GRACIOUS SISTERS APP

The young victims of Violence Against Women (VAW) struggle to find a platform where they can share their experiences and seek help and support due to fears of stigma and lack of trust. The solution delivered a digital safe space where they can comfortably connect with other victims and service providers.

The focus of this proposed computing research project was to tackle this very important question: “How can we continue to use technology as aid in combatting violence against women?”

The name of the mobile app is Gracious Sisters. A ‘Gracious’ person is one who is courteous, kind-spirited, and caring especially towards someone or people in need of help. Girls and women are the main target user of this app hence why the word ‘Sisters’ was selected for the name of the app.

Gracious Sisters Slogan; Uniting and fighting violence against women because together we are stronger

PROJECT

PROJECT INFO

• Role - UX/UI Designer
• Tools - Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma
• Timeline - 4 Months

DESIGNERS / TEAM

• Key Deliverables - Domain research, Competitive analysis, User personas, User journey maps, Information Architecture, Paper prototyping, Concept testing, Usability testing, Mid-fidelity wireframes, App Map, inVision prototype

Proposed Project Timeline/Process

APPROACH

MY PROCESS

1. Empathise

• SME Interviews
• Competitive Analysis
• Contextual Inquiries
• User Interviews

2. Define

• Affinity Mapping
• User Personas
• Problem Statement
• Design Principles
• Context Scenarios
• User Journey Maps

3. Ideate

• 6-8-5 Sketches
• Formattable Testing
• Paper Prototyping
• Site Mapping

4. Prototype

• Low Fidelity Prototype
• Mid Fidelity Prototype

5. Testing

• Usability Testing

RESEARCH

WHAT WAS I TRYING TO ANSWER?

The main aim of the research was to shed light on the experiences faced by the victims of VAW and how we can continue to use technology as an aid in combatting this major social phenomenon.

THE FINDINGS 

The study results show that the majority of the victims and survivors of VAW usually seek help from appropriate authorities and agencies but there seems to be a lot of claims of inefficient or poor help or support received. This results in the victims having a major lack of trust and therefore never seeking help again due to fears of re-traumatizing.

Age

40%

of the participants were women between the ages of 25 and 34 years old.

Marital Status 

60%

 of the women were either married, civil partnered, or cohabiting.

Religion / Beliefs

90%

of the participants who were interviewed were religious & most of them were Muslims and Christians.

Ethnic Background

80%

of the participants were from the Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee BAMER group background.

SYNTHESIS

WHO IS THE USER? 

Using the results gathered from the participants and without disclosing any personal information, the following user persona was created. The user persona shown below is of a fictional character that represents all of the different women who participated in the study

In order to stay focused and fulfil the needs and wants of the user (Jane Doe), the main issue needed to be properly communicated and understood. A brief yet clear description of the problems that needed to be solved in order to improve the UX of accessing VAW support.

The problem statement is framed from the user research point of view and it is based on the 4 Ws (Who, What, Where & Why).

USER JOURNEY MAP

This section digs deeper into understanding the experiences of seeking support from authorities and relevant organisations. In order to do this, the user journey map below was created. This allowed the researcher to visually see and represent the pain points faced by victims and survivors of VAW when trying to access information or help online. The journey map also demonstrates how the user, Jane Doe seeks for help and support online.

Jane Doe’s Journey Map 

DESIGNING

THE BRAND AND STYLE ELEMENTS 

The information that was gathered from the conducted study were further synthesised and analysis is provided in a more graphical manner. Concepts that were ideated, tested, and iterated are demonstrated and style elements were presented.

Style Tile

Logo Design

Colour Palette

6-8-5 Sketch

THE ARCHITECTURE: APP MAP

An application map was created to strategize and visualise the architecture and hierarchy of the concepts on the Gracious Sisters app. This time-saving tool was beneficial because it allowed for the app to be well structured prior to the implementation stage.

Application User Flow – Gracious Sisters

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