The New: Love Knows No Bars.com !

Aviary is conceived from the term “jailbird” & is further abstracted to remove any direct

correlation to human imprisonment.

Aviary

Just like everyone else, prison inmates seek meaningful relationships. Aviary aims to make dating an inmate

friendly and easy.

Elliott Romano

Problem: Current Websites Aviary

In order to understand how to make a better Dating site for prison inmates I took a look a existing websites. !!An immediate issue I encountered were the titles of the sites themselves. These websites tend to emphasize the terms “prisoner” or “inmate.”!The names are embarrassing & further ostracizeincarcerated users & create a sense of pity.!Empathy is not a bad thing but in the context ofrelationships, no one wants to feel they are dating a sad puppy. !Additionally I encountered quite a bit of visual materialrelating to Jail: ie alot of steel bars and stuff that says “hey I’m in prison.” !Finding a mate should be fun and exciting, and should not reflect a prison cell.

Problem: User Needs Aviary

Users on any dating sites should feel as though they accurately reflecting themselves. If the the website does not offer respect for an incarcerated user. it will be difficult for potential mates to have any respect for them.

The website “inmatepassion.com” (a dating communityfor inmates and ex-inmates) states that it is a place for inmates that does not judge an individuals past mistakes.!I take issue with this because this site and others are designed to pass judgement and focus on the inmates past through its very name and the prison iconography that they choose to include on their page.!I would think that if a prisoner was trying to meet someone online, they shouldn’t have to immediately label themselves a prisoner & and be put visually behind bars on the web. !Additionally if someone was trying to meet an inmate online they shouldn’t have to be constantly reminded that the person they seek is in prison. If they are seeking an inmate, then they probably already know that they are in jail.

Goals: AviaryAviary

Present incarcerated users in a dignified manner.

Make finding an inmate partner fun & easy.

Help establish credibility for inmates through recommendations by family & friends.

Reduce emphasis on inmates past & prison iconography

From my analysis I have devised this set of goals:

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I am a...

next

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I am interested in...

back next

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I live here...

nextback

Ahh, Maryland

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WELCOME!

LETS GET STARTED!

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In this on boarding flow, I wanted to illustrate a how potential user (female) who is not in jail might find a potential male mate that is incarcerated.I wanted to engage the user through a series of fun interactions that help create data that goes in her profile and helps find matches based on her input.

Design: Onboarding & Profile Data

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I’m looking for someone between...

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

ADJUST THE SLIDERS

nextback

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Rate matters to you the most?

Friendship

Humor

Loyalty

Spirtuality

not much alot!

ADJUST THE SLIDERS

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I’m looking for someone between...

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

DONE

Awesome!We are finding some

matches for you!

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After entering information the sitewill bring the user a list style feedof profiles that match her criteria

James Owen

Oliver Jones

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7 People near you!

Jessup Correctional Facility.

Baltimore County Penn.

10 miles from your location

10 miles from your location

Profiles are listed by location and compatibility. clicking on on a picture or name will open that usersprofile page.

Design: Finding Other Profiles

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When viewing a profile,users are greeted with with a hello.

Introductions are friendly and the user can immediately see who the person in the profile is representing, what kind of relationship they are seeking and where they are located.

Design: Profile

I wanted the profile pages to be clean and easy to read & navigate.There aren't any prison references and focus on the person as an individual.

“Hi, I’m James”

Hi My name is James Owen! I am from Baltimore Maryland. I love reading and writing. I am a sucker for the classics & detective novels.

I am currently seeking a female friend to write to onoccassion. I love a good story, I’d love to hear yours!

I’m currently residing at Jessup Correctional Facility.

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85%MATCH

Indicates how much of a match you areto that that profile

AviaryUpgrading

As a standard user, you can only scratch the surface of viewing profile pictures. Premium users would also ideally be able to communicate with other users online (instant messaging, chat) but that would also require some more extensive research as most prison in my research pool had regulations regarding inmate internet & social media usage.

Users will be incentivized to upgrade by a a modal screen informing them of what theyare missing out on.

“Hi, I’m James”

Hi My name is James! I am from Baltimore Maryland. I love reading and writing short stories. I hate to say it but I am a sucker for the classic detective novel.

I am currently seeking a female friend to write to onoccassion. I love a good story, I’d love to hear yours!

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85%MATCH

Upgrade to Premium& see more of James!Premium members can view all member pictures and chat directly with other members!

Sign me up!No, thanks

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Users can also find out howto contact inmates with ease.!Contact information includes an address to write James, as most inmates have limited computeraccess time. It is always nice to receive a hand written letter.!In addition to displaying visiting information There is also a button“visit user” notifies that someone wants to visit him or her(I figured it would be nice to know if someone wanted to visit meif I was in prison.)!

Design: Profile

You can reach me by mail at this address: James Owen7804 House of Correction RdJessup, MD 20794

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You can also visit me at the above address monday-friday 12:00-2:30pm. learn more here.

visit james

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Meeting strangers in any context is always somewhat uncomfortable & I can only imagine meeting a stranger that has previously committed a crime carries some weight along with it.

Design: User Validation

I thought that creating a means for incarcerated users to have a friend or family member vouch for them as a way of saying “hey James is a good guy!” in order to help reduce the immediate prejudice inmates face.

Having someone vouch for you is always a good thing.

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Things people are saying about James

Reverend John Sanders:Josh is a very strong individual. He has learned so much from his past and has turned for the better from those experiences.

Beth Owen:My brother Josh and I have been close our whole lives. He is very close to his family and is a very loving brother.