Entry Ready: Reimagining Digital Learning for Inmate Reintegration
A university project designed in collaboration with Corrective Services NSW for Success Ladder, an organisation supporting inmate rehabilitation. The platform empowers incarcerated learners to rebuild confidence, reclaim autonomy, and develop real-world skills long before re-entering society.
2025
CSNSW
Strategist & UI/ UX Design
Entry Ready: A Strategic Redesign Concept for Success Ladder
📊 How it Started…
Our research showed that many leave custody without the confidence, skills, or awareness of support services needed to navigate life outside. This includes housing, employment, parole requirements, and basic digital tasks.
Although support services exist as shown in the below figure most inmates do not know these services are available to them. This disconnected phase became our problem space.
01 | The Problem
Success Ladder currently offers educational content, but we found several issues:
Content is text-heavy and difficult to engage with
Lessons feel theoretical instead of practical
Navigation is not intuitive for low-literacy learners
There is little emotional support or real-world application
Users remain unaware of essential reintegration services
Learning progress is invisible, making it hard for users to stay motivated
Many participants complete modules but do not gain the practical skills needed for life outside. As a result, people approach release feeling unprepared and overwhelmed.
02 | Strategy Foundation: The 3 Pillars
From research, we identified three non-negotiables needed for effective reintegration learning:
03 | How We Designed the Solution
A) Crazy 8's
After defining the strategy, we moved into structured ideation and validation. First, To push beyond predictable solutions, we ran Crazy 8s sessions exploring:
Motivational techniques
New interaction models
Alternative ways of delivering content
How to make digital systems feel human and intuitive
b) Narrowing Down: Feasibility Check
We evaluated ideas against:
System feasibility inside correctional environments
Security and operational constraints
Literacy levels
Cost and effort to implement
Research alignment
Reintegration impact
Only the concepts that met all criteria moved forward, and the rest were intentionally removed.
c) Service Blueprint (Before UI)
Before designing screens, we created a Service Blueprint mapping:
Front-stage learner experience
Back-stage system requirements
Staff interactions
Content delivery flows
Touchpoints during custody, parole and release
This ensured the solution could realistically operate inside the CSNSW ecosystem.
04 | The Entry Ready Solution
Before designing screens, we created a clear end-to-end flow diagram to understand how learners move through the system. This helped us map decision points, content types, motivation triggers and support touchpoints across custody, pre-release and parole stages. The flow ensured that every interface choice supported the overall reintegration journey, not just single screens.
Browse Real-World Courses
Learners begin by browsing a visual library of practical, real-life modules that mirror the challenges they will face after release. They can choose courses like Rental Journey, Landing Your First Job, Everyday Life Skills, Banking and Digital Tasks, and Understanding Support Services. This autonomy allows them to focus on what matters most to their own reintegration, making learning feel relevant and empowering.
Short Visual Videos for Quick Understanding
Before learners jump into simulations or roleplay, they watch short visual videos that explain key concepts in simple, clear, and engaging ways. These videos break down complex tasks into digestible steps, helping low-literacy learners build confidence before they practice the skill themselves.
Roleplay for Difficult Conversations
Learners can rehearse realistic conversations like speaking to a rental agent, job interviewer, or doctor, through interactive roleplay flows. This helps improve communication skills and emotional readiness in a safe, supportive environment.
Simulation-Based Learning
Each module includes simple, interactive simulations that let learners practise real tasks such as applying for rentals, navigating online forms, and managing digital processes. These hands-on experiences build confidence and reduce uncertainty about life outside.
Token Collection: Turning Effort Into Visible Progress
Learners earn tokens for completing lessons, simulations and roleplays, making progress feel real and motivating. A simple tracker shows what they’ve earned, what’s next, and how to get there, helping build steady momentum and consistent learning.
Reward Hub: Meaningful Incentives That Build Motivation
Collected tokens can be exchanged for realistic, policy-approved rewards. By offering meaningful incentives, the Reward Hub turns learning into a motivating experience where small milestones build confidence over time.
What This Project Taught Me as a Designer
Throughout this project, I focused on making Success Ladder more human, intuitive and supportive by improving UI and UX elements such as simplifying navigation, reducing cognitive load, clarifying course indicators, adding visual guidance, and making progress more visible and encouraging. These enhancements came directly from our research on low literacy barriers, digital inexperience, and emotional needs inside custody. Working on these improvements taught me how to balance empathy with system constraints and how to design responsibly for people whose futures may be shaped by what we create. It also pushed me to grow as a designer by leading the visualisation of our strategy, collaborating deeply with my team, and learning to become more comfortable in ambiguity. This project strengthened my confidence in combining logic, creativity and heart to design solutions that are strategic, humane and genuinely useful.
