Child Support Digitalization
deloitte x scad pro project
SCAD Pro is a collaborative design studio that connects current and future art and design professionals with business leaders to find creative and innovative solutions for real-world challenges. I was honored to have been selected as one of the team members for the Fall 2022 SCAD Pro X Deloitte project.
Deloitte commissioned SCAD Pro to undertake a transformative project, delving deeper into a specific subject area. Specifically, Deloitte requested a solution to enhance the digital experience of child support, with a particular focus on non-custodial parents; this collaborative endeavor presented an exciting opportunity to address a real-life problem.
Time frame
Sep 2022 - December 2022 (10 weeks)
Tools
Figma, Miro, Figma jam, Illustration, After effect, photoshop
Project role
School Sponsored Project
/ UX Analysis Leader
Deliverables
Interaction Design: UI library, Prototype
UX/UI design: User Research, System design
Outreach Campaign
outcome
Research
Background Context
Our client, Deloitte, is a private company that has been conducting research on child support services for over 35 years. State governments hire Deloitte to help modernize systems and achieve better outcomes.
The Child Support Program is the third-largest child service program in the United States, serving 13.2 million children, which is approximately 1 in 5 children. Given that child support nearly doubles the average income of recipients living below the poverty line, it plays a crucial role in the welfare system.
A key challenge in recent years has been engaging non-custodial parents in child support. Deloitte aims to address this issue by reimagining the online user experience for non-custodial parents, seeking to enhance child support enforcement and encourage timely and full payments.
Problem Overview
Problem
Currently, most of the information and resources on the website are disorganized, leading parents to give up on utilizing the support they need.
Even parents interested in enrolling in the program cannot find proper services on the web, or they experience a poorly executed service.
Many non-custodial parents have expressed their hesitancy to join the program, citing their lack of trust in government programs and workers as the main reason.
Proposed Solutions
Improve the program's online presence and service delivery by redesigning the website for better user experience.
Create more opportunities for social interaction and community building within the online platform.
Build features that allow parents to see the progress status in real-time to make them feel the program is transparent and trustworthy
Research Method
Child support is a complex system, and none of our team members have a better understanding of it than non-custodial parents themselves.
We conducted in-depth research in four different ways to get an extensive understanding of the target audience and the current challenges.
Secondary research
Assessed the current service status and examined state annual reports and research papers from
7 different states.
Interview
Conducted interviews with
5 parents who have experience with the Child Support System.
Survey
Gathered insights from 9 non-custodial parents to understand their frustrations and needs within the Child Support System.
Competitive analysis
Analyzed 3 Child Support System websites operated by state governments and evaluated 3 parenting apps available in the market
Research Highlight
Secondary Research Highlights
The Child Support System is a program operated by state governments. Therefore, we decided to initiate our research by analyzing state governments' annual reports, with a specific focus on the current digital experiences.
Survey Highlights
Interview Highlights
Research Findings
While each parent's experience varies, they all seek an improved Child Support System experience.
Research Insights
The number of people accessing services far exceeds the number of enrollments.
Many NCPs struggle with low-income or unstable employment positions. This often occurs due to concerns about the ability to afford support orders.
Most state governments have a website for Child Support Services, but few have mobile-friendly apps.
More and more people prefer mobile access to Child Support Services.
Development
Developing Solutions
With a deeper understanding of users' sentiments regarding potential borrowing and shopping within Farm-hand, I recognized the significance of defining the target audience and crafting the user persona based on these insights. This approach guides my design decisions as we progress through the development process.
Co-parenting
A tool for parents to be in touch with each other
Scheduling visitation
Access to the child’s records
Top Consideration
Provides information and resources relevant to a specific case
Accurate information about rights and responsibilities
Personalized employment program
Top Consideration
Personalized Information
Persona & User journey
Structuring Framework
Rapid Sketching for wireframe
As a team, we engaged in rapid sketching sessions to brainstorm ideas and selected several sketches. These multiple rounds of rapid sketching on paper unveiled the challenge of simplifying essential tasks while ensuring a personalized experience for various types of target users.
Rapid Sketches from Team
Low fidelity wire frame
We transitioned from the selected rapid sketches to low-fidelity wireframes in Figma for early-stage user testing, ensuring a seamless user experience.
Flow Chart
After crafting low-fidelity wireframes, we conducted a few user tests with team members in the outreach department. During this process, we noticed the need for a personalized dashboard screen that caters to different types of users.
Given the client's primary goal of improving the payment rate among non-custodial parents, we categorized users based on their payment status and created corresponding flow chart.
User Testing Highlights
After creating our mid-fidelity prototype, we carried out user testing involving 7 target users. In my role as the analysis lead, my focus was on observing users' reactions as they completed the tests. During this process, I specifically evaluated the website's flow, the language used across the platform, and the effectiveness of the illustrations. With these test sessions, we were able to gain valuable insights to inform our ongoing design development.
Overall Experience
of the users found our designs intuitive and easy to navigate
95%
of users found the calendar feature useful for parents with complicated relationships
78%
Calendar
of users appreciated having a place to keep child records stored safely
83%
Documents
Final Design
Overall Design Solution
Final Design solution
White labeling
While collaborating closely with Deloitte,
a prominent consulting firm with nationwide contracts, we identified the need for a versatile white-labeling system.
By implementing this solution, Deloitte gained the ability to customize and adapt their offerings for different states, enabling seamless integration of various brand identities and facilitating contract management.
White Labeling allows Deloitte to adapt each state’s Brand identity without additional work.
Responsive web Experience
Catering to our target user group's potential limited access to desktop devices, the team developed a web-responsive experience.
This initiative emphasizes payments, integrates CSS for additional resources, introduces a parenting calendar for visitation schedule visibility, and streamlines the co-parenting process with mutual document access.
Lesson Learned
Approach to the Problem in a Bigger View: Acknowledging that some problems are multifaceted and embedded within larger systems is crucial. Understanding the systemic nature of issues allows for more comprehensive and effective solutions.
Empathy Towards Users, Especially in Sensitive Topics: Recognizing the importance of empathy, especially when dealing with sensitive subjects like child support, is a key takeaway. Designing solutions that genuinely consider and cater to the needs of the users is fundamental.
Incorporating User Testing for Continuous Improvement: Emphasizing the value of ongoing user testing demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement. Recognizing that there's always room for growth and refinement in solutions is a critical aspect of successful design and problem-solving.