Case study

Background and Challenge
A charity wanted to explore how digital could help in maintaining relationships for prisoners and their families. Strong and supportive relationships are seen as vital for the well-being and rehabilitation of prisoners. Yet there are some unique challenges faced by individuals and their families within the criminal justice system.

Collaborative Approach
We worked with a wide range of stakeholders. Through workshops and interviews, we were able to surface a number of key challenges, from technical constraints in secure settings to the very different contextual needs of prisoners and their families. We used these insights to refine the problem to solve, then identified options to address the challenges.

Prototype Development
With further stakeholder input, we built a prototype digital toolkit specifically for prisoners. It focused on a series of scenarios and different relationships they might have to manage whilst in prison. The resources had to take into account different learning styles, diversity, inclusion and accessibility considerations as well as tackling many technology-based challenges.

Outcomes and Impact
The very unique environmental contexts meant testing these resources has been a challenge in itself. We had to use a range of proxy measures to widen the scope of our testing. But, early feedback from pilot tests has shown promising results. And the charity was able to think more broadly about next steps in its digital journey.

We continue to work alongside the charity to iterate the toolkit with a view to developing further resources, including a version aimed at use in the community.