Participatory design to counteract sexual harassment online

Purpose and goal

The project aimed to understand how we can help victims of sexual harassment online. We started with a hypotheses that it is difficult for a victim to handle situations today. We wanted to understand how policys can be affected in, for example, the judiciary system. We also wanted to sketch and test ideas on technical design solutions to understand how they can be implemented. We also wanted to share newly found knowledge to relevant actors. We have understood at a fundamental level how to influence the situation, and we have communicated our knowledge to relevant actors.

Expected results and effects

The result was presented in a public presentation, with the aim of spreading our message to relevant stakeholders, our report was also sent to different stakeholders such as the governments department of equality. The effects of sharing the message will help influence the perception of the problem. Our pre-study also lays the foundation for achieving our long-term goals; influence on policy change, develop concepts for breaking gender norms, to build a socially sustainable future, influence social media company policy’s and support them to meet the needs of marginalized users.

Planned approach and implementation

The method has been service design. It has proven to be a good method for achieving our goals regarding qualitative data on the subject. In the next step, we want to have a greater perspective on quantitative data, so that we can integrate the two even more. In a possible next step, it would be beneficial to have a more intersectional perspective, people who are from other minorities, for example non-binary people or people with disabilities.