"It’s Not What We Were Trying to Get At, but I Think Maybe It Should Be": Learning How to Do Trauma-Informed Design With a Data Donation Platform for Online Dating Sexual Violence

Title of the Paper

“It’s Not What We Were Trying to Get At, but I Think Maybe It Should Be”: Learning How to Do Trauma-Informed Design With a Data Donation Platform for Online Dating Sexual Violence

Bibliographic Information

• Research Domain: Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology, Application of Trauma-Informed Design Methods
• Keywords: Sexual violence, data donation, online dating, harm, artificial intelligence, risk detection, trauma

Research Background and Problem

• Problem/Challenge: Many individuals experience trauma, leading to calls for trauma-informed approaches in technology design. However, despite the emergence of trauma-informed technologies, there remains a knowledge gap regarding how design teams can apply trauma-informed methods while adhering to trauma-informed principles.
• Significance: Trauma-informed design not only enhances the psychological and emotional protection of users but also provides research and development teams with opportunities to avoid potential secondary trauma during the design process.
• Research Motivation and Related Work: This study explores the application of trauma-informed design through the development of a data donation platform for online dating sexual violence (Ube). The data collected aims to improve AI systems for sexual risk detection and help design teams better understand the theory and practice of trauma-informed design.

Solution

• Proposed Solution: The authors developed a platform called Ube to collect data on sexual experiences in online dating, designed in accordance with trauma-informed principles.
• Innovations:
  • Direct application of a trauma-informed framework to technology design, with adjustments tailored to the specific application domain.
  • Organization of the design process into three key elements using reflexive thematic analysis: design goals, design activities, and design choices.
  • Creation of a "data donation journey" that allows participants to submit data in complex, personalized contexts without labeling their experiences.
• Implementation Steps:
  • Setting design goals based on the four assumptions of trauma-informed design (recognizing trauma impact, identifying symptoms, developing responses, preventing retraumatization).
  • Developing specific design activities aligned with the six principles of trauma-informed design (safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, cultural sensitivity).
  • Iteratively refining design choices and user interfaces to ensure adherence to trauma-informed principles derived from the design activities.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:
  • Development of a trauma-informed data donation platform, Ube, capable of collecting data on online dating sexual experiences.
  • Construction of a comprehensive framework for trauma-informed design, including the alignment of design goals, activities, and optimized design choices.
  • Implementation of specific platform features, such as data donation journey planning, emotional check-ins, trauma resource pages, and data control functionalities.
• Advantages Over Existing Solutions:
  • Greater emphasis on psychological safety and transparency for users, avoiding the direct use of negatively connoted terms like "sexual violence."
  • Enhanced user engagement and trust through selective data donation and user autonomy.
  • Specially designed features to protect and support users, such as providing mental health resources.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Reflexive thematic analysis validated the alignment of design goals and activities with trauma-informed principles.
  • Multiple cognitive walkthroughs ensured the intuitiveness of the user interface and consideration of potential trauma impacts on users.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  1. Trauma experts should be involved earlier in the process to reduce the time cost of later design iterations.
  2. The team structure lacked sufficient support to address potential trauma among the designers themselves.
  3. More projects sharing the application process of trauma-informed principles are needed to advance the field.

Methods and Recommendations

• Over a 12-month design process, the study combined trauma-informed approaches (TIA) with interdisciplinary team collaboration.
• Practical recommendations include:
  • Assigning a "trauma-informed champion" (a professional role responsible for ensuring the proper application of trauma-informed methods).
  • Involving trauma experts early in the design process to minimize the need for significant design adjustments.
  • Clearly defining proxy stakeholder roles and leveraging their indirect relationships with target users.
  • Conducting in-depth evaluations of domain-specific applications to clarify design directions.
  • Prioritizing the mental health of team members and applying trauma-informed principles to address long-term risks of trauma within the team.

Conclusion

Through the application of trauma-informed principles in the development of the Ube data donation platform, the authors provide a systematic and structured process for trauma-informed design and propose specific recommendations for improving design practices. This work holds significant value for both research and practice in technology design, particularly in scenarios where users share sensitive data through donation models.