The information available to those seeking a restraining order is presented in a way that is confusing. If the person is seeking a restraining order, they must navigate through pages and pages of information on the website for the state they are seeking a restraining order in.
For the purposes of this app, we used the information on the California Courts website as a starting point. We began with examining the user experience on this website, as well as several other similar websites, and identified where the user’s pain points could be.
Next, we parsed out the essential information the user would need to know, and developed a user process flow which included several different user flows, with the intention of providing a unique flow for the user depending on their specific situation. Finally, we used this user flow to create wireframes, and we used the wireframes to create a clickable prototype.
First, in order to understand the problem space as well as the user’s experience when trying to navigate the options currently available to them, I reviewed the California Courts website, as well as several other related websites. Although I reviewed several websites, here I will focus on findings from my review of the California Courts website.
• Having the information laid out in the way it is could be very confusing to someone who may not be familiar with this process already (there are two sections for two “types” of restraining orders)
• It’s a lot of information to take in at once and could be overwhelming
• It may be a lot easier for the person looking at this to understand what they need to do for their specific situation if it was somehow possible to display only the information relevant to their situation
Using the information gathered from the websites I reviewed, I created a user flow which mapped out possible red routes a user could take to get the restraining order they would need for their specific, unique situation.
The flow was designed to assess what type of restraining order the user would need, and to give them next steps and resources for their individual situation.
With the user process flow as a blueprint for the possible red routes a user could take, I created wireframes for each possible flow using Balsamiq. I shared these wireframes with the client, and we talked about the design choices and what may need to be changed, and I iterated the wireframes according to our discussions.
Next, I created a clickable prototype using the wireframes I had made in Balsamiq.
