Life After Freedom

A platform designed to help formerly incarcerated people find jobs that match their career interests.

Team

Meron Solomon, Wynnie Yu, Raymond Lee, Youfeng Chen, and Saasha Mor

My Role

UX Designer and Researcher

Tools

Figma and Adobe Illustrator

Duration

5 weeks (2018)

Challenge

Solve any social issue through utilizing some form of technology to connect people with the information they need.

Solution

A website that helps formerly incarcerated people find jobs and enables businesses to add their job postings

Problem Statement

Formerly incarcerated people often have a hard time accessing employers that will hire them and finding jobs that fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

Research

Secondary Research (Existing Solutions)

We found that the existing services below are focused on supporting formerly incarcerated people build life skills for their transition back into society but none had an approach that allowed them to easily search for jobs on their own.

Primary Research (Interviews)

To get a better sense of the problem, I decided to conducted interviews with two individuals that assisted formerly incarcerated people with finding jobs. Participant 1 was the Co-founder and Re-entry Directory of an organization that helps people in and outside of prisons. Participant 2 was a Career Coach for a housing authority. The interviews allowed me to deepen my knowledge of the problem and make changes to our solution that best supported the needs of our users.

Participant 1 Takeaways

Not enough companies are open to hiring formerly incarcerated people.
More companies need to start hiring formerly incarcerated people so they can change their lives instead of resorting back to doing crimes as a form of income.
A lot of them don’t want to go back to their old ways but if they are not given the opportunity to change they are forced to.

“imagine making one mistake and having it be highlighted your whole life”
-Participant 1

Participant 2 Takeaways

Job descriptions are also not clear on what the background check consists (e.g. does it go back 3 years into your record or 10 years).
The participant has difficulty knowing whether the jobs her clients are interested in hire formerly incarcerated people.
When companies list job applications they often don't provide clear applicant requirements and role descriptions.

“the more barriers there are, the less likely they are to get a job”
-Participant 2

User Personas

Based on our research, I created our user personas for each of our target users.

Sitemap

The sitemap helped me organize our website and make sure we were addressing our users' needs.

How might we help formerly incarcerated people find jobs?

Sketches + Wireframes

Design Language

Using our research findings, how can we develop an experience that meets the needs of both formerly incarcerated people and businesses?

Final Design

Key Features

Homepage

Introduces both target groups to Life After Freedom.

Applicant Page

Explains to formerly incarcerated users the job search feature and how to get started.

Job Search

Users can search for job applications that match their skills and interests.

Businesses Page

Introduces potential businesses to the benefits of hiring formerly incarcerated people.

Job Posting Page

Where businesses can post their current job openings.

Reflection

Listen and Advocate for Your Users

You don’t have all the answers, listening to your users will help you form a solution based off of their needs and pain points. It was the interviews that allowed me to truly understand the struggles formerly incarcerated people faced while job searching. The insights I gained from them helped us move towards the right direction with regard to the project.

Each Team Member Brings Value to a Project

It’s important to understand everyone's strengths and interests. Each person brought a unique perspective and skills to the project. Which is why we were able to cultivate a well rounded and diverse solution through our collaboration.