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Class Blog Design Research

Common Problems of people in the civil legal system

Talking to the experts in the court system, we heard what some of the most wicked, common problems are for people — the common places that they fail in getting to a good resolution.

  • It’s very hard to finish a divorce case. Even if you get it started, and do many of the tasks, divorce’s don’t just “finish themselves” once a party starts them. The case can go in so many directions, depending on what your spouse does in response to your filing for divorce. In legal terms, this is about “finalizing case to judgment.”
  • When court experts try to tell people about the many possible ways to finish a divorce, it’s overwhelming for the person. There are so many possible outcomes and path, it’s like a fire hose of information.
  • Serving process is very hard. It’s a step that people have to do on their own, after they’ve left the Self Help Center and the assistance there. Completing the forms and following the procedure is very tough. There are so many requirements.
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Class Blog

Our big guiding design briefs

After our first two classes, we began to identify some of the big questions that characterize how the court needs to improve. We decided to segment based on where the person is in their journey through the system. Each brief focuses on a different moment.

We are going to use these design briefs to frame our new Winter Quarter class. Each of the briefs correspond to a particular stage of the typical user’s journey through the civil legal system. The teams will work to craft new interventions for each of these points, but then also coordinate with each other so their new solutions will provide for a cohesive experience.