Designing for Trust: Role and Benefits of Human-Centered Design in the Legal System

For laypeople, the experience of courts can be confusing, intimidating or even aggravating. Court users are often overwhelmed because their needs are secondary to procedural or organizational needs. This perception is even more acute for court users with special or additional needs, such as those with past trauma, cognitive impairment or socio-cultural barriers. As a result, with trust in organizations potentially diminished, the effectiveness of the legal system can be undermined. This research seeks to advance our understanding of the nature and role of human-centered design as an approach to innovation, supporting change in the legal system while creating or maintaining trustworthy environments. Human-centered design prioritizes human needs by enabling meaningful interactions in legal environments across the entire user journey, not just in the courtroom. We identify five levers and two levels of design which enable human-centered design to improve court environments and ultimately help build trust of court users within the legal system.