STUDIO
In this article:
About This Project
Couple Council is a product created to facilitate and support couples and families through life’s ups and downs. Our project seeks to utilize a user-centered approach, combining the best practices of UX/UI Design and Legal Design, to create a product with real impact for our audience.
Get Started: Overview
Couple Council is a comprehensive tool designed to assist couples and families throughout their journey, from prenuptial agreements and marriage to situations like divorce, adoption, and child-rearing. This application provides a complete solution for navigating various aspects of relationships and legal processes.
Website / Platform: Desktop, Tablet, Mobile
The idea for Couple Council originated from the founder’s realization of the lack of comprehensive legal services tailored to couples and families. Recognizing this gap, the project aims to provide a solution that addresses various aspects of relationships and legal matters. Through feedback and input from users facing similar challenges, Couple Council is designed to be a reliable and accessible platform for navigating the complexities of marital and family life.
Problem & Solution
Problem
The Couple Council project was created to address the significant need for comprehensive legal services tailored to couples and families. The initial idea stemmed from the founder’s realization that many individuals face similar challenges and lack accessible platforms for legal support. Here are some key problems:
- Stress and Communication Issues: Stress from work, challenges in work-life balance, and lack of communication due to parenting and work responsibilities often lead to relationship breakdowns.
- Divorce Demographics: Most divorces occur among couples aged 40-50, coinciding with child-rearing years, with common reasons being “falling out of love” and starting relationships with third parties.
- Legal Process Confusion: Many couples are unaware of the non-causal divorce system in Spain, and the process for mutual agreement versus contested divorces.
- Economic Challenges: Economic difficulties prevent some couples from proceeding with divorce, leading to forced cohabitation due to financial constraints.
- Legal Process Confusion: Many couples are unaware of the non-causal divorce system in Spain, and the process for mutual agreement versus contested divorces.
- Custody and Parenting Disputes: Disagreements over parenting and shared custody arrangements are common, with many cases still awarding custody primarily to mothers.
- Lack of Preventive Measures: Unrealistic expectations about marriage and lack of proper advice contribute to the difficulties couples face, including financial vulnerabilities and forced cohabitation.
- Cost and Duration of Divorce: The high cost and lengthy process of both mutual consent and contentious divorces add to the stress and challenges faced by couples.
- Marriage and Prenuptial Agreements: Many couples lack awareness about the importance of prenuptial agreements to protect individual rights and assets, leading to conflicts during divorce proceedings.
- Adoption and Child Rights Support: Couples often need guidance and legal support in adoption processes and ensuring the rights and well-being of their children.
- Shared Custody and Child Support: Navigating shared custody arrangements and securing appropriate child support can be complex and contentious, requiring specialized legal assistance.
Solution
The Couple Council project offers comprehensive solutions designed to address the diverse and complex legal needs of couples and families. By focusing on user-centered design and leveraging best practices in UX/UI Design and Legal Design, Couple Council aims to create a meaningful impact for its users. Here are the key solutions provided by Couple Council:
- Enhancing Communication and Stress Management: Couple Council provides resources and counseling services to help couples manage stress and improve communication, addressing work-life balance challenges and parenting responsibilities effectively.
- Tailored Support for Mid-Life Couples: The platform offers specialized support for couples in the 40-50 age group, including resources and legal guidance to handle issues such as falling out of love and managing third-party relationships.
- Simplified Divorce Guidance: Couple Council educates users on the noncausal divorce system in Spain, simplifying the process for mutual agreement divorces and offering detailed guidance for contested divorces.
- Financial Planning and Economic Relief: The platform assists couples in navigating economic challenges by offering financial planning services, legal advice on property division, and strategies to manage financial constraints during divorce.
- Child-Centered Parenting and Custody Solutions: Couple Council provides expert advice on parenting agreements, shared custody arrangements, and ensures that the best interests of the children are prioritized in all legal matters.
- Preventive Legal Measures for Marriage: The platform emphasizes the importance of prenuptial agreements and provides resources for couples to make informed decisions about their marriage, protecting individual rights and assets.
- Affordable and Streamlined Divorce Services: Couple Council offers costeffective legal services for both mutual consent and contentious divorces, helping couples minimize costs and streamline the divorce process.
- Comprehensive Support for Prenuptial Agreements: The platform provides extensive resources and legal support for creating prenuptial agreements, ensuring that couples are well-prepared and protected from potential conflicts.
- Guidance and Advocacy in Adoption: Couple Council assists couples in the adoption process, providing legal guidance and ensuring the rights and wellbeing of adopted children are upheld.
- Expert Assistance with Shared Custody and Child Support: The platform offers specialized legal support for navigating shared custody arrangements and securing appropriate child support, making the process less contentious and more child-focused.
UX Research
UX research is a crucial process that involves studying users and their interactions with products or services. Its primary goal is to understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points to inform design decisions. By employing various methodologies such as interviews, surveys, and usability testing, UX research can validate problems and identify opportunities for improvement. This ensures that the final product not only meets user expectations but also provides a seamless and satisfying experience. Through this research, we can uncover critical insights that drive effective solutions, enhancing overall user satisfaction and engagement.
Desk Research
In this desk research, data were collected from various online sources to gain insights into the dynamics of divorce, marriage, and family life. The research aimed to understand the primary causes of divorce, demographic patterns, and the legal context surrounding marital dissolution.
By examining these aspects, we seek to identify the critical factors that contribute to marital breakdowns and the challenges faced by families. This analysis underscores the necessity for comprehensive solutions that address both divorce-related issues and broader family dynamics, ultimately fostering healthier and more resilient family structures.
1. Main Causes of Divorce:
- Relational Wear and Tear: Stress from balancing work and family life, lack of communication, and emotional distancing.
- Loss of Love and Infidelity: Falling out of love and starting extramarital relationships.
- Financial Difficulties: Economic problems and the burden of maintaining two separate households.
2. Demographics and Divorce
- Most Affected Age Group: People between 40 and 50 years old, a phase associated with child-rearing and increased marital tensions.
3. Legal Process and Context Non-Causal Divorce System:
- Since 2005, it is not necessary to prove specific reasons for divorce in Spain, facilitating amicable processes.
- Recommendations for a Harmonious Divorce: Prioritize the well-being of children, avoid conflicts, seek mutual agreements, and ensure equitable distribution of assets.
Conclusion
The research highlights critical factors contributing to divorce, emphasizing relational wear and tear, loss of love and infidelity, and financial difficulties. These issues are particularly prevalent among individuals aged 40 to 50, a period marked by the dual pressures of professional life and child-rearing responsibilities. The shift to a non-causal divorce system in Spain since 2005 has simplified the legal process, promoting amicable separations. However, the emotional and logistical challenges remain substantial.
Given these findings, it is evident that there is a pressing need for comprehensive solutions that address not only the complexities of divorce but also the broader spectrum of family dynamics. Such solutions should focus on improving communication, offering financial guidance, and providing emotional support to mitigate the stressors that often lead to marital breakdown. Moreover, resources that prioritize the well-being of children and facilitate harmonious co-parenting arrangements are essential.
In conclusion, a holistic approach to family well-being is crucial. By developing services and tools that support families through both challenging and everyday scenarios, we can foster healthier relationships and more resilient family structures. This integrated support system will help families navigate the difficulties of divorce while also enhancing overall family life, leading to more positive outcomes for all members involved.
User Persona
In the following presentation, we introduce a detailed user persona developed based on the data collected during our UX research phase. This persona encapsulates the key characteristics, needs, and challenges of our target users, derived from extensive analysis of user behaviors, preferences, and pain points. By grounding our design decisions in these insights, we ensure that our solutions are tailored to address the real-world issues faced by our users, ultimately leading to a more intuitive and effective user experience.
Empathy Map
In this section, we present the empathy map, a vital tool derived from our UX research. The empathy map provides a comprehensive understanding of our users by capturing their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and challenges. This tool helps us step into the users’ shoes, allowing us to gain deeper insights into their experiences and motivations. By synthesizing these insights, the empathy map guides our design process, ensuring that we create solutions that genuinely resonate with our users and address their needs effectively.
Pains
- Marta experiences feelings of loneliness and emotional disconnect in her marriage, longing for greater intimacy and support from her partner.
- Marta faces frequent conflicts and misunderstandings with her partner, resulting from a lack of communication and time spent together.
- She worries about the impact of work stress on her relationship and her own mental health, often feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
Gains
- Marta values moments of connection and emotional support with her partner, which make her feel loved, understood, and supported.
- Marta aspires to a more balanced and fulfilling family life, where she and her partner can enjoy moments of happiness, harmony, and fulfillment together.
- She seeks practical solutions and effective strategies to strengthen her relationship and overcome challenges together, creating a solid foundation for a happy future.
Overview
Based on the comprehensive data collected during our UX research and the specific needs identified through our developed user persona, we have formulated a strategic design approach for our project. Our aim is to create an all-encompassing platform that offers legal solutions tailored to the various stages and aspects of family life. This includes services for prenuptial agreements, marriages, divorces, family dynamics, child-related matters, and adoptions.
Our platform will serve as a complete legal hub, addressing all family-related legal needs with a focus on speed, ease of use, and a fully digital experience. By streamlining these processes, we ensure that users can navigate their legal requirements effortlessly and efficiently. This strategy is designed to provide a seamless, user-friendly interface that meets the diverse and complex needs of families in a modern context. Through this integrated approach, we aim to support our users with reliable, accessible, and comprehensive legal solutions, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction.
Technical
Our design strategy incorporates several key technical elements to ensure the platform meets the highest standards of usability and accessibility. The platform will be fully responsive, allowing users to access it seamlessly via smartphones, tablets, or web browsers. This cross-device compatibility ensures that users can engage with our services anytime and anywhere, providing flexibility and convenience.
By leveraging modern web technologies and responsive design principles, we will create a platform that adapts to different screen sizes and devices without compromising functionality or user experience. This approach not only enhances accessibility but also ensures that our users have a consistent and efficient interaction with the platform, regardless of their preferred device.
Our commitment to a responsive, user-friendly design aligns with our goal to provide a comprehensive legal hub that addresses all family-related legal needs swiftly, easily, and entirely digitally. This technical strategy underpins our efforts to deliver a robust and versatile solution that caters to the dynamic and diverse needs of modern families.
Intention
Couple Council aims to create an intuitive online platform to address all family-related legal needs. Our goal is to provide seamless, digital solutions for prenuptial agreements, marriages, divorces, child-related matters, and adoptions. The platform will be fully responsive, accessible via smartphones, tablets, and web browsers, ensuring flexibility and convenience for users. By offering a comprehensive, fast, and easy-to-use legal hub, Couple Council supports families in managing their legal requirements efficiently and effectively.
Target User
The target users for Couple Council are adults aged 25-50 who are navigating various stages of family life, such as prenuptial agreements, marriages, divorces, and child-related matters. These users value accessibility and convenience, often using mobile platforms to manage their legal needs efficiently.
General Tasks
- Accessing legal information and services.
- Managing prenuptial agreements. Facilitating marriage registrations.
- Processing divorces.
- Handling child-related legal matters and adoptions.
- Ensuring user satisfaction through seamless digital interactions.
Success Factors
- Compatibility with various mobile operating systems (iOS and Android).
- Ensuring smooth functionality across different OS versions.
- Reliance on stable internet access to use the platform effectively.
- Addressing potential network issues to maintain consistent service quality.
- Fully responsive platform accessible via smartphones, tablets, and web browsers.
- Efficient management of multiple legal tasks in one place.
- Real-time progress tracking of legal processes.
- High user satisfaction with easy-to-use digital solutions.
Multidisciplinary Collaboration
How did we work? In the “Couple Council” project, a diverse team of lawyers, psychologists, UX/UI designers, software developers, and product managers collaborated in an interdisciplinary manner. Collaboration was facilitated through weekly meetings, workshops, and brainstorming sessions, resulting in a platform tailored to complex user needs.
Team Structure
Lawyers with Knowledge of the Spanish Market and Family Law: Provided insights on legal issues that couples may face.
Psychologists and Marriage Counselors: These professionals offered insights into best practices for counseling and emotional support.
UX/UI Designers: Responsible for creating an intuitive and attractive user interface.
Software Developers: Implemented the platform’s functionalities and ensured its technical operation.
Product Managers: Coordinated the project, aligning the team’s goals with user needs.
Working Dynamics
Weekly Synergy Meetings: The team met weekly to discuss progress, share feedback, and align the next steps. These meetings ensured that all perspectives were considered in each decision.
Interdisciplinary Workshops: We held regular workshops where each team member presented their challenges and proposed solutions. For example, the lawyers explained complex legal aspects that needed to be simplified in the interface, while the psychologists suggested ways to make the language more welcoming.
Joint Brainstorming Sessions: These sessions allowed innovative ideas to emerge from collaboration between different areas. One example was the creation of an interactive “frequently asked questions” resource, developed from a need identified by the lawyers and designed by the designers to be easily accessible and understandable.
Collaboration Tools
Project Management Platforms: We used FigJam to track tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities. This helped keep everyone on the same page and facilitated communication.
Collaborative Design Software: Tools like Figma allowed designers and developers to work simultaneously on prototypes, incorporating real-time feedback.
Communication: We used Discord and Google Meets to facilitate daily communication and virtual meetings. These tools ensured that everyone could communicate effectively, regardless of geographic location.
Shared Documentation: All project documentation, including research, wireframes, and development plans, was stored on platforms like Google Drive, accessible to all team members.
User Involvement and Usability Testing
How did we validate the product?
To develop Couple Council, it was essential to integrate users directly into the development process and comprehensively test the platform.
Research Context
Objective: Understand users’ needs, challenges, and feedback regarding Couple Council.
Sample: Couples of different ages, sexual orientations, and family backgrounds.
Methodology
Qualitative Interviews: Twenty couples were interviewed to discuss their experiences and expectations regarding online legal services.
Prototype Usability Testing: The platform was tested with 20 users, collecting data on task completion rate, average completion time, and user satisfaction.
Qualitative Interviews Results
- 80% of respondents need easy access to legal information.
- 75% value emotional support and guidance.
- 65% want personalized services.
- 60% doubt the credibility of online legal services.
- 70% find the legal system complex.
- 55% struggle to find complementary resources.
- 85% praised service variety.
- 70% noted platform innovation.
- 75% appreciated the intuitive design.
Collaboration Tools
- Task Completion Rate: 95%
- Average Completion Time: 2 minutes
- User Satisfaction: 85% rated positive or very positive.
Strategic Iteration
Advancing with Collaboration and Innovation
In developing the Couple Council, we have adopted a meticulous iterative approach to ensure that every aspect of the platform meets the needs of users precisely and effectively. This continuous process has not only allowed us to adjust functionalities and design based on direct user feedback but also to collaborate closely with specialized lawyers to ensure the integrity and reliability of the legal information provided.
Strategic Collaboration with Lawyers
Collaborating lawyers have played an essential role in the ongoing validation of the product. Their critical insights have helped us identify and address initial concerns about the credibility of online services. As a result, we have implemented significant improvements in the transparency of legal information and in communicating the guarantees offered to users.
Innovation and Design Refinement
As the Couple Council has evolved, we have introduced innovations that have not only expanded our range of services but also highlighted our potential to lead the market. Continuous refinement of the interface design has not only enhanced the platform’s functionality but also elevated its aesthetics and usability, resulting in an impressive user satisfaction rate.
Achieved Results
Through an iterative approach guided by user feedback and collaborative expertise, we have successfully developed a final prototype of the Couple Council that not only meets but exceeds expectations. This journey has not only optimized the delivery of legal services and emotional support online but also established a new standard of excellence in the industry. We look forward to sharing our progress and continuing to shape the future of the Couple Council with innovation and precision.
UI Kit
The UI Kit for Couple Council is a comprehensive collection of pre-designed user interface components and visual elements that streamline the UX/UI design process. This kit includes a variety of components such as buttons, form fields, navigation bars, icons, color schemes, typography styles, and other UI elements that ensure a consistent and cohesive design across the platform.
Key Features of the UI Kit:
Consistency: Ensures a uniform look and feel throughout the application, promoting a seamless user experience.
Scalability: Designed to accommodate the platform’s expansion, allowing new features and functionalities to be added without compromising design integrity.
Efficiency: Speeds up the design and development process by providing ready-to-use components, reducing the need for repetitive design work.
Responsiveness: Includes elements that are optimized for various devices, ensuring the platform looks and performs well on smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
Application in Couple Council Project:
Design Foundation: Serves as the foundational building block for creating the Couple Council’s user interface, ensuring that all elements adhere to the same design principles and visual language.
User-Centric Design: Facilitates the creation of an intuitive and user-friendly interface, allowing users to easily navigate the platform and access the legal services they need.
Customization: Allows for tailored designs that meet specific user needs and preferences while maintaining overall design coherence.
Consistency Across Pages: Ensures that all pages, from prenuptial agreements to divorce proceedings, have a consistent layout and style, enhancing user familiarity and trust.
Wireframes
Wireframes are essential tools in the UX/UI design process, serving as the blueprint for the Couple Council platform. They provide a visual guide that outlines the structure and layout of each page, focusing on functionality and user flow without the distraction of detailed design elements.
Key Aspects of Wireframes:
Layout and Structure: Define the placement of key elements such as navigation bars, buttons, forms, and content sections.
User Flow: Illustrate how users will navigate through the platform, ensuring a logical and intuitive path to access various services.
Functionality: Highlight the essential features and interactions, providing a clear understanding of how the platform will work.
Application in Couple Council Project:
Foundation for Design: Serve as the initial step in the design process, helping to visualize and refine the user experience before adding visual design components.
Feedback and Iteration: Allow for early testing and feedback, making it easier to identify and address usability issues.
Collaboration Tool: Facilitate communication between designers, developers, and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is aligned on the project’s goals and functionalities.
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