Send legal mail service for prisons

HMPPS, Ministry of Justice

Role

UX designer working with service designer, content designer, user researcher, product manager and developers

Context

Created a dual-service application to aid prevention of contraband getting into prisons. Worked on Alpha and Beta stages.

Duration

September - February 2022

Challenge

There is a huge problem of contraband getting into prisons through the mail system leading to prisoner misbehaviour, threats and deaths. People send social mail into prisons forged as legal mail and therefore surpasses thorough checks.

We designed a dual digital service to prevent fraud and aid the detection of contraband.

1. An application for legal services to mark their mail with a unique barcode

2. A system for mailroom staff in prisons to scan barcodes and manage them accordingly, flagging any suspicious mail

Send Legal Mail service
This service allows lawyers and solicitors to create a unique barcode to attach to a specific letter.

2. Scan legal mail

The service is for mailroom staff working in prisons. They use a scanner to scan mail which helps indicate whether it comes from a legitimate legal sender or if it could be fraudulant.