Dealing with the Trolls

Short Stories of Legal Knowledge

Project type

Individual Project

client details

Nyaaya is a digital resource providing simple, reliable legal information to help citizens solve everyday legal problems and seek justice.

project timeline

Feb 2022- May 2022

project sector

Indian Law, Awareness, Online Abuse

Context

"Dealing with the Trolls" is my undergraduate thesis project. For this project, I collaborated with Nyaaya, an open-access digital resource that provides comprehensive legal information about Indian laws. The brief for this project was provided by Nyaaya, and the research boundaries were established based on the resources available on their platform. The primary objective of this project was to enhance the appeal of Nyaaya's website and increase awareness about legal information among diverse Indian age groups. Additionally, we were tasked with creating dissemination strategies to attract more visitors to the website.

The project involved thorough research on the legal aspects of online abuse, analyzing existing information on Nyaaya's platform, and identifying gaps in awareness among teenagers. Based on the research and interactions with teenagers aged 12 to 18, I decided to target the age group 15-18. I proposed the following solutions:

• Illustrated Short Comics:
  ‍
  ‍Create a set of illustrated short comics on different topics of online abuse to educate and engage teenagers.
• Instagram Strategies:
  
  -Red Flags Quiz on Stories: Interactive quizzes to identify online dangers.
  ‍
  -Awareness Quiz: Increase knowledge about online abuse and legal rights.
  ‍
  -Social Media Videos: Short videos to spread awareness and inform on seeking help.

My Approach

Research Method and approach used

The goal of this project was to understand the mindset of teenagers experiencing online abuse, explore their hesitation to approach parents or the police, and raise awareness about legal protections under Indian law. I used a trauma-led approach to delve into their motivations, fears, and pain points. To refine the product, I employed rapid iterative testing, creating multiple versions of illustrations and comic styles. These versions were tested with the target audience and client to ensure they effectively meet the users' needs and preferences.

Research

Analysing the Client

Nyaaya's text-heavy explainers can be overwhelming and confusing for users seeking specific information. Comments on posts indicated that many users struggle to understand how the information applies to their situations, likely due to the lack of examples.

Understanding the Audience

Scenario Study

Key Insights:

• Avoidance of Adults: Teenagers generally avoid going to their parents or adults, fearing they won't understand and will impose more restrictions.
• Serious Situations: If the situation is extremely serious and a 15-16-year-old can't resolve it alone, they might consider informing a parent.
• Unawareness: Most teenagers are unaware of what classifies as online abuse, and if their situation falls under it.
• Reluctance to Approach Police: Teenagers are hesitant to approach the police due to fear of parental involvement. Online reporting portals are preferred.
• Younger Teens' Approach: Those aged 12-13 are more likely to go to their parents for most issues.

Problem Statement and Solution

General Problem Statement

Strategy

"Dealing with the Trolls" is an illustrated digital guide that helps teenagers understand and relate to the legal information on Nyaaya's website. The strategy includes:

• Relatable Storytelling: Presenting information through engaging stories to help teenagers understand applicable legal actions, encouraging them to address online abuse.
• Humanizing Data: Using characters similar to the target audience to make legal information more relatable and accessible.
• Creating a Safe Space: Assuring teenagers they are not alone and that Indian law is there to help them, fostering a sense of security and support.

This guide aims to make Nyaaya's legal data easier to understand and more relatable for teenagers experiencing online abuse, encouraging them to take action.

Rapid Iterative Testing

Deciding of Illustration style

After defining my output style, I iterated various illustration styles to determine which was easiest for 15-16-year-olds to understand. Key considerations during these iterations included:

• Avoiding Stereotypes: Ensuring that bullies are not stereotyped based on gender, religion, skin colour, etc.
• Respecting the Audience: Creating illustrations that do not belittle teenagers, recognising their maturity and perspective.

Iteration 1 Feedback:
1. Too many stereotypes.
2. An online abuser doesn't look a specific way.

Iteration 2 Feedback:
1. Doesn't provide justice to the gravity of the topic.
2. Enjoyed by 12 -13-year-olds.
3. 15- 16 year olds won't take it seriously.
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Iteration 3 Feedback: Finalised
1. Stereotypes should be avoided
2. The age group 15-16 enjoyed them and found them easy to understand.
‍

Key considerations while creating the comics

Avoiding stereotypes by considering various aspects which could be stereotyped:

• Character’s attire: No specific attire status followed.
• Variety of bullies: Showcases a wide range of bullies. e.g family, friends etc.
• Including various religions: To avoid stereotyping of bully’s or victim’s religion.
• Genders: Equal roles have been given to both the genders.

Dissemination Strategy

The client also requested some dissemination strategies for this project to target our target audience. As my target audience is 15-16-year-old teenagers, who are most active on Instagram, I provided "Nyaaya" with two interactive quiz story sets and a social media awareness video.

Strategy 1: Red Flag Quiz     
Strategy 2: Awareness Quiz

After creating the strategies, I user-tested them through my Instagram account. Good response was recorded from the target audience

Final Output

Developing the comics

Final Comics

Reflection

My key takeaways:

This project was my first client-based project, with research guided mainly by the client's requirements. I learned to create a solution that impresses the client while empowering the target audience and fulfilling the project's aims.
Key insights include:

• Rapid Iterative Testing: Testing the comic and illustration styles with clients and the audience from the early stages proved beneficial.
• Illustrations and Stereotypes: I learned the significant impact illustrations can have. It's crucial to avoid stereotypes, as anyone can be a bully or scammer, and preconceived images can limit our understanding of reality.