Redesigning a Public Safety SaaS Platform
Creating a safer, more transparent traffic stop experience for everyone
Due to NDA restrictions, certain details about this project have been generalized or omitted. The designs shown represent my original work created independently.
TL;DR - for the busy recruiter
Why redesign traffic stops?
Born from tragedy
Following another fatal shooting of a Black motorist during a routine traffic stop, Cocoon Technologies' founder/CEO envisioned technology that could fundamentally transform these interactions. The goal: create safer experiences for both motorists and officers through contactless, video-based stops.
How it Works
When an officer initiates a stop, they check if the motorist is registered. If yes, the entire interaction happens via video call—both parties stay in their vehicles while verifying credentials, explaining violations, and issuing citations.
How do you redesign products you can't even interact with?
This project came with several layers of complexity
Two opposing user groups interacting through the same system
Developer-built MVPs with no design system or UX rationale
No direct access to the live product — only recorded demos
Limited budget for primary research
A looming pilot deadline
I also inherited work from a Capital One pro bono team (Summer 2024) that included a partial service map, heuristic evaluation, and initial wireframes—focused mainly on motorists, leaving the law enforcement dashboard largely undefined.
Designing for Opposing Experiences
This project's unique challenge: two user groups experiencing the same interaction from completely different perspectives.
Motorist
Business Model: Free, Opt-in
Emotional state: Anxious, potentially fearful
Context: High-stress, unfamiliar situation; wide range of tech literacy
Primary need: Safety, transparency, understanding their rights
Patrol Officers
Business Model: Sold to departments, B2G
Emotional state: Alert, procedural, safety-focused
Context: Time-sensitive, active duty, variable conditions
Primary need: Efficiency, accurate information, seamless workflow
The Real Challenge: These groups exist in opposing power dynamics. I wasn't just designing two products—I was designing a relationship between them that had to work in perfect sync while serving completely different emotional and functional needs.
Can you conduct research with no budget or direct user access?
I collaborated closely with Cocoon’s CEO, CTO, and development team throughout the project to ensure design recommendations aligned with business goals, technical feasibility, and pilot constraints.
Strategic framing: I positioned this work as a testable, validatable prototype rather than a final product—building for learning and iteration before major development investment.
Why I Prioritized Redesigning The Motorist Mobile App First
How do you build a design system when there's nothing to build from?
2 Design Systems, 1 Ecosystem
Created separate design systems for psychological reasons: motorists see Lady Justice (safety, fairness), officers see a shield (familiar authority). The CEO was adamant motorists never see the shield to avoid triggering fear.
Mobile App: Simplicity & Reassurance
Onboarding flow: Explains value before asking for data (MVP threw users straight into sign-up)
Simplified navigation: Reduced from 5 tabs to 3 (Home, Stops, Profile)
Real-time transparency: Status updates during stops to reduce anxiety
Optional health and conceal carry data: Motorists can share info (neurodivergence, medical conditions, CC Permit) for safer interactions
Dashboard: Efficiency & Safety
Login flow: No in-app onboarding needed—officers receive credentials from their admin and training happens during department onboarding, not in the application.
Patrol-focused data: Replaced admin metrics with actionable officer information (software customization per municipality)
Privacy-first: Officers access data only after motorist accepts call
Immediate Access, Zero Friction: Stop detail pages provide immediate access to full video recordings, transcripts, officer notes, and all interaction data.
What happens when your usability test doesn't go as planned?
Testing Approach
2-day usability testing sessions at two locations with stakeholders, advisors, and actor participants.
Designed test structure, moderator guides, and surveys
Coordinated execution logistics across two days and multiple participant groups
Focus group-style walkthrough with live app testing
Pre-test survey on traffic stop experiences and pain points
Post-test survey on app effectiveness and improvements
Simulated traffic stop scenarios (actors as both motorists and officers)
Post-scenario one-on-one interviews
✓
Feedback: easy to understand & use
1
Critical Gap Discovered
0
Law Enforcement Participants
Critical Accessibility Gap
A deaf/hard of hearing participant revealed we needed: screen reader support, real-time captions, visual alerts, and text-based communication alternatives.
Testing Limitations
The absence of actual law enforcement officers in testing remained a significant limitation for validating the dashboard design. While actors role-playing officers provided some insights, we couldn't validate real-world workflow integration, field conditions, or officer-specific pain points. This remains an area requiring future validation before full deployment.
What changed because of this work?
Cocoon’s first-ever design systems, enabling scalable development
Investor-ready product visuals and demos
Reduced technical and UX debt ahead of the pilot
Clearer articulation of product value to stakeholders
A more human-centered foundation for future testing and iteration
What did designing under extreme constraints teach me?
Constraints breed creativity: Limited research budget and access forced me to leverage every available resource creatively and think systematically about validation approaches.
Design for validation, not perfection: Framing deliverables as testable prototypes rather than final products helped stakeholders understand the iterative nature of design and the value of user feedback.
Designer as educator: Part of my role was teaching the startup why we test, why "finished" designs are just informed starting points, and how user feedback drives better products.
Accessibility must come first: Including diverse users from the beginning would have prevented critical gaps. Accessibility isn't a feature—it's a fundamental requirement, especially for public safety tools.
You can't design what you don't understand: The lack of direct officer access remained a significant limitation for the dashboard. No amount of secondary research can fully replace understanding users in their actual context.
Want to hear the full story behind the NDA?
I'm happy to walk through my detailed approach and discuss my decision-making process in more depth.
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