Project Vision
Olea is an all-in-one job seeking and training app specifically designed for individuals who are currently incarcerated. One of the main causes of the high recidivism rate (the rate at which people eventually go back to prison after release) in the US is that they are unable to find meaningful employment opportunities. With this app, inmates can train and apply for jobs, securing a job before every being released, upping their chances of staying out of prison in the future.
Challenges
1. Job opportunities for previously incarcerated individuals are few and far between.
2. Current methods of informing inmates of job opportunities are outdated and cumbersome.
3. Employers are often wary of hiring previously incarcerated individuals because of the perceived risks.
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Research
Interviews with former inmates, DOC administration in Tennessee and Florida, and the executives at the nation's largest prison tablet provider were conducted for feedback, usability, and security oversight.
Overall, the idea of an app that allows inmates to train and directly apply for jobs was extremely well received. Many technological and security obstacles were brought up, but nothing that was a deal-breaker.
Persona: Derek
Age: 39
Location: Miami, FL/Austin, TX
Derek is an inmate with a one-year sentence. He is currently incarcerated in an institution in Florida. However, once he is released, he plans on going back to Austin, TX, where he is from. He wants to get a job that will help him stay out of trouble once he is released, but the current methods of finding and contacting potential employers is unreliable, cumbersome, and outdated. Oftentimes, jobs he finds are no longer available by the time he finally makes contact with an employer.
Persona: Susan
Age: 50
Location: Austin, TX
Susan is a hiring manager for an Oil & Gas company based in Austin, TX. She is in charge of posting jobs online, managing applicants, and ultimately deciding on the right candidate to hire. She sees an opportunity in hiring former inmates, both for her company and for the community as a whole. However, there are obvious risks involved in hiring former inmates, and the methods for finding ones that will make quality employees are few and far between.
Persona: Casey
Age: 32
Location: Miami, FL
Casey is a reentry counselor for the Florida Department of Corrections. She has a passion for helping inmates thrive and succeed once they are released from prison. She wants to help in anyway that she can, but the systems and processes to do so are often outdated and slow.
User Pain Points
1.
Current method for current inmates to employers who may hire them is through a rarely updated list of companies. No contact can be made directly and must either be made through a representative of the inmate or remembered for use upon release.
2.
A lack of experience or knowledge, and no way to gain either while incarcerated, causes inmates to fail in procuring a job before they even begin.
3.
No way for inmates and potential employers to easily communicate.
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Starting the Design
Paper Wireframes
Early paper wireframes showed rudimentary layouts for a variety of pages. Ultimately, most of these were changed dramatically in later digital designs, but a lot of the ideas were present.
Digital Wireframes
Profile Page
In the digital wireframes, the design morphed into from a tiered layout approach to more of a card focused layout. A button in the top right would allow an inmate to download or view a version of their resumé which the app helps them create as they add more information about themselves and engage in the Learning section of the app.
Job Search
The Job Search page would allow inmates to search for job opportunities in an area of their choice. Job descriptions would include general descriptions as well as the requirements for the job, most of which could be completed within the Learning section of the app
Learning Section
Initially called "Education," the Learning portion of the app includes rows of programs and courses which can be taken by inmates to increase their learning, train them for specific jobs, and improve their resumé.
Low Fidelity Prototypes
This prototype represents a lofi rendering of the entire app.
This prototype begins with the "Create an Account" screen and takes the user through that flow before arriving at the main app.
This prototype walks through a typical user journey for each persona, used as a presentation tool for key stakeholders.
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Refining the Design
After a round of usability testing with the low fidelity prototypes, some lessons were learned and applied in the high fidelity mockups.
The Learning section underwent the biggest changes. Users found the list/card version of the initial design tool text heavy and not set up well for organization. Another wireframe was first designed, and then a hifi version, including rows of thumbnails representing programs/courses, as well as a large section that would feature an in-progress course with the ability to easily continue with the tap of a button.
The Profile page was given a facelift with actual cards utilizing elevation drop shadows. The main navigation bar was also upgraded to include color icons for the selected page.Colors and Typefaces were also solidified and utilized.
The overall design was enhanced with a colorful palette, inset text boxes, appealing typefaces, and uniform buttons.
High Fidelity Prototype
Below you will find a High Fidelity prototype of the inmate tablet version of the app. Below that, you will find a button that will take you to the flow that of applying for a job. The last 2 buttons will show you the designs for the browser website for both an Employer and an Advocate (reentry counselor).
The Prototype below is a full user journey walkthrough of the app, along with the companion Employer and Advocate websites. This is a massive application, so I wanted to be sure to highlight everything important going on! Enjoy!
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What I Learned
This project was massive! Through it all, I learned so much, from how to stick to a design system to how to take meaningful feedback from stakeholders and apply it in the best way possible. There were times when it all seemed very overwhelming, but with a project like this that has the potential to impact lives in a tremendous way, as well as impact the US prison system as a whole, it was well worth it.
There are multiple interested parties in this idea, and talks with major stakeholders is currently in progress. This app truly has the potential to take the US recidivism rate down a couple of percentage points, and I fortunately have the opportunity to continue with this project and see it through!
