Gavel League
Using gamification to educate adolescents on the U.S. Legal System. Done in partnership with the LexisNexis African Ancestry Network and Rule of Law Foundation.
DesignDevelopDeployAdvancing the Rule of Law
The Gavel League is a Proof of Concept created as part of the 2022 LexisNexis African Ancestry Network & LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation Fellowship. It was presented at the 2022 LexisNexis® Equity in the Law Symposium.
Lexis Nexis’ Rule of Law Foundation is “marshaling [their] resources to endeavor to make a practical, tangible impact in the effort to eliminate systemic racism in the legal system.
(Ronda Moore, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer and Head of Global Talent Development)
Commitment to change
“more than one-quarter of urban-born youth [have an encounter with police] by age 15” resulting in a ripple effect of stressors throughout their family and community.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10160290/#CR1
“The [Gavel League] will be designed to increase literacy, comprehension, and interest in the rule of law and critical concepts, such as Miranda rights, for youth and their parents and guardians.”
We believe that this change can positively affect perception of the legal system and interactions with law enforcement.
Combining Strategies
We combined user needs with stakeholder expectations and interactive media to gamify the learning process.
In Gavel League, users are invited to create characters and explore an open world. They can interact with characters, discover useful information, and encounter scenarios where they put their knowledge to the test.
Explore
Gavel League had been described as an open world experience with real legal experiences.
We designed an emergent map system that rewards players with new locations and activities, and we made a working demo using the Phaser 3 library and REACT.
Discover
Players can learn about the legal system by interacting with Non-Player Characters and locating educational resources.
By providing both conversational and literary resources, we believe we can meet players in their own learning style.
Review
Players are presented with opportunities to test their knowledge through our educational scenarios.
These scenarios will help adolescents prepare for real-life interactions, and will reward their effort by providing in-game points and unlocking new content.
Final Thoughts
Gavel League was one of 5 projects chosen to continue into 2023. (Article) A new Cohort of Law Students and a team of volunteers are working to challenge assumptions and increase the potential impact of this concept.
I continue to support the team as a UX Designer, and hope to see the day this product is available to the general public!