Socius
Socius
Streamlining SAM’s training experience
Streamlining SAM’s training experience
Product
Mobile application
Skills
Product design
Heuristic UX audit
User research & testing
Interactive prototyping
Timeline
2Q 2024
Team
Aoife Scully, Basil Egger, Luca Zeller
Mentors
Aleksandra Szewc, Florian Wille, Nicole Foelsterl
Collaboration
Context
My teammate and I received a briefing from the SAM (Simulated Assessment of Child Maltreatment Training Platform) research team, who are developing digital tools to improve training for students and professionals. They shared their research background, key insights, and the current stage of development. Our task was to design an MVP prototype for SAM’s service users. Through ongoing meetings, we worked to deeply understand their goals and shape the service from a holistic perspective.
Project Goal
Identify pain points in the current child-maltreatment interview training and design an MVP that enables students to practice interviews more intuitively while following professional guidelines.
Research
We interviewed 10 participants and 4 stakeholders to understand their struggles throughout the current course. Journey mapping and service blueprinting helped reveal insights from both user and operational perspectives.
Key Insights
Not feeling ready for the course
50% said they felt overwhelmed even before the course started.
Text-heavy content
Most course materials were purely text-based, which reduced engagement.
Limited practice opportunities
Not every participant had a chance to practice interviewing. Many preferred more individual practice over theoretical explanations.
Written follow-up doesn’t fit the workflow
Sensitive, conversation-based cases are hard to clarify through email.
Problem
About one in four users (28%) reported feeling overwhelmed by the amount of learning materials in the Child Maltreatment Assessment Training Course. Many expressed a desire for more hands-on interview practice rather than purely theoretical learning, as they wanted to feel more confident when conducting interviews in real-life scenarios.
Recognizing this gap, we saw an opportunity to help users reduce overwhelm at the beginning of the course and build confidence by the end.
Solution
Defining the MVP
Based on research insights and stakeholder input, we focused the MVP on two core features: Preparation, which provides interactive onboarding and covers essential theoretical concepts often skipped due to time limits, and Practice, which offers guided role-playing exercises for child maltreatment interviews.
App Features
Interactive, bite-sized theory modules
Technical onboarding for VR use
Interview practice
Sharing practice
Our Principle
Reducing User Burden
We aimed to design an onboarding experience that helps users feel less overwhelmed before the course, learn key concepts in an engaging and interactive way, and transition naturally into the VR interview training.
Rather than creating a simple “preparation tool,” our goal was to craft a holistic onboarding experience that seamlessly introduces users to SAM’s service.
Preparation
Get Ready with Ease
Learn key theories in short, interactive modules that make you feel confident before starting the course.
Technical Onboarding
Start VR Without Hassle
Follow a simple, step-by-step setup to get familiar with VR and focus on learning.
Interview Practice
Build Skills Through Experience
Guided exercises and feedback tools help you prepare for real interviews in a safe environment.
Interview Practice
Build Skills Through Experience
Guided exercises and feedback tools help you prepare for real interviews in a safe environment.
Impact
Innovating education
Delivered a user-focused training solution that made child maltreatment assessment learning more engaging and effective, contributing to SAM’s innovative education objectives.
Smooth Scroll
This will hide itself!
This will hide itself!