Foundational Research
Coping with Online Abuse:
Informing the Design of a Tool for Abuse Targets
Our client wanted to help people who experience abuse on their platform.
It was important for them to create a tool or resource which is tailored to user needs and concerns, reflects best practices for addressing mental health impacts, and is localized in terms of content and design.
Amplinate conducted a multi-market, multi-phase research project which produced a range of foundational insights that built upon each other.
We started with identifying users’ unmet needs, then sought to understand best practices for mental health support, and then synthesized this data to generate design recommendations and directions for the online tool.
Research Goal & Questions
To create this tool, we needed to discover how users understand, interpret, and experience digital abuses and their needs and expectations from platforms regarding reporting, resolution, and support.
It was also important to identify location-based cultural and linguistic differences that impact end-users’ understanding and experience of digital abuses, including diverging digital cultures and popularity of digital platforms and services.
Research questions varied depending on the phase of research. Below are a few select questions that drove the research:
What anxieties/concerns do users have related to using digital services/platforms?
How do users interpret existing abuse categories leveraged by digital providers? Are we missing distinct abuse types?
What are users' experiences vs. expectations (expected actions to be taken and by whom/what and how) when reporting abuse?
Where/On what platforms or technologies does online abuse occur most? How does the map of abuse types tend to differ across platforms?
What are current approaches to supporting online abuse victims? How have approaches to supporting online abuse victims evolved over time?
What are current and emerging best practices for addressing online abuse at the individual, relationship, community, and societal level?
What are victims' support needs, barriers, and accelerators to seeking support after experiencing online abuse according to SMEs?
What strategies can be most effectively deployed via online resources like the client’s tool? Which best practices would require implementation that goes beyond providing online resources? What online resources currently exist?
Our Approach
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Brazil
India
Nigeria
UK
US
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The research was divided into three phases. In total, the project took 20 weeks to complete.
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5-day diary followed by 60 min IDIs
N=82 across markets, representing marginalized or vulnerable identities including minors, women, LGBTQ+, and ethnic and religious minorities
To understand abuse incidents, follow ups and behavioral/perceptual impacts, and unmet needs for online protection and support
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Online literature review of social psychology, public health, and wellbeing literature, coping strategies, equity and inclusion advocacy, and other counseling best practices to develop recommended best practices for a variety of known online abuses
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Workshops with client subject matter experts (SMEs) to gather relevant knowledge about supporting targets of abuse as well as other projects within the company that might relate to this one
A total of 12, 90-minute in-depth interviews (IDIs) with SMEs who are accredited online abuse mental health and wellness professionals and have experience supporting targets experiencing various abuse types. SMEs were recruited from target markets (India, Nigeria, UK, and US) and ranged from practicing clinicians to academics and researchers
Our conceptual framework for online abuse terminology creation
Impact
Produced actionable recommendations for the design and approach of the online abuse support tool, including suggestions for specific user flows, content and messaging, and information architecture.
Created database of content for online tool outlining specific mental health and wellness self-help best practices and recommendations according to abuse type.