Helping 4 million parents support their children
PRODUCT DESIGN ○ RESEARCH ○ RESPONSIVE WEB
Introduction
Hello Divorce is on a mission to democratize divorce for all. A key issue for many parents undergoing divorce is to know their child support rights and responsibilities. Understanding the current state of child support tools uncovered opportunity to make child support calculations attainable, understandable, and affordable for every parent.
My role
Lead Product Designer
The team
1 PM, 1 Content Writer, 1 UI Developer, 3 Backend Developers
My contribution
My responsibility was to lead and execute the design process from research, strategy, developer handoff, bug hunting, strategic pivots before launch, and continuing support.
How did California parents calculate child support?
Child support overview
Over 13 million parents in the US need child support, but 30% don’t receive the amount they are owed. In California, a new calculation is needed to start every order. Currently there is one calculator that can be used for free by the public and one that can be used with legal counsel.
Free Guideline Calculator
This calculator requires parents to download a separate 39 page guide to use it effectively.
“Parents think they know their percentage of child custody…they’re rarely right.”
DissoMaster
This platform specific program is not free to use and is confusing for even legal experts.
“We only really use rental for additional income…ugh I can’t find it right now.”
How can we help every parent and child?
Building understanding and empathy
I interviewed lawyers, paralegals, parents, and accountants to understand exactly who was using the current calculator and what pains and opportunities there were when building the calculator. My persona, Erica, was key in guiding my design process.
Interviews
Interviewing experts as well as parents allowed me to understand exactly what was needed to successfully build this calculator.
Erica, a parent
I made sure that I could build alignment and understanding by sharing a persona with the team - a parent who can’t afford legal counsel.
Problem 1
For the first release, I identified key ways that users would be able to navigate through hundreds of legally required input fields and contribute directly to the success metric of client completion.
Exploring solutions
How might we empower Erica to complete this calculation on her own?
PROGRESSIVE DISCLOSURE
We will enable Erica to step through her calculation. We can use progressive disclosure to ensure she only has to focus on a single aspect at a time.
CONDITIONAL FIELDS
We want Erica to only see the fields she needs to see. We want to minimize her mental load so she can fill in fields that are meaningful to her.
UNABLE TO MAKE MISTAKES
Filling out all these fields is complicated enough. We limit the amount of inputs offered to reduce fatigue and prohibit putting letters into numeric fields.
STRATEGIC ARCHITECTURE
Going through all the fields needs to make sense to help keep Erica on track. We make sure to clearly label the sections and subsections to reduce mental load.
Problem 2
During interviews, I heard first hand how biased, obscured, and unhelpful the other calculators solutions were. I wanted to solve for the customer and ensure they were able to focus on their children’s well-being.
Exploring solutions
How might we help Erica feel empowered during a stressful time?
EMPOWER WITH INFORMATION
Most calculators require a separate manual to understand the intricacies of calculations. I’ve brought the content into the app behind expandable “Learn More” buttons.
CUSTOMIZATION FOR CLARITY
Instead of Parent 1 and 2 and Child 1 through 10, we will allow Erica to add custom labels to all individuals referenced in the calculation.
REAL-TIME ESTIMATION
Showing Erica exactly how each input of time, income, and expense affects the equation should reassure her that the equation is completely accurate.
NO ASSUMPTIONS
Other calculators default to Parent 1 as having 20% time and being the father. Users take offense to this. We ensure that users focus is on the children by removing any offensive values.