Summer of Design Challenge

Research

User Interviews: Extreme Users

Through our research we found that 99% of domestic abuse cases involve financial abuse. By conducting 2 interviews and notetaking for 2 more, this stood out as a powerful statistic in our debriefs.

“It was like a big whirlpool, I felt like I was drowning every time, it was within the first few minutes of the conversation, he could twist it so quickly. I realize now that I was being manipulated, but I didn’t realize that for a long long time”

Identifying Insights

Journey Map

Using experiential data collected in the interviews, our team mapped out the user journey to determine where in the process we could create the most value. Our team spent a day discussing our discoveries and interview experiences to ensure that we captured our users end-to-end experience.

Insights

Through our research findings, we identified these 6 key insights to form our design criteria

1. Limited freedom is enough to prevent survivors from pursuing the hope of true freedom

2. Financial control becomes a psychological campaign that removes the idea of possible freedom regardless of financial resources

3. Personal variables have the most impact in the transition phase, not the decision point which ultimately impact the resources the person may need (variables include education, income, kids, age, health)

4. There may be indicators to outside parties that control may be happening

5. Resources by nature can be a deterrent because it requires trust in an unknown system

6. Success is relative but is universally shaped by the “three pillars” (Physical, Financial, and Emotional separation)

Design Criteria: “If anything were possible our ideal solution would…”

• Meet users “where they are” and scale to the spectrum of needs and starting points (e.g., education, age, income, kids, health)

• Address users’ unique challenges across three interconnected dimensions: emotionally, physically, and financially

• Allow users to see the bigger picture (including psychological control), reimagine their future and help empower them to regain control of their finances

• Help users understand and navigate the transition journey, and its ebbs and flows

• Build awareness and trust through accessible and reliable info and resources

Ideation

Once our design criteria was set, we were ready to start creating and testing solutions. We brainstormed ideas and tested our assumptions using rapid idea generation and creating a user flow.

Prototype, Test, and Present

In the end we created, prototyped, and iterated on “Grow Free Together”, a compassionate and holistic approach to building financial health using augmented reality technology.

By using an augmented reality platform to connect our users to financial assistance from trained specialists who have used the platform themselves, we were able to provide them the privacy and accessibility they needed, while more successfully building trust to accelerate the financial recovery process.