Spot
Rethinking Mandatroy Sexual Harassment Compliance Training
Introduction
Spot was designed to help employees through challenging workplace dynamics. Individuals dealing with report-worthy situations may not feel safe enough to involve HR, or may be too overwhelmed to capture crucial details in a timely way. Failure to document incidents as they happen diminishes the credibility of the reporter and limits the HR team's ability to mitigate harm.
The first iteration of Spot acted as a simple and neutral third-party to facilitate communication between employees and HR teams while obscuring the identity of the reporter. By ensuring a degree of safety, Spot gave workers a space to express concerns openly without bias or fear of retaliation.
[Fig 1] Flow chart mapping out Spot's anonymous reporting process.
Spot's AI-powered chatbot uses a simple messaging interface to securely capture critical information. After chatting with Spot, users can either anonymously send the generated report to HR or save the report for their records. HR teams can follow up on anonymous reports, allowing both parties to respond, react and track progress without compromising confidentiality.
Role & Contribution
Although this case study will focus only on the effort to create and release the 12-part Sexual Harassment Compliance Training Series, in my role as Lead Designer I met high level business goals by:
Reimagining the brand identity
Defining, directing and producing a animated marketing video
Creating digital and physical marketing materials
Launching an updated marketing website for SMB lead gen capture
Launching a self-service checkout flow for SMB
Revamping the core product experience and chat interface
Introducing a new admin dashboard to for report management
Launching follow-up features for anonymous 2-way conversations
Introducing workplace culture pulse surveys
Rolling out a 12-part Sexual Harassment Compliance Training
Company Background
Emerging as a response to the increasing sexual harassment and misconduct scandals, Spot aimed to address workplace harassment and promote transparency and accountability within organizations.
The founding team came together with a shared desire to create tangible solutions that empower workers to report workplace misconduct effectively. Drawing on diverse backgrounds and expertise, they endeavored to improve the way harassment is addressed in the workplace by leveraging tech to foster safer tech organizations.
Product Challenge
The new California employment law (SB 1343 and SB 778), broadened employee protections against sexual harassment and required training for business with 5 or more employees. Previously only applied to companies with 50 or more employees:
12950.1.
(a) […] The training and education shall also include practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, and shall be presented by trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
This presented an exciting challenge for our design team. As the legal deadline loomed, we recognized the emerging need for a training solution that met legal requirements, but also understood that we had the opportunity to offer a fresh and engaging experience compared to the often-outdated options available.
This was evidenced by the fact that sexual harassment training had been an annual requirement in many states for years, yet the majority of training options were outdated, boring, cringe-worthy, or even potentially harmful.
[Fig 2] Kmart Sexual Harassment Training example via Youtube.
Annual compliance training hadn't evolved much since Maine became the first U.S. state to mandate it in 1991. The old methods just don't fit well in today's workplace. They tend to ignore different learning styles and sink workday productivity. Recognizing this, our team sought out ways to balance low engagement with the gravity and importance of the subject matter.
Capturing attention long enough to teach is a well documented challenge, but especially when it comes to mandatory annual sexual harassment training—typically dry and unappealing content. Why would anyone want to spend an hour watching outdated material they've seen before? It's not hard to see the reason so many people hit the play button and return to work.
Approach
The new law mandated a minimum training time, but traditional hour-long lectures wouldn't cut it. We knew we needed an engaging format to keep learners focused and retain information. Our solution? Easy-to-digest, six, ten-minute video episodes for all employees, covering crucial topics like protected characteristics and bystander intervention (totaling 60 minutes). Managers received an additional six episodes focused on supervisory responsibilities and investigation procedures (another 60 minutes).
[Fig 3] Spot's training program is divided into manageable 10-minute episodes. Designed for both employees and managers, the program ensures everyone receives the necessary training to stay compliant.
Episode 1-6: Employee Training (1 hour):
Episode 1: Protected Characteristics
Episode 2: Stereotyping & Discrimination
Episode 3: Other Unwelcome Conduct
Episode 4:Witnesses & Bystanders
Episode 5: Quid Pro Quo & Retaliation
Episode 6: Unwelcome Compliments & Abusive Conduct
Episode 7-12: Supervisor Training (+1 hour):
Episode 7: Supervisor Responsibilities
Episode 8: Effective Harassment Prevention
Episode 9: Barriers to Reporting
Episode 10: Receiving Reports
Episode 11: Investigations
Episode 12: Culture of Safety
Knowing that the modern workforce has shorter attention spans due to the rise of social media, we focused on meeting requirements while offering the content in a more engaging and modern format. To achieve this, we benchmarked popular social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Duolingo. By studying how these platforms leverage timelines, stories, and games, we began to explore using the same patterns to deliver content in engaging and interactive ways.
[Fig 4] Wireframe sketches exploring timeline and interactive patterns.
Ultimately, we adopted the "story" format approach—an engaging and succinct way to present information that aligns with a more modern lifestyle.
Collaborative Effort
We collaborated closely within our team and engaged fellow copywriting peers across the All Turtles team. Tapping into the expertise of multiple content writers, we ensured that we could scale our focused efforts rapidly to meet the training compliance deadline. Additionally, all content produced for Spot training episodes underwent a rigorous legal review by an employment lawyer, guaranteeing our training would meet or exceed the the new training content regulations.
As our team operated internationally—with the engineering powerhouse in Berlin and the core design and content team located in San Francisco—our work stream 'followed the sun' and dramatically increased our capacity to produce and handoff work for implementation.
[Fig 5] A working outline of our template structure approach
To ensure a smooth content creation and design process, we implemented a strategic workflow. We leveraged Google Docs to house our content. Each document contained clear instructions and specific formatting guidelines, enabling our copywriters to work efficiently. This system also allowed for seamless review and approval cycles. Additionally, the use of Google Docs facilitated a rolling production schedule, where I could begin illustrating content for upcoming episodes while copywriting for earlier episodes was underway.
[Fig 6] Episode Visual Design Template
[Fig 7] Example of CMS database content applied to template design (dark theme)
[Fig 8] Example of CMS database content applied to template design (rose theme)
[Fig 9] Episode 2 - Part 1: Gender Stereotyping (Figma Prototype)
Our super-powered collaborative approach, combined with legal expertise, helped us craft a high-quality, legally sound training solution right on schedule.
[Fig 10] Some of the 400 custom illustrations I created for use in 12 episodes of training
Learnings & Outcomes
As of June 2022, Spot has supported 64 employers—industry giants like Medium, Stripe, and Kickstarter—to achieve legal compliance by training over 9,000 employees in sexual harassment prevention. These impressive results demonstrate the clear market need for Spot and its ability to deliver a valuable solution.
[Fig 11] 2019 growth
After the whirlwind of launching Training, I had a profound sense of of pride for the caliber of work produced and the family I had created within our team. Witnessing the monumental effort culminate in a successful product filled me with gratitude.
Post launch, the leadership team recognized the need for long-term support for Spot, so the team underwent a restructuring to prioritize its longevity. While bittersweet, this shift meant that I returned to the All Turtles creative bench, where I became available to tackle new product challenges with the skills and experience gained from this incredible project.