate as well as connect resources to people.
LoKi needs to show people the possibilities of using resources and taking advantage of the various kinds. Many victims and survivors struggle with significant mental health, physical health, financial, and other personal issues, but they don’t know they can get help for them. LoKi should educate people on what to look for and try to bring a user more self-awareness about their personal feelings and understandings.
The Benefits, Risks, and Rewards.
The Benefits
The fiscal ramifications of domestic violence are huge:
“A study shows that the lifetime economic cost of intimate partner violence to the U.S. population is $3.6 trillion. ”
Federally we spend a lot of money that could be alleviated earlier in the process with more effective outreach .
The Risks
Why hasn’t this been done?
Time and cost for a not-for-profit app always create hesitancy. It’s no wonder we are only seeing personal safety apps just now “in the wild.”
However, lives saved are worth every single penny.
The Rewards
Lives will be saved, people will heal, abusers will be found quicker, easier, and more effectively.
Being someone’s hero in these situations is helping them escape constant hell. We can be those heroes!