Legal Evidence & Safety App
Empowering survivors through immutable evidence
In cases of gender-based violence, 80% of reports worldwide are dismissed due to a lack of documented, legally valid evidence. Victims face a harrowing paradox: they need to document abuse to seek protection, but the act of recording itself creates a massive risk of escalation if discovered. Our goal was to build a «digital shield», a tool using blockchain to secure an unalterable chain of custody while ensuring the collection process remained invisible to an aggressor.
My rol: Leading the digital shield
As the lead Senior UX/UI Designer, I spearheaded the end-to-end experience for a complex ecosystem consisting of an information hub, a high-security management vault, and a discreet mobile recording tool. I led a lean team of one Product Owner and four developers (1 Front-end, 3 Back-end), acting as the primary bridge between legal validity, technical feasibility, and user safety.
Process: Discovery & Tactical Logic
The core challenge was architecting three distinct interfaces that shared a brand DNA but served different psychological states:
Stakeholder Management & Aesthetic Pivot: I originally championed a «hand-drawn, crafty» landing page to maximize approachability. Stakeholders requested a shift toward a more «serious, tech-forward» look. I compromised by using a more «techy» icon set while retaining the «friendly» background illustrations and a conversational, non-technical copywriting tone to accommodate users with lower tech literacy.
The «Zero-UI» Veto: I initially pushed for gesture-based recording (e.g., volume button triggers) to keep the phone hidden. When this proved technically unfeasible at the time, I pivoted to a «High-Speed UX» solution.
User-Validated Accessibility: Usability testing confirmed that precision is impossible in high-stress moments. In response, I designed a persistent, full-width «Big Button» at the bottom of the screen. This placement was specifically optimized for thumb-reach and instant reaction, ensuring the path to legal safety was never more than one tap away.
The Solution: Contextual Camouflage
We delivered a system centered on Contextual Masking.
Adaptive Skins: To ensure the app never looked «out of place,» I developed a library of masks (e.g., Radio, Yoga, Cooking). Users choose the theme that best mirrors their lifestyle, making the app’s presence on their phone organic and invisible to an aggressor.Atomic Scalability & Efficiency: Leveraging
Atomic Design, I built a system that shared a core DNA across the landing page, the vault, and the app. By treating the management vault as a «daughter project» and reusing components from our previous surveillance work, we saved significant development time—pivoting variables like fonts and colors rather than building from scratch.
Impact & recognition
Award-Winning Innovation: The project won the BlockchAngel Challenge, recognized for its social impact and technological execution.
Successful Deployment: Launched in Colombia under the name Ni1 +, moving a high-stakes legal tool from a concept to a functional reality for survivors.
Universal Applicability: While built for domestic violence, the framework has proven its utility in other assault-evidence contexts, proving that high-security tech can be made accessible through empathetic design.