Tackling Workplace Harassment and Discrimination with Confidential Reporting Channels
Overview
We focused on the issue of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. About 61% of American workers have experienced or witnessed workplace discrimination, according to a study. "85% of people are more inclined to report harassment if they have access to an anonymous channel.". People in positions of authority frequently behave in a gaslighting manner when dealing with harassment situations, and victims of discriminatory harassment at work sometimes fear for their careers.
Role
Responsible for User Interviews, User Persona, Prototyping, Visual Designs, Usability Testing
Team
2 Researchers, 2 UX Designers
Timeline
Oct 2022 - Dec 2022
Problem
Despite biased Human Resources, challenging proof requirements, and job security concerns, the persistence of workplace harassment and discrimination pose a significant problem, leaving employees afraid of consequences even after leaving the organization.
How might we develop an effective system to prevent and resolve workplace harassment?
Solution - Empower Us
In an effort to address the issue, we are using the concept of social computing. Our solution is a website that lets users share their experiences and discover others'. The stories that are recounted are those from after an incident or a fight. The user must follow the guidelines when sharing a story, and a moderator will review the submissions.
Design Impact
I tested our final prototype with 10 users I found on (Reddit, Counseling & Mental Health Services, IU Students) to get an insight into how much impact the design will have on their day-to-day life. Based on their feedback, this is what they feel about the product.
Found the shared stories incredibly helpful in providing inspiration and guidance.
Appreciated the moderated content, as it ensured the authenticity of shared stories.
Found the chatbot feature useful for obtaining immediate information and support.
How did I actually get there?
Design Process
I am choosing this design approach since it can be repeated iteratively to hone & refine our solutions throughout the process & doesn't necessarily need to go in any particular order. It also dispels the idea that phases are inherently hierarchical or sequential; rather, they are a journey with a direction & a goal in mind, occasionally with side stops.
Empathy in Action
USER RESEARCH
61%
have witnessed workplace discrimination.
42%
have experienced workplace sex or race discrimination.
44%
have experienced bullying, discriminatory and online harassment.
85%
Agrees to report harassment through an anonymous channel.
Reference: CBS News, All Voices
Unveiling User Needs
USER INTERVIEWS
I interviewed 8 people who faced workplace harassment, to get insights on how I can address the issue.
I feel empowered to speak up if I see other employees sharing their stories
I wasn't sure if what I faced was considered harassment
In few meetings the manager used discriminatory slurs. This made me feel uncomfortable and I was afraid to speak up.
Mapping Insights
AFFINITY MAPPING
Affinity Mapping helped me to organize and analyze the collected data from various sources, such as interviews, and market research. It allowed us to identify patterns, themes, and commonalities such as:
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High demand for shared experiences
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Importance of authenticity
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Interactive and user-friendly features
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Empowerment and personal growth
Gaining the Competitive Edge
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
By analyzing competitors, I found out about the weakness of the competitors, which I can indulge in our product to give us and competitive edge over them.
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Gap in storytelling
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Moderation and credibility
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Community engagement
BRAINSTORMING
What was discovered...
I sought the advice of Professor Aqueasha Hammond (Assistant Professor HCI at IUPUI), Doctorate Students - Hawra Rabaan (Ph.D. in HCI at IUPUI), Thomas Starks (Ph.D. in Ergonomics at IUPUI) in order to overcome the predicted difficulties.
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Anonymity: If users can't post anonymously, they might not share stories.
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Moderator Bias: The choice of whether or not to remove a story by a moderator may be biased.
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Misallegations: Complete anonymity can result in fabrication and false accusations.
Expert Advise
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Give users options to choose from (Complete anonymity, partial or no anonymity)
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Any decisions made by moderators should be based on objective evidence, rather than on personal opinion.
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Add guidelines while posting a story, Introduce the moderator and provide the necessary posting guidelines.
Moderator's Purpose
A moderator should ideally be selected from the community, specifically someone who has firsthand experience with discrimination or has closely encountered it. By prioritizing this, it fosters a sense of empathy and aids in reducing moderator bias.
Authority to decide whether user stories go public or not.
Contribute stories from the internet.
Actions are based on community guidelines.
The Human Connection
USER PERSONA
These are the two user personas which I made after conducting primary and secondary research.
Structuring Knowledge
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
During user research, it became evident that users had difficulty finding specific resources related to workplace harassment. By analyzing the insights I developed a new organization scheme that grouped resources by topic, provided clear navigation, and simplified the user journey to access relevant information.
Paper Prototypes
Fig 1, 2, 3: Paper prototypes of Home screen
Fig 4, 5, 6: Paper prototypes of Chatbot and 'Myths and Facts' page
Fig 7, 8: Paper prototypes of Share Stories and View Stories features
I focused on creating a friendly emotional connection
VISUAL DESIGN
The color yellow can have a psychological impact on users when incorporated into the design of this product. incorporating yellow can enhance the overall user experience by fostering a positive, engaging, and supportive atmosphere. Here are some aspects of the psychology behind using the color yellow:
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Positivity and Optimism
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Warmth and Approachability
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Communication and Clarity
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Attention-Grabbing and Eye-Catching
The use of illustrations in yellow has enhanced this product by creating an approachable and engaging atmosphere, evoking positive emotions, simplifying information, establishing a unique brand identity, and fostering relatability and empathy among users.
Key Screens
Home Page
Access to Share Stories, View Stories, Myths & Facts and ChatBot from Home Page
Share Stories
This streamlined process of article publication and moderation enables users to confidently share their content, fostering an engaged community and promoting knowledge exchange through the visibility of approved articles.
View Stories
This product enhances knowledge sharing and promotes a sense of community. The inclusion of internal organization stories provides users with valuable insights, fostering a deeper understanding and creating a meaningful impact on their personal and professional growth.
Authentication
The moderator's actions ensure the quality and adherence to rules, fostering a safe and reliable environment for users. This creates a positive impact on the overall user experience and promotes a sense of trust and community within the platform.
Chatbot
By empowering users through prompt responses, relevant suggestions, and access to informative links, the chatbot enhances user experience and fosters a supportive environment.
Feedback-Driven Iteration
USABILITY EVALUATION
As part of the app evaluation process, four HCI specialists and four end-users were involved in testing two tasks. Several issues were identified, emphasizing the importance of usability testing, regardless of the application's complexity.
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The user finds guidelines unintelligible.
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Difficulty understanding the language used in guidelines.
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Guidelines may be poorly organized.
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Guidelines may be difficult to follow.
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Examples of adding initials or personally identifiable information removed.
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Reason: causing confusion.
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Users were unsure about different types of discrimination.
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Dropdown field suggested.
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Purpose: eliminate confusion about types of discrimination.
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Users can select from a list of values.
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Increasing the size of the text box would enable the users to add more details.
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The size of the input text box for the field ‘How did the incident affect you?’ is restrictive.
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A one-line description that informs the meaning of partial anonymity.
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Lack of clarity on defining partial anonymity.
Final Thoughts
It was difficult to try to find a solution to a sensitive issue like Discriminatory Harassment in the Workplace. I realized that while punishing harassers can help address social problems like these, doing so is not necessarily the best course of action because the majority of workplace discrimination cases frequently go unreported.
In this project, user research took up more time than creating prototypes because I continually sought the opinions of many professors, and doctorate students, to evaluate our design approaches.
Future Scope
NEXT STEPS
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Restorative justice conferences unite offenders and victims for accountable, fair discussions outside of adversarial court processes.
WEB-SCRAPING STORIES
Keyword-based web scraper retrieves story content from multiple websites, delivering relevant search results.
COLLABORATION
Collaborating with legal experts and advocacy organizations ensures project alignment with legal requirements and industry best practices.
Design Journey Reflections
LEARNINGS
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Narrowing down the problem scope was tough! The problem of harassment is too broad (sexual harassment, workplace harassment, microaggressions, etc). I learned to narrow down the problem scope and focus on one problem at a time to create the best possible solution.
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Creating UI element: As the user feels nervous while sharing such a sensitive topic, we wanted to create a space where users feel safe and empowered. Thus, creating a UI element that is encouraging and supportive to the user at the same time was a tricky job to design.
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Collaboration is the key: As everyone in the team was a student(from different backgrounds) and we had no team lead, coming to a consensus and collaborating within the team was the biggest learning. We also had to make sure our idea is understood by the professor and the class. (P.S- I had the best team :))
What it’s like to work with me.
"Working alongside Sachin was a delightful experience as his dedication to challenging Social Constructs and Biases surrounding workplace harassment ignited the team's passion and enthusiasm. With his exceptional empathy, Sachin adeptly monitored biases and guided the team through a challenging yet crucial project."
- Ravi Shankar, MS HCI’24
