Equity Navigator: Knowledge is Power

Empowering individuals to navigate systems and claim their rights with clarity and confidence.

Overview

Navigating complex legal systems can be an overwhelming experience, especially for those already marginalized by systemic inequities. Equity Navigator provides a user-friendly platform offering location-specific guidance on key legal rights in housing, healthcare, and workplace protections.

While legal “rights” are not the ultimate solution to systemic injustice, they are an essential tool for asserting autonomy, seeking accountability, and resisting harmful systems. By providing accessible, actionable information, Equity Navigator empowers users to take informed steps toward security and advocacy, recognizing their agency within structures often designed to exclude them.

Problem statement

Marginalized communities face significant barriers to understanding and asserting their legal rights, not because of a lack of ability but because the systems themselves are opaque, exclusionary, and unresponsive to their needs. Whether it’s deciphering dense legal jargon, accessing state-specific information, or finding trustworthy resources, navigating these systems requires clarity, confidence, and support.

Goal statement

Equity Navigator aims to demystify legal systems, empowering users with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate their rights. By centering equity, accessibility, and user agency, the platform prioritizes clarity, actionability, and compassion, ensuring that users are equipped to address challenges without feeling overwhelmed or excluded.

My role

As the Lead UX Designer, I was responsible for:

• User research: Conducted empathy mapping, developed personas, and gathered insights to understand user needs.

• Information architecture: Structured content to ensure intuitive navigation and accessibility.

• Wireframing and prototyping: Designed wireframes and interactive prototypes to visualize and test the user interface.

• UX writing: Crafted clear and empathetic language to guide users throughout the app.

Key features

• Location-based guidance: Automatically provides users with legal information relevant to their state or region.

• Offline access: Allows users to download essential guides for use without internet connectivity.

• Bookmarking and note-taking: Enables users to save important information and add personal notes for future reference and self-advocacy.

• Documentation tools: Offers features for users to document incidents or interactions, supporting their legal needs.

Understanding our users

Building the Equity Navigator app began with understanding the lived experiences of people navigating complex legal systems. To design a tool that empowers users navigating housing, healthcare, and workplace rights, I conducted deep research into user behaviors, emotions, and challenges. The goal was to uncover actionable insights by identifying patterns in their pain points, motivations, and priorities.

By using empathy maps, personas, user stories, and journey maps, I created a foundation to design a tool that is accessible, equitable, and actionable.

Empathy maps

Empathy maps allowed us to identify key emotional pain points and actionable opportunities. They clarified what users say, think, feel, and do when navigating complex legal systems.

• Alex: Overwhelmed by legal jargon; needs quick access to state-specific workplace protections.

• Jamal: Feels isolated in rural areas; worries about landlord retaliation and limited support networks.

• Marisol: Fears hostile environments for her trans son; searches for affirming healthcare providers.

Personas

Personas helped center the design process on users’ lived experiences, ensuring the app addressed their specific needs. Each persona reflected a unique intersection of identity, location, and challenges.

Alex: Navigating workplace protections

Jamal: Understanding rural housing rights

Marisol: Advocating for her trans teen

User stories

User stories distilled key motivations and goals, guiding feature prioritization to align with user needs.

Journey maps

Journey maps mapped out users’ emotional and logistical experiences step by step. They highlighted actionable opportunities to streamline access to resources and reduce stress.

Key insights

Through these methods, I uncovered critical insights:

• Legal systems overwhelm users under stress.

  • Solutions must distill complex information with plain language and empowering interfaces.

• Intersectional challenges shape user experiences.

  • Designing for identity, location, and accessibility is key to equity-driven outcomes.

• Trust is a barrier to action.

  • Users need vetted, credible resources to feel confident acting on their rights.

Defining the matter at hand

To focus the design process toward meaningful and practical solutions, I synthesized insights from user research to clearly frame the challenges users face. By understanding their needs, frustrations, and goals, I established a foundation for impactful, actionable features and functionality.

Designing for equity and accessibility requires acknowledging the broader systemic contexts that shape individual experiences. Many of the challenges faced by users stem from entrenched inequalities in housing, healthcare, and workplace protections. While these problems are systemic, design solutions must be both scalable and deeply empathetic, addressing the immediate needs of individuals without losing sight of the larger structures at play.

By framing these systemic challenges as opportunities for user-centered design, I was able to focus on empowering users within the constraints they face. The goal was to provide clarity, accessibility, and confidence in moments when navigating rights and resources can feel daunting.

Problem statements

Based on the personas and their unique challenges, I wrote clear and user-centered problem statements to anchor the design process. Each problem statement reflects the intersection of user pain points and design opportunities.

Goal statements

Each problem statement translated directly into actionable design goals. These goals kept the project grounded in user needs and helped prioritize design decisions.

Key challenges

The following challenges informed the app’s overall design strategy:

By framing the problem and goals clearly, I ensured that the design process stayed user-centered, focused, and actionable.

Imagining design possibilities

To inspire meaningful ideas for Equity Navigator, I employed creative methods to explore a variety of design possibilities. By focusing on user needs and their diverse contexts, I ensured the concepts aligned with the app’s mission of equity, simplicity, and empowerment. These methods allowed me to translate user insights into actionable design ideas, while keeping the complex needs of marginalized communities at the forefront.

Creative ideation methods

How Might We (HMW) Questions

I reframed user challenges as actionable design opportunities through the “How Might We” framework. This approach encouraged me to view systemic barriers and individual pain points as opportunities for innovative solutions.

Examples of HMW Questions:

• How might we provide clarity without oversimplifying complex legal systems?

• How might we connect users to trusted resources while respecting their privacy?

Rapid Sketching Techniques

To explore multiple solutions quickly, I used a method of sketching many interface concepts in minutes. This process emphasized speed, creativity, and flexibility while generating potential remedies for key user needs.

Promising design concepts

Building from these activities, several strong ideas emerged:

Personalized State-Specific Resources: A location-based interface offering clarity on users’ rights for housing, healthcare, and workplace protections.

Documentation Tool: A multifunctional feature enabling users to record, save, and share instances of rights violations while maintaining privacy.

Offline Access: Resources downloadable for areas with limited connectivity, ensuring accessibility for rural users.

Prototyping

Going forward

This project is ongoing; user testing and final outcomes will be added soon.