Increasing the Number of Immigrants Who Can Lawfully Avoid Deportation
My Role
Product Designer, Researcher
Design Tools
Figma
Research Methods
User Interviews, Usability testing, Competitive Analysis
Project Length
8 weeks
Overview
Context
ImmigrationHelp.org is a non-profit that helps undocumented immigrants complete their DACA* applications for free.
*Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a U.S. policy that allows some individuals who were brought into the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. Those eligible avoid deportation and have access to employment and education opportunities.
There are 3 types of applicants:
Green Flags
Users with simple cases; all can apply for free.
Users with varying degrees of complex cases; most can apply for free.
Yellow Flags
Red Flags
Users with complicated cases; NONE can apply via ImmigrationHelp.
Problem
Red Flag users are NOT being served by this product.
ImmigrationHelp’s automated tool can’t handle complex cases, forcing Red Flag users to seek legal aid elsewhere. These substantial attorney fees are a financial burden for most applicants.
Solution
Incorporating a new freemium option for low-cost legal aid.
During the application process, users will have the option to contact ImmigrationHelp’s team of legal experts. For a small fee, users can have their application reviewed and receive additional support.
Challenge
Green / Yellow Flag users should still trust the free application tool.
The majority of ImmigrationHelp’s users fall into the Green / Yellow Flag category, making them straightforward cases. They should feel confident that the free application tool will continue providing them with a high quality immigration application that will get approved. It should be clear that paying for legal aid is not necessary.
Impact
Increasing the number of applicants they can serve and generating revenue to cover operating costs.
By incorporating freemium features, ImmigrationHelp was able to expand the type and number of users that can successfully apply for DACA through their application tool. This provides Red Flag users with low-cost assistance and provides ImmigrationHelp with the financial support necessary to continue serving the immigrant community.
How Might We…
Encourage Green / Yellow Flag users to apply with the free application tool, making it clear that it’s just as reliable as the freemium option?
Incorporate freemium options throughout the product, while only targeting a subset of users?
Project Deepdive
Users
Adults who are renewing their DACA status or applying for the first time.
During their online application, ImmigrationHelp asks users a variety of eligibility questions in order to categorize them as Green, Yellow, or Red Flags.
For example:
Have you lived in the United States continuously since June 15, 2007?
Have you been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more misdemeanors?
Have you been arrested for a crime in a country other than the United States?
ImmigrationHelp categorizes users into 3 types:
Green Flags
Simple cases
All apply for free
Use this product
Yellow Flags
Complex cases
Most apply for free
Use this product
Red Flags
Difficult cases
None can apply
Can NOT use this product
Comparative Analysis
In order to learn more about this space, we began by studying five companies that provide successful freemium options or provide for profit immigration services.
We found four locations where upselling is most likely to occur: Homepage, before submitting the pre-application, during the application, and before submitting the full application.
Where do companies upsell?
1.
Homepage
Preliminary Application
Before Submitting
Application Submitted
Homepage
2.
Full Application
During Application
Before Submitting
Application Submitted
There are three common methods across applications:
How do companies upsell?
4 out of 5 companies used this method.
(Simple Citizen, H&R Block, Turbo Tax, and Rocket Lawyer)
Comparison Charts
5 out of 5 companies used this method.
(Simple Citizen, H&R Block, Turbo Tax, Rocket Lawyer, and Boundless)
Comparison Cards
3 out of 5 companies used this method.
(H&R Block, Turbo Tax, and Rocket Lawyer)
Personalized Pop-Ups
What do companies emphasize when they upsell?
We grabbed the copy from the most common locations and methods and found four common themes:
Professional Support
“let your tax pro do the rest”
Personalized Support
“an attorney working for you”
Satisfaction
“If your petition is denied... we will return 100% of our service fees”
“saving you thousands in attorney fees”
Benefits
Ideation
After completing our preliminary research, we created a variety of hi-fidelity mockups to test on users. We presented these options to stakeholders, allowing them to make the final decision.
Adding Freemium Packages
Users that needed help on their application were directed to an FAQ page or Facebook group.
Before
Help was broken down into two tabs; an embedded FAQ page and a page detailing the new attorney services being provided.
After
Updating Users On Their Status
Due to third-party constraints*, the button has to remain uniform across all pages. Past users didn’t read the text carefully and were surprised when they exited the application portal.
Before
* Zendesk is being used within Afterpattern, leading to several design limitations.
To prevent users from instinctively pressing continue, we used colors and icons to draw attention to the screen, simplified the copy, and incorporated a textual hierarchy. The color clash between the banner and button will slow down users and accommodate constraints*.
After
Adding Freemium Within The Application Portal
Before
Within the application portal, users could only ask for help by submitting a support ticket.
Incorporated a freemium option, enabling users to receive quicker support with a real person.
After
Usability Testing
Participants
We had 6 participants with varying degrees of immigration experience.
The majority of ImmigrationHelp’s Users did NOT feel comfortable speaking about such a personal subject. Therefore, we broadened our scope to include a variety of participants.
2 DACA recipients that have used ImmigrationHelp in the past.
2 non-DACA immigrants who have experience with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
2 Adults with no immigration experience.
Goals
1.
Gauge participants reaction to the freemium features.
2.
Identify points of confusion with freemium copy.
3.
Learn about participants past experiences with similar services.
Final Designs
Based on the pain points we identified during research, we made several changes to our final design. The following three were the biggest issues we uncovered.
Conflicting Messages
“They’re going to help you, but they’re not 100% sure the case will be approved” -Participant
Participants were unsure if the application process was fully complete or if they needed to speak to an experts.
Pain Point # 1
We eliminated the freemium banner on the completion page. Users who submit their application through ImmigrationHelp should not question the legitimacy of the free service as legal assistance is not necessary.
Solution #1
Confusing Freemium Packages
When forced to choose between Free and Premium, participants felt like Premium was necessary.
Pain Point # 2
Instead of making users choose, we only show this screen to those who would benefit from or need to have an expert review (Yellow and Red Flag users).
Solution #2
Misleading Copy
Pain Point # 3
Participants thought the “Get Expert Help” option would be free.
We made it clear that this option is not free, but don’t mention the price; we hope to avoid scaring users away before they learn about the benefits. The image was removed as it drew users attention away from the other options.
Solution #3
Bonus Finding
ImmigrationHelps past users were initially skeptical of the product because it “looked a little shady”.
This was outside of our project scope, but we presented this finding to ImmigrationHelp and they prioritized redesigning their website landing page. The new version was released 2 months after this issue was uncovered.
“I was scared they were just trying to get my information… I thought it was a shady business… but I gave it a try” - Participant
Project Outcomes
Impact
Based off of our research and final designs, ImmigrationHelp decided to…
Narrow down the freemium options being offered.
Prioritize redesigning their website in order to increase trust.
Incorporate design changes, such as a visual hierarchy and cohesive use of color.
Trusted me enough to work on another project with them.
Reflection
Lessons
A good design with poor copy is a bad design.
At the beginning of this project we focused a lot of our efforts on making our screens look good, but this didn’t improve our users experience. Because this product could have a huge impact on our users futures, the biggest priority was making sure they understood what each screen meant for them.
Collaborate with the engineering team early on.
Due to constraints with Afterpattern and Zendesk, we faced a lot of limitations in our design. Talking to the engineer to discuss possible changes kept us from spending too much time on something that couldn’t be implemented.
Not having access to target participants is a limitation, but it shouldn’t completely shut down your research.
We spent too much time trying to find research participants that were DACA eligible. Participants with overlapping characteristics were sufficiently capable of pointing out major deficiencies in our designs.
Next Steps
Talk to experts who interact with target users.
Although we spent a lot of time trying to find target users, we didn’t reach out to the experts who work with our target users. If I were to continue working on this project, I would reach out to ImmigrationHelps customer support team to identify common concerns or issues.
Learn more elegant ways to navigate third party constraints.
We faced a lot of challenges working with Zendesk and Afterpattern, but didn’t have the time to explore these platforms on our own. In a future iteration, I would spend more time trying to address these limitations.
Explore other research methods.
Our target participants seemed intimidated by the lack of anonymity in the research method we chose (usability testing). I would love to find another method or tool that would empower these users to share their insights with the ImmigrationHelp team.
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