Amica is an online and affordable way for separating couples to collaborate on property and parenting agreements.
Disputes that arise from the breakdown of a relationship can be particularly expensive, especially those who do not qualify for legal aid. Often, formalities such as parenting plans or property agreements are ignored until a serious problem arises.
I was one of the first and lead product designers to work on Amica, collaborating closely with engineers, a legal design specialist and other designers.
Disputes that arise from the breakdown of a relationship can be particularly expensive, especially for those who don't qualify for legal aid.
Starting as a proof of concept, the federal government provided funding to investigate how online dispute resolution could offer an affordable solution for separating couples.
Followed by a roll out of initial test pilot and later endorsement from the Attorney General Department, Amica launched to market in 2020.
Opportunities
A lot of the feedback received was around how helpful it was to view the process step by step in plain conversational language.
Working closely with family lawyers, the user flow was based on the order they typically follow. Questions are asked one at a time to reduce cognitive load and provide additional context and clarification if needed. The language is conversational in nature and applied contextually throughout to provide support and explanations along the way.
Feedback highlighted the importance of creating a more collaborative approach to reviewing statements to help separating couples move through the process as quickly as possible.
Fairness was the foundation throughout the design of the negotiation process, as users elect to either agree to the AI powered suggestion or use it as a guide.
AI provides a suggestion of what a lawyer would consider a fair division of their assets based on the information they’ve entered. Instead of using published case data to power the machine learning algorithm, (which the team found contained biases), the team created there own data model that lawyers contributed to.
Hints and alerts provide guidance if you attempt to make an unfair offer (outside the bounds of the prediction).
User-testing highlighted the importance of clearly visualising handovers when creating a parenting plan.
User-testing showed us that the majority of people conceptualise a parenting plan in a schedule format. The feature retains the visualisation throughout the statement and agreement phases; as well as updating each user’s number of nights with the children in real time.
Outcomes
Recognition
ABC News article: 'New online program for couples going through divorce could keep disputes out of court'
Watch Amica being featured on The Project, Channel 10 (27 July 2020)
Listen to amica project chief and Director of National Legal Aid, Gabrielle Canny's talk on 3AW (04 August 2020): 'DIY divorce: How artificial intelligence is cutting lawyers out of separation'
Awarded the iAward 2020 for Best Government and Public Sector Solution
