UX Design, as a subset of User-Centred Design (UCD), is concerned with enhancing the user’s interactive experience with a product, service or system. Various areas of product development such as branding, usability, and functionality are also involved in the process of UX Design.
Self-represented litigants have long faced formidable barriers in navigating traditional justice systems, which has created a significant access to justice gap for this disadvantaged group. Moreover, usability issues often impair the ability of self-represented litigants, and especially those without a legal background, to effectively understand and apply court rules, procedures and processes.
With its focus on enhancing the user’s interactive experience focussing on usability, design and functionality, UX Design holds tremendous promise for bridging the access to justice gap for self-represented litigants. Professor Richard Susskind’s conceptualization of a court as a service further underscores the potential of UX Design to increase access to justice for self-represented litigants. UX Design can help to do this by:
- Encouraging the conduct of user research and testing aimed at identifying the specific challenges and pain points faced by self-represented litigants in accessing justice;
- Assisting with the creation of user-centred and user-friendly websites, online platforms, and mobile apps that simplify court rules, procedures and processes;
- Supporting the development of engaging educational material and legal literacy tools to demystify and break down complex legal concepts, court rules, procedures and processes;
- Enabling the implementation of feedback mechanisms for digital platforms that facilitate access to legal services, which will allow court users to report relevant issues and propose recommendations for improvement;
- Improving e-filing systems by making it easier for court users, and especially those who are self-represented, to file documents required for the initiation and progression of matters in court;
- Empowering self-represented court users in particular by supporting the implementation of mechanisms that enable them to track the status of their matter as it progresses through the justice system; and
- Supporting the optimization of scheduling and resource management strategies within the court system.
Leveraging the transformative potential of UX Design is a critical step towards fashioning a more accessible and just legal landscape for self-represented litigants within traditional justice systems. For self-represented litigants, well-designed user experiences can reduce confusion, build confidence, and ensure that justice is not limited by their ability to navigate complex traditional justice systems.
