How might we optimize digital evidence storage for investigators world-wide?
Digital Evidence Archive
Story:
Digital Evidence Archive is a web-based application designed to securely store and manage digital evidence for police departments globally. The application provides easy access to the evidence for investigators, eliminating the need for physical retrieval. Its goal is to streamline the management of digital evidence and ensure its security.
Company:
Amazon
Role:
UX Designer
Timeline:
Nov 22' to
May 23'
Problem:
The current evidence storage system is optimized for physical evidence, leading to challenges in the management and storage of digital evidence. Digital Evidence Archive provides a secure and efficient solution for police departments to manage digital evidence and easily access it when needed.
Process:
1. Design Roadmap
The project started by creating a roadmap that outlined review dates, deliverables, resources, and deadlines to ensure efficient and smooth progress. Additionally, I created an overview document that communicated the project's purpose and direction, allowing all stakeholders to understand the objectives and progress of the project.
2. User Flow Identification
To ensure alignment across all stakeholders, I created a current state flow and a future state flow. I also developed process flows for every primary flow necessary, ensuring everyone involved understood the project's purpose and direction. This approach allowed me to have a clear understanding of the process, resulting in a more streamlined design process.
3. Accessibility Artifacts
I then focused on accessibility for all users by creating accessibility annotations for the high fidelity wireframes and developing a 320 width variation of the screens to ensure they were viewable from a 400x zoom for visually impaired users.
4. User Validation Research
To validate my designs, I conducted customer validation research by creating a thorough research plan, designing interview scripts, and analyzing transcripts for data points to inform our analysis. I mapped the findings onto the screens associated with them, consolidated the data, and grouped insights to identify themes.
5. Research Report
I created a research report that categorized the insights into two types: actionable and informative. Actionable insights were those that were directly correlated to a UI adjustment and could be improved, while informative insights were notes that were good to know but not directly actionable. The report was created to make it easier for the developers to digest the insights. The actionable insights included changes in language and difficulty around certain patterns, while informative insights provided additional context and understanding of the user's needs and behaviors.
Lessons Learned:
Through the Digital Evidence Archive project, I learned three key lessons.
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First, it's important to avoid trying to come up with solutions on the spot during calls, and instead take the time to think through potential solutions offline.
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Second, I realized the importance of scheduling user interviews early on in the research plan to ensure sufficient lead time for recruitment and scheduling.
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Finally, I learned the value of understanding the audience for each artifact created, so that they can be tailored to be as effective as possible. These learnings will inform my future approach to similar projects and research.
Solution:
Thanks to the team's efforts, we were able to develop a secure digital evidence archive management system that optimized the storage and tracking of digital evidence for police departments worldwide. With its user-centered design approach and accessibility considerations, investigators were able to access and manage evidence files more efficiently, ensuring the integrity of the evidence and speeding up the investigative process. The end result was the first iteration of a comprehensive and effective solution for digital evidence management.