Article: Trauma Informed Digital Design Guidelines
Diagram of the 10 Trauma Informed Digital Design Guidelines, which is a summary of this article.
Trauma Informed Design within the Digital Product (UI & UX) world
A look at what Trauma Informed design is & how to create safe digital spaces.
What is Trauma Informed Design?
Its origins lie in Medical Care / Hospital Architecture Design where physical spaces & systems were created with patients healing and treatment in mind; With a special focus on better support for those who have experienced traumatic events in their lifetime. These principles can be applied to the creation of digital spaces & environments.
It values helping people who have experienced, or are currently experiencing: Family violence, Childhood neglect or trauma, Sexual abuse, Environmental disasters, Economic, food or housing insecurity and War, forced migration or genocide.
“Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, love and make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds.”
-Gabor Mate, Doctor, Writer & Speaker on Trauma, Stress, ADHD & Addiction.
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Trauma is a physiological and emotional response to a highly stressful event, or series of events, with long term consequences for physical health and mental health outcomes. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) interviewed 17,500 people on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
67% of adults reported they had experienced one [ACE] before turning 18, and 12.6%, 1 in 8, had 4 or more. This study shows how common the experience of Trauma at a young age can be, and how it can continue to affect these past children as they grow and live their adult lives.
The study into the relationship between trauma and physical health, found that people who experienced 4 or more ACEs are- 3 times more likely to have a heart condition, 12 times more likely to experience mental health issues and 36.5 times more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). | Source.
It is important to note, that not all adverse childhood experience are to be considered traumatic or as ‘trauma’ and that other life experiences in adulthood can cause their own wounds & effects associated to the event.
What does Trauma Informed Design look like?
In the medical environment, it’s the creation of physical spaces that are open, friendly & warm and systems that are easy to understand and clear to navigate.
In the digital design world, it looks much the same, with the creation of platforms that are calming and uncluttered; Actions are easy to complete, messages are clear, privacy is upheld and the option for support or to quickly leave or logout is on screen & in the same place at all times.
“Trauma-informed design is a way of thinking about how people’s trauma affects their experience of our services. It can help us design our services and working practices with more care for how they impact people.”
-Catalyst Trauma Resource
When is Digital Trauma Informed Design needed?
For projects like.. the Website design for Not For Profits (NFPs), Mental Health apps for front line workers and Portal/ Dashboard products & services that allows those experiencing family violence to connect to support - to name a few specific examples.
For Banking & Financial institutions, they can identify cases of financial abuse and support their customers through.
For Government and Legal services, they can make processes simple and clear, for people who may be using them in distress.
But as trauma is so widespread, all apps, websites, platforms and services can benefit their users by incorporating Trauma Informed Digital Design practises into their design processes.
Accessibility, Inclusive & Universal Design
Trauma Informed Digital Design can be seen as part of Inclusive Design methodology, also including and sitting along side Accessibility & Universal Design practises, an important addition to any design practises methods.
Accessibility focuses on including those with motor, sense or mental impairments.
“Web accessibility is about designing web sites, applications, technologies, tools, products and services in an inclusive manner, and thus lifting barriers to communication and interaction that many people face in the physical world.”
-W3C
Universal Design has been founded in and is most commonly linked to physical Industrial design but the principles have long been referenced in and extend to digital environments too. As ‘simple and intuitive to use’ and ‘tolerance of error’ apply to the digital spaces we create.
“Universal design is about creating an inclusive society. It is not a type of product — it is a design thinking process. That means it can be applied to anything and everything that is designed in our world.”
-Center of Universal Design Australia’
Inclusive Design is about ensuring all users of varying needs and backgrounds are included in the conversation.
“Inclusive Design describes methodologies to create products that understand and enable people of all backgrounds and abilities. It may address accessibility, age, economic situation, geographic location, language, race, and more.”
— Nielson Norman Group
Cases of past Digital Design causing harm to users
Lack of safety features and support processes have led to even some major players failing in their duty to protect their service users.
The power of diverse working teams can’t be overlooked, as that is when designers, developers, project managers & all team members can spot the potential for abuse of their services and stop it early in its tracks. It is said, to paraphrase, that if Uber would have had Females/ Femmes & Non-Binary folk present in the early design stages of their app, key safety features would probably of been bought in earlier & prevented assaults on their customers, leading to services like Shebah being created.
Three years ago, the dating app Tinder was called out for their lack of safety features that were allowing sexual abusers to cause widespread harm and go unchecked.
Two years ago, Tik Tok’s links to creating algorithm based rabbit holes, were exposed surfacing harmful content like anorexia positive videos to the social app’s service users, most being between the ages of 18 to 34.
Human Behavioural Psychology is abused to make digital platforms addictive, also tapping into natural reward systems in the brain by use of Gamification and Dark UX practises.
Of course we can’t forget how in 2018, Facebook & Twitter platforms facilitated the spreading of targeted and hurtful right-leaning political narratives & agendas.
How to design Safe Digital Spaces
For people experiencing traumatic life situations, safety is key. This includes feeling safe to input personal confidential data into systems, trusting it will remain private & not be displayed, shared or compromised, not using imagery or language that could cause distress, trigger flashbacks or bad memories and trusting that data is accurate, up to date & credible.
Trauma Informed Digital Design Guidelines:
Here is a collection of ideas based on my own Product Design & Research projects within the NFP & Support Services digital spaces.
Graphic illustrating and displaying the 10 principles in this article.
Bigger, easier to read graphic at end of article.
1. Clear Exit / Logout and Help Links consistently displayed
This feature is especially useful for people living with a potential abuser and using a large device in a shared environment. Naming the button (Labelling the CTA) correctly is really important as well as keeping it in a clear and consistent place, on screen at all times, as your user has to find it and know what it is instantly- whilst doing so under duress. Terminology is key, as ‘Quick Escape’ might sound more like booking a holiday.
3 screen shots of 1 desktop header and 2 mobile headers displaying an ever-present ‘Quick Exit to Google’ and ‘Need Urgent Help’ Call To Actions (CTAs) — Image authors own
2. Make Data Security a priority & communicate this to your users
When people are sharing their personal data, security is always on their minds. Do the work to make your systems secure, including potentially difficult conversations with stakeholders to genuinely protect and not share data. Transparently communicate this to your users to alleviate their worries and make adoption of the products or services more likely. Adding features like auto logout, help to protect users data on shared devices.
Design of an onboarding screen informing users on their data security e.g.”No Data Shared” & “Full Privacy” for a mental health app — Image authors own
3. Always protect your users and genuinely put them first
Remind users of their options and give them the free will to make any decisions by providing clear & upfront information. From Interviews and User Research to Site Content and Data collection, the anonymity of users data is important to be stored in a way that can’t be compromised or used to hurt the person who shared the information.
Privacy concerns are also a major blocker to people donating to (and sharing card details) with Not For Profits (NFPs), Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and Charities.
4. Co-Design directly with the users of the service or product
By involving your actual users early in the design process (or even late, not advised but better than none) means you will learn what people want and need and if something is not working, plus how to fix & improve. It makes sense that those who already use or would adopt platforms, are included in the conversations for identifying problems & designing solutions.
Co-creation activity sketches as part of a test session to see what users would want and need — Image authors own
5. Collect only the data you actually need
Not everyone has a mother with a maiden name, or an up to date passport, or access to a working printer, or even a first and last name. Consider your users time and energy, as well as mental state when creating forms, booking systems, information pages, process instructions, support systems or any digital touch point. By taking into account the information you need from people and when (by collecting it at different stages in the process), you can avoid users disengaging or abandoning the service or product.
6. Design Features with bad actors and abuse in mind
Sharing someones location? Making it easy to see past history or private data? It may be a nice feature for some users but detrimental to others. Consider how someone who has harmful intentions in mind may take advantage of what we design, to harass or control a person. Design safety features with this knowledge ever-present to reduce the option for harm.
7. Always consider how you display Written Content
Does the word Family Violence really need to be in 100pt massive text across the screen? It’s helpful to keep content displayed in narrow widths in the centre of the page for desktop, to avoid content being seen by others in shared spaces- which is easy to do when designing mobile first (№10).
Consider adding the option to ‘Hide’ content that may be sensitive & not to be seen, e.g. family violence help viewed in a space shared with a potential abuser.
Use headers and lists as well as hierarchy to break up content into easily consumable parts. Keep language human, true to how your users actually speak, avoiding acronyms or needlessly complex language.
How you write your content is just as important, if not more so, than how it is displayed. Make language clear & concise as well as friendly & helpful.
Try to remain neutral in tone of voice, rather than being:
Overly Negative-
if people are seeking support they are normally well aware it’s a heavy situation, to push the point can burden some people into inaction or make it feel impassible; or
Overly Positive-
in a ‘toxic’ way that can dismiss, downplay or over promise help.
Designs for a Family Violence information page — Note the option to hide the potentially triggering title — Image authors own
8. Always consider how you display Imagery
Do you really need to use black and white images of sad people to get the message of trauma across? Do you even need photos of people at all? Maybe just simple shapes, patterns, illustrations or images of nature can provide visual relief & support the written content. The use of Icons as Visual Communication also helps users quickly see the difference between the content and help users who have English as a Second Language (EASL).
Designs for a Family Violence NFP — Image authors own
9. Keep designs uncluttered, calming & helpful
Never overload the user with a whole page of text. Always format with clear headers and simple 4/5 step actions to better support your users in achieving their goals, be it finding the information they need, connecting to support services or completing a form quickly and easily. Your use of colour goes a long way here too, soft muted tones and pastels help to calm.
Consider how you use tags and filter content to help users find what they are looking for or what’s right for them.
Designs for a support programs page for a Family Violence NFP — Image authors own
10. Mobile first as normally a private device
Most mobiles are private, whereas other devices such as laptops, tablets and desktops are shared- though this is not a golden rule. Sexual abuse and Family violence situations can have an aspect of control which is aided by the ability to see the digital footprint of other peoples devices.
Final Thoughts
A solid User Experience practise will discover insights directly from end users and organise information in a way that makes good User Interface Design come alive and truly aid those it has set out to help. It is a collaborative process that allows for constant change and growth.
There is little in Digital centric Trauma Informed methodology available currently, especially when seen alongside Accessibility guidelines breadth. Something that will hopefully change as more is created and experiences are shared on the topic.
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Thanks for reading.
