Horizon

OVERVIEW

Human-focused learning platform and personalized avatar coach to help SIW build interpersonal skills to lead a confident life post-release.

Research reveals that previously incarcerated women struggle with the interpersonal communication skills, like job interviewing, necessary for re-entering society.

The real-time practice that allows these women to improve human-to-human interaction. Over time, users will build their interpersonal skills with like-minded peers, still virtually, the better to feel comfortable in transitioning to human-to-human interaction.

Users create their own avatar and they collaborate with each other - avatar to avatar. The cool thing is that there is a human behind the virtual avatar.

My Role:

Secondary / Primary Research
UX Research
Co-creation
Usability Test
Experience Design
Interaction Design
WireFrame/Prototype

Sponsored by

Chicago 77, Rebel Health Corporation

Duration

January - May 2023 (5 months)

Team

Woo-Mi Jeong, Sandhini Ghodeshwar

PROJECT GOAL

Design experiences for System-Impacted Women (SIW) to build trust, confidence,
and skills in using technology to access services that help them regain their independence.

Technology access skills

Build confidence

Regain independence

Feel empower

WHO ARE THE SYSTEM-IMPECTED WOMEN(SIW)?

Women who are incarcerated or recently released from custody.

Problem

SIW struggle with re-entering society due to difficulties in interpersonal communication, as limited exposure to healthy relationships since childhood can hinder the development of emotional intelligence and empathy.

Solution

Human-focused learning platform with personalized avatar coach that helps SIW build interpersonal skills to lead a confident life post-release. For SIW who are struggling with building soft skills such as small talk for job interviews before re-entering society.

The features align with SIW's expectation

Avatars play a role in multidimensional

1.personalized learning coach

2.Real time interaction with peer

Why digital human avatars?

Digital Humans are human-like virtual beings that offer the best human conversation. The platform seeks to make SIW more comfortable with technology-based interaction, for example by using verbal and non-verbal cues – tone of voice and facial expressions.

Increase attention

Relatable

Accessible 24x7

Applied knowledge

Final Design

Choose the Interesting Learning in On-boarding

Through the secondary and primary research, we figured out that SIW generally work in face-to-face service industries like retail. We, therefore, offer interpersonal skills to support their future job interviews and workforce journey.

Customizing Avatar

Soft Skills Builder allows users to create personalized avatar coaches, giving the users greater agency and an emphasis on diversity. Users can also create their own avatar- this acts as a fun element, that uses real-time interaction for practicing human interaction, for example, job interviews with other SIW.

Learn

SIW can choose from a wide range of interpersonal skills to pick from like small talk, active listening, reading body language, introductions, and talking about their past, among many others. Our human AI coaches give the users a guided experience to build these skills.

Practice & Feedback

Using human AI coaches, users can practice their newly learned skills by creating their own structures for their answers and getting real-time feedback from the coaches on what worked well and what did not.

Real-Time Interaction with Peer

SIW create their own avatar and they collaborate with each other - avatar to avatar. SIW could play with the tool and choose from a pre-existing avatar that other people have used. The cool thing is that there is a human behind the virtual avatar.

Multimodal Interaction

To improve accessibility, SIW are able to practice with coach and peers with less time and place limitation

Community

Leveraging a sense of community that already exists in prisons, Soft Skills Builder allows SIW to practice with their friends to help them grow and build confidence.

Secondary Research

Building skills is fundamental to help SIW live with independence and confidence.

1. Prevention of recidivismrates

Providing women in prisons with programming opportunities (vocational studies, education, employment skills, financial wellness) can help reduce recidivism rates ¹ ² ³

2. Understanding SIW context

3.10 things to know about the technology acceptance model

4.Expected process to regain independence.

User Interview

Interview purpose was to figure out what kind of skills they really needed.

Needs (key takeaways)

1. SIW need to learn soft skills to build interpersonal relationships with people.
2. SIW have a strong need to financially support themselves.
3. SIW must transition from pen-and-paper to touch interfaces
without much technical support to access needed resources.

Barriers

Emotional intelligence

"Just respond based on feeling... something hurts, angers...they will respond immediately in social settings that can backfire "

Uncomfortable counselors

"Counselors are not always doing their job, and not caring and being sympathetic. Looked as someone who is bad, dangerous and stigma."

In-person education

"Not financially literate... This was not taught in high schools. People are hungry to learn."

Ideation

Need

1. Financial independence

2. Learn interpersonal skills

3. Make practice habits

4.leverage a sense of community

Context

What industries SIW work?
Face to face service like retail

How encourage SIW interact
with technology?

How SIW get motivation to practice? share similar experience each other

How SIW regain confidence?

Idea

Help SIW find job that requires interpersonal skills

Digital human avatar coach

Collaborate with peers

Build community

Build Use Cases

Customization

This feature allows users to create personalized avatar coaches, giving the users greater agency and an emphasis on diversity.

Learn, practice & feedback

SIW choose from a wide range of interpersonal skills to pick from like small talk, active listening, and reading body language. The digital human coaches give a guided experience to build these skills and real-time feedback.

Real-time interaction with peer

They collaborate with each other - avatar to avatar. The women choose from a pre-existing avatar that other people have used and a human behind the virtual avatar. They would experience power differences like the interviewee as well as the interviewer.

Choose the interesting lecture

This feature helps SIW who are confused about what to choose, screen function by giving them detailed content information - Lesson resource, learning time to complete, content module, and expectations after completion.