‘Rodger the Repairs Bot’ - The Digital Justice Project

Elizabeth Hill writes the next blog in our summer series where recent graduates share how their understanding of the value of pro bono legal work has developed in light of their participation in the Open Justice activities of the past year. Elizabeth was the winner of the 2021 Digital Justice Award for her innovative 'chatbot'.

Approaching a legal professional – often a solicitor in the first instance, can be a very daunting process with a costly price tag attached. Certain technologies, referred to as ‘lawtech’, are therefore being developed to support, or act as a substitute, to these early interactions with legal professionals - providing a more efficient and accessible delivery of legal advice. The Digital Justice Project offers students the opportunity to create and develop their own lawtech in the form of ‘chatbots’.

About the Digital Justice Project

I participated in the Digital Justice Project from January to June 2021. The project was split into four phases. The first phase consisted of the introduction to the software (Josef); the selection of the brief – I chose the housing brief, advising clients on resolving disrepair issues in rented accommodation; and a discussion about human-centred design and its interaction with the law.

The second phase focused on researching the area of law and experimenting with the Josef software. This phase was supplemented by subject-specific presentations by a legal advisor and tutors. The Josef software was straightforward to use – requiring no coding or advanced technical skill. The third phase concentrated on refining and developing the product, before the final phase – submission and presentation of the bot. During each stage, the tutors provided feedback and assisted with clarifying aspects of the law, answering questions about the functionality of Josef, and offering suggestions on how to improve the user experience.

The whole project was very well organised and although the work was self-managed and individually prepared, I felt that the regular review meetings provided a great sense of teamwork - ideas were shared between the group; software frustrations were aired, and successes were celebrated by all.

About Rodger

‘Rodger the Repairs Bot’ was my submission for the project. My main objective was to create an accessible, user-friendly, and engaging bot which provides high-quality legal advice. Rodger aims to help bridge the gap in support provided to young people renting their first house either having just moved away from home or after university.

I used a chat-like design in Josef to create a series of questions which lead to a variety of solutions, presented as either short written advice, links to relevant websites or as an external document (automatically generated), depending on the user’s needs. Within this, I aimed to improve the user’s comprehension of the legal rules surrounding housing disrepair issues to empower them to deal with the potentially complex legal matters in an immediately accessible manner by phone, tablet, or laptop. My main visual design objective was to develop a bot in a way which provides a client-centred service that is easy to navigate, and which generates possible solutions to the problem in a clear, consistent, and meaningful way, balancing aesthetic value with functionality.

Throughout the project I learned about the process of human-centred design thinking and how this may be used with similar models utilised in practice as the use of lawtech grows in the industry. Specifically, the project improved my analytical and critical thinking skills as it required a complex area of law to be broken down and then communicated in layman’s terms. I initially found this difficult as I tend to write in a very formal manner using the subject specific terms learnt in my OU law modules. To overcome this, I would ask my friends and family to test the bot and tell me if they didn’t understand any of the messages. This process provided live advice to my sister who, at the time, was facing her own housing disrepair issues.

In the final phase of the project, I had the opportunity to pitch my bot for the Digital Justice Project Competition 2021. This provided me with the chance to practice and develop my oral advocacy skills which I am thankful for as this is a key, transferable skill for later legal practice. I was honoured to be named the winner of the competition which really was the ‘icing on the cake’ after a very positive and enjoyable experience working on the project.

I strongly recommend the Digital Justice Project to any students who are interested in how lawtech is designed, created, and implemented in practice. Not only does it provide a great insight into how technology can support access to justice and make the justice system more accessible, but the project also offers the opportunity to enhance your communication, teamwork, and advocacy skills – all of which are key for a career in law!