Our team, JP Design, was assigned with designing a new Provincial Offences Act (POA) court-space that would be applied in the One Marketing building located in the City of Brantford.
Our users are POA judges or Justices of the Peace who handle prosecuting non-criminal charges such as traffic violations or trespassing charges. However, as the court space we would be designing is a shared space that would be used for the next 20+ years by the community of Brantford, we kept all user groups in consideration as well. The current POA court space lacks accessibility, inclusivity, and modernism as it is an old concrete building made in the 1960’s. There is a lack of judicial resources for our core users, space to store documents, and overall no consideration of accessibility for defendants, prosecution, or even for where the Justices of the Peace must access their seats for a court hearing.
Our team designed three different court-space layouts that all varied depending on the information, knowledge, and limitations we gained through our data collection. Some key components each design focused on and incorporated were as follows:
Overall, we covered more components that our research and final designs in the following pages of the case study will further dive into.
Below are various research methods we used to gain a deeper understanding of our user’s needs, behaviours, motivations, and overall experiences.
We made the decision to use online surveys because it's an effective and low-cost method that can be accessed by a large scale of participants; an area we highly valued because of the difficulties we had connecting with our core user group. This method also allowed us to learn about our core user’s challenges from individuals who have either had interactions with or are more knowledgeable than our team on the Justices of the Peace’s experiences.
We sent out an online survey to some of our roommates, law students, which we then further asked them to send out to their law student peers. We gained a total of 8 participants and asked general questions about a Judge’s or Justice of the Peace’s experience. We specifically asked questions regarding the challenges and pain points Justices of the Peace may experience. Below are the questions asked:
We chose to conduct a semi-structured interview as we were able to gain a greater understanding of the specific users that we were designing for. We obtained insights from a manager who interacted and worked in the same building as the Justices of the Peace.
We were able to set up a Zoom interview with one of our clients, a Court Administration Manager. We asked various questions about the local Brantford Justices of the Peace. Topics regarding their experience and problems were addressed. We also inquired about all users’ accessibility in regards to the courthouse building. Below are the questions asked:
Obtaining a better understanding of the current local Justices of the Peace experiences was a primary reason behind why our team chose this method of research. Our team wanted to further be conscious of the current space layout that Justices of the Peace are working in as we were tasked with creating a new layout ourselves; this made it necessary for us as designers to view the current building and the issues directly related to it in order to design effective solutions ourselves.
Our team was able to set up an in-person tour at 9:00 am at the POA Brantford courthouse with one of our clients, the Court Administration Manager. He gave us a tour around the building where we were able to see each floor and most of the rooms. Through this tour, our team gained a greater understanding of how the Brantford court system works, its design structure and the reasons behind its current accessibility issues. Furthermore, we were also able to ask our client additional questions regarding the experiences of all the users, Justices of the Peace, and any other inquiries we had about the building’s layout or current system.
We analyzed the information we gained from the online surveys, semi-structured interview, and observational research, and found the following key findings:
Overall, the findings highlight the need for better accessibility and more space for the different users of the court space. Additionally, the Justice of Peace needs to manage their workload effectively while having access to the necessary information to ensure fair trials. The survey also suggests the need for a more relaxing and professional environment to ensure emotional wellbeing for all parties involved.
To better understand our users’ needs and perspectives, through our research and findings, we developed a fictional representation of our core user; Cordelia Adamas. She is a 61 year old woman who serves as a Justice of the Peace in the Brantford POA court. She also exhibits similar motivations, behaviours, and needs that we were able to uncover within the data we collected.
Our user journey consisted of everyday tasks a potential Justice of Peace would complete on a daily basis. We created this journey map based on the research we conducted and the findings we gained. This allowed us to gain further insights into what needs our team would need to improve or address; shifting us a step closer to understanding the Justice of the Peace's thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
As a result of the research we did to create a user journey, we were able to make the necessary changes and apply them to our end design.
As designers, we finally came into the step of ideating and gaining a rough sense of the final design via low-fidelity prototypes. In this case, we made the decision to sketch designs of the courtroom we planned to develop and did a Wizard of Oz experiment to better understand our users. For the second usability test, we created our medium-fidelity prototype in SIMs based on the information we had learned, and we conducted a think-aloud interview. The low-fidelity prototype sketches will be better shown with our testing below.
Completing sketches is a quick and easy way to visualize and communicate design ideas. The Wizard of Oz experiment is also a valuable tool to gain insights into how users interact with your prototype, especially if it is not yet fully functional. We used this testing technique as it helped us implement iterations and test the usability of the court space, allowed us to test how well users can intuitively navigate the space, and recognize which doors act as better signifiers for users to associate certain rooms with, like the courtroom.
We recruited four participants who would carry knowledge around the Justices of the Peace’s experiences; law students located in Brantford. We set up a Zoom meeting with our participants and the sketches of the design were presented to them. To test navigation in the courthouse, participants were asked to find the courtroom by selecting from labeled doors. The number of attempts and specific doors chosen were recorded. Successful participants were shown the next room until they completed the task. The goal was to assess if someone from the general public could easily navigate to the courtroom to watch a court case. Our team decided to conduct the Wizard of Oz experiment focusing on the following scenarios:
(Figure 1. First Person Perspective - Front Hall)
Figure 2. First Person Perspective - Front Foyer Sketch 1
Figure 3. First Person Perspective - Front Foyer Sketch 2
We conducted UX guerilla tests to assist us in identifying any issues or flaws that need to be addressed. We also asked the participants to complete a think-aloud protocol. Essentially, this is when users are performing tasks but are asked to say what they are thinking out loud. Both the ux guerilla and thinking-aloud tests aided us in understanding the defects our design has and the refinements that will need to be made.
We recruited four participants who would carry knowledge around the Justices of Peace’s experiences; law students located in Brantford. We set up a Zoom meeting with our participants and the sketches of the design were presented to them.
Our team decided to focus on the following scenarios:
First images of the medium-level prototype will be shown and explained to participants. The images will be zoomed in, starting at the entrance, and revealed slowly as they pick a route to take. Then the following questions will be asked.
Figure 4. First floor. Layout of route to the courtroom.
Figure 5. Second floor. Layout for a Justice of the Peace office and office/board room.
Based on the results and observations it seems that most people were able to recognize various signifiers that indicated which door the courtroom was behind. The various levels of width and detail put into the trim work as unspoken clues signifying the correct rooms. Some people did not choose the correct rooms first. This may be due to the sheer amount of rooms in the front foyer. This could also be due to their location, doors 6 and 7 are on the same wall; Some people may assume that the courtroom will be right beside the front hall. Door 7 has double doors as well which also may have made deciding difficult. Overall, these observations provide valuable insights into how users interact with the design and highlight areas where improvements could be made to enhance the user experience.Interviews
After the interview we got a lot of feedback and ideas to make our prototype better, common positive things that people talked about were the different style doors being good signifiers of what is behind them. The various separate doors into the courtroom were a positive aspect people noticed as well as the lounge space for the staff. Some common issues that people addressed were the lack of space in some areas and the need for judges' rooms to be close to their entry point into the courtroom. There were many additional rooms that people suggested and new locations of the original rooms. We received a lot of suggestions for improvements that could be made to change the courtroom. The major refinement that was suggested throughout this test was to expand the rooms to make them more spacious.
We applied our research and understanding to create the following prototypes:
The initial or “better” design refers to this prototype that was developed with a limited understanding of our user's requirements and preferences. However, after acquiring additional insights, we revised and enhanced the design to better address the user's needs. The prototype was developed using the Sims 4 game.
Here is a video walkthrough provided to get a better look at the initial layout we designed in the Sims 4: https://youtu.be/ccAQdUAzUs8
This prototype is the most realistic in terms of dimensions, cost, and location. With the information we were able to find, it is formatted to fit within Brantford’s One Market building. It was created using TinkerCAD.
Video Walkthrough:
Here is a video walkthrough provided to get a better look at the realistic layout we designed in TinkerCad: https://youtu.be/6O9Y8GgwOBs
This prototype includes the most unrealistic prototype with the more lavish and unrealistic details that we incorporated without any limitations/restrictions (like budget and location) holding us back. It was also created using TinkerCAD.
Justice of the Peace Office
In general, our team successfully gained a comprehensive understanding of the requirements and challenges faced by the Justice of the Peace. We were able to familiarize ourselves with the collaborative and communicative aspects of working with a client, as well as the intricacies of the judging process.
Moving forward, if we were to continue working on this project, we intend to conduct further user testing on our prototypes and gather more feedback directly from the user group. This will enable us to create a more refined and effective product that fully meets the needs of our target audience.
Overall, by working collaboratively and engaging in ideation and research, we were able to develop prototypes and models that foster an inclusive and accommodating environment for all participants in the court space, including the Justice of the Peace. Our focus on creating a product that caters to the specific needs of our target audience will ensure that our final product is effective and useful in the real world.
