UX Discovery: Nevada Protection Orders

A large percentage of people in Nevada experience domestic violence (DV) in their lifetimes - 43.8% of women and 32.8% of men - and for many years, Nevada ranked first in the nation for DV fatalities. Securing a protective order is a critical first step for many survivors exiting abuse. But while 98% of low-income domestic violence survivors will experience a civil legal need this year, 88% of low-income survivors will receive inadequate or no legal help. In response to this justice crisis, courts across the nation are in the process of adopting new, online processes for court users without counsel, including online portals for filing protective order petitions.

In the Fall of 2023, UX4Justice partnered with the Nevada Supreme Court’s Administrative Office of the Courts on a user experience (UX) discovery project to advance the development of Nevada’s new statewide Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) Portal. The court had created some resources, but was interested in how to package them within a comprehensive portal to create a DVPO e-filing experience that best served survivor needs.

A “discovery project” is an early-stage research phase in the UX design process that involves understanding user needs, framing the problems to be solved, and gathering enough qualitative data to gain insight into the initial UX design direction for the solution. This project aimed to take an open-ended, “blue-sky” approach with no limits on creative solutions. The design challenge was framed as:

“How might we empower domestic violence survivors in rural Nevada to easily and safely file petitions for domestic violence protection orders?”

For this project, the UX4Justice research team conducted landscape analysis research and interviews with diverse system actors who interface with the DVPO process in Nevada to understand the needs, pain points, barriers, and opportunities in the current system. After surfacing and defining problems and brainstorming creative user-centered solutions, the team iteratively designed and usability tested early-stage prototypes of solutions that might empower domestic violence survivors and advocates across Nevada to more easily and safely file petitions for protection orders

By sharing wide-ranging opportunities to meet advocates’ and survivors’ needs through data-driven recommendations and an interactive prototype, this report seeks to help guide Nevada in the development of its new DVPO portal, as well as in the UX design of future digital tools and legal empowerment strategies.

View Project Brief: UX Discovery for Nevada’s New Domestic Violence Protection Order Portal

Read Full Report: UX Discovery Final Report: Nevada Protection Order Portal