Skip to content

Work

There is remarkable lack of evidence out there about how well the justice system is doing. The justice system does not historically ask questions such as: What help do people need? Are we meeting people’s needs? How could we do better? Since we do not generally ask those questions, we do not have data and information that could show us where change is needed most, and to evaluate if and how changes are helping people resolve their legal problems. This “data gap” is a major missing piece of information for those working to improve access to justice.

Research Engine

The JDD Lab Research Engine works in this “data gap”. JDD Lab Teams have identified the social media platform, Reddit, as an entirely new, rich source of data and information about both the everyday legal problems real Canadians face and what help Canadians are asking for. Teams have designed and built a Research Engine that uses cutting edge unsupervised machine learning and AI technologies to identify clusters of problem types, and “sub-clusters” where people are consistently asking for help. The result is a brand new, user-centred dataset full of information, guiding work to improve access to justice.

Prototyping

Based on evidence from our research engine, we build prototypes that help people resolve their problems. Interdisciplinary teams collaborate to scope the challenge, and then build a proof of concept to test the new idea. We use design principles, agile teamwork and design sprints to show the power and the possibility of new technologies and design thinking.

The video is a vision of the Prototyping Team’s experiment on how a chat bot can make use of the Research Team’s data to create an accessible solution.

Ready to experience first-hand of our work?