Case study
Designing trauma-informed content for domestic abuse support
Client: Hestia
Project: Bright Sky and Respond to Abuse Apps, Online safety resource
My role: Content lead - deep content design and development.
Focus Areas: Trauma-informed microcopy, pair writing, managing user risk, accessibility, multi-agency work.
End result: Support provided to over 65,000 people affected by domestic abuse.
“Ellie worked on three digital products at Hestia - an app for people experiencing domestic abuse, a workplace resource to raise awareness of domestic abuse signs and response/support options, and an online safety guide.
Ellie quickly built rapport and trust with experts - both lived and professional experience. In particular her pair writing process stood out to me. Our experts felt heard and understood, the content was grounded in real insight, and the design process helped colleagues to understand the importance of clear and simple content. Previously informational content had often been written by service staff.
These were complex projects, with varied stakeholders and highly sensitive subject matter. Ellie’s grounding in trauma-informed practice, content and UX expertise, and calm and thoughtful approach was integral to their success. I hope to work with her again.”
About Hestia
Hestia is a large organisation based in London and south east England supporting people in crisis or facing trauma, including those experiencing domestic abuse.
About Bright Sky
Bright sky is an app designed with the specific challenges of someone facing domestic abuse in mind.
Its name and logo imply it’s a way to check the weather, keeping it safe and discrete for its users.
The content is written with the time constraints, cognitive load and high levels of stress of its users in mind. The content is exceptionally concise, quick to read and easy to understand, despite being loaded with meaningful support.
The navigation and design is sparse for similar reasons. It also has a constant quick exit button.
Read more about Bright sky or access the web version.
How we worked:
Weekly pair writing sessions with subject matter experts (SMEs): I had weekly meetings with SMEs to dig into the details. I’d then go away and crystallise their wisdom into ultra-consice copy, bringing back challenges or queries each time we met.
Fact checking and updating: Copy already existed, but it was old and there had been significant legislative changes that needed to be covered. Neutralising language to ensure inclusivity was also a priority.
Tone of voice and plain English: My job was stripping away jargon, splitting up heavy blocks of text and reducing the use of passive voice. I replaced it with warm, direct, action-oriented, and reassuring language that could be easily translated into Welsh, Polish, Punjabi, and Urdu.
Safety-First information architecture: I worked with developers to ensure critical user pathways were intuitive, requiring minimal cognitive effort or clicks.
High stakes, fast paced, multi agency collaboration: Hestia’s established way of working was in sprints, with development, design and content development happening in parallel. International partners were launching their own versions of the app simultaneously. I worked to these hard deadlines, ensuring no negative implications for our funder, development agency or colleagues around the world.
Practical tech support: I put it all up on the CMS too.
About Respond to abuse
Respond to abuse was a microsite aimed at employers and managers looking for ways to support their staff. It was largely promoted through Hestia’s extensive employer support training programme and signposted to from their Respond to Abuse employer helpline.
How we worked:
An audit: I began with a review of existing content, fact checking and assessing usefulness in relation to the project’s agreed goals.
Tone of voice: Pitching our tone for a different audience this time, but not losing inclusivity and precision.
Weekly SME pair writing: Meeting with subject matter experts weekly to hone content relating to employers’ legal responsibilities and real world safety.
Collaboration: Working in parallel with external UX designers
Respond to abuse was part of Hestia’s Everyone’s Business programme.
Digital safety guidelines - Get safer online
Missing from both these resources was information on digital safety. With smart home-tech, gaming and social media changing all the time, this became a priority for Hestia to develop.
How we worked:
User involvement: Since we were starting fresh this time, in a new and evolving area, it was essential we got our end-users involved to gather insight.
As well as consulting with frontline professionals, we were able to hold workshops with people staying in one of Hestia’s hostels to hear from their direct experience how tech had played a role in the abuse they had experienced. This ensured our advice was grounded in real life and increased its impact and usefulness.
As is so often the case, we did not expect to hear what they told us was the biggest risk. If you have kids, it’s one specific online gaming platform. Nothing can beat speaking to the people who you’re aiming to support.
Subject matter expertise: And what did we hear from professionals? Sadly, no one is ever 100% safe online. So at the last minute it was renamed. Get safer online instead of Get safe online, since absolute safety could never be guaranteed.
Read the Get safer online resource.
The difference we made
In the two years following the launch of Bright sky supported 67,381 people experiencing domestic abuse (Source: Hestia’s Annual Reports)
The Respond to Abuse site was part of a programme that reached over 250 businesses.
About Hestia
Hestia is a large organisation based in London and south east England supporting people in crisis or facing trauma, including those experiencing domestic abuse.
About Bright Sky
Bright sky is an app designed with the specific challenges of someone facing domestic abuse in mind.
Its name and logo imply it’s a way to check the weather, keeping it safe and discrete for its users.
The content is written with the time constraints, cognitive load and high levels of stress of its users in mind. The content is exceptionally concise, quick to read and easy to understand, despite being loaded with meaningful support.
The navigation and design is sparse for similar reasons. It also has a constant quick exit button.
Read more about Bright sky or access the web version.
How we worked:
Weekly pair writing sessions with subject matter experts (SMEs): I had weekly meetings with SMEs to dig into the details. I’d then go away and crystallise their wisdom into ultra-consice copy, bringing back challenges or queries each time we met.
Fact checking and updating: Copy already existed, but it was old and there had been significant legislative changes that needed to be covered. Neutralising language to ensure inclusivity was also a priority.
Tone of voice and plain English: My job was stripping away jargon, splitting up heavy blocks of text and reducing the use of passive voice. I replaced it with warm, direct, action-oriented, and reassuring language that could be easily translated into Welsh, Polish, Punjabi, and Urdu.
Safety-First information architecture: I worked with developers to ensure critical user pathways were intuitive, requiring minimal cognitive effort or clicks.
High stakes, fast paced, multi agency collaboration: Hestia’s established way of working was in sprints, with development, design and content development happening in parallel. International partners were launching their own versions of the app simultaneously. I worked to these hard deadlines, ensuring no negative implications for our funder, development agency or colleagues around the world.
Practical tech support: I put it all up on the CMS too.
About Respond to abuse
Respond to abuse was a microsite aimed at employers and managers looking for ways to support their staff. It was largely promoted through Hestia’s extensive employer support training programme and signposted to from their Respond to Abuse employer helpline.
How we worked:
An audit: I began with a review of existing content, fact checking and assessing usefulness in relation to the project’s agreed goals.
Tone of voice: Pitching our tone for a different audience this time, but not losing inclusivity and precision.
Weekly SME pair writing: Meeting with subject matter experts weekly to hone content relating to employers’ legal responsibilities and real world safety.
Collaboration: Working in parallel with external UX designers
Respond to abuse was part of Hestia’s Everyone’s Business programme.
Digital safety guidelines - Get safer online
Missing from both these resources was information on digital safety. With smart home-tech, gaming and social media changing all the time, this became a priority for Hestia to develop.
How we worked:
User involvement: Since we were starting fresh this time, in a new and evolving area, it was essential we got our end-users involved to gather insight.
As well as consulting with frontline professionals, we were able to hold workshops with people staying in one of Hestia’s hostels to hear from their direct experience how tech had played a role in the abuse they had experienced. This ensured our advice was grounded in real life and increased its impact and usefulness.
As is so often the case, we did not expect to hear what they told us was the biggest risk. If you have kids, it’s one specific online gaming platform. Nothing can beat speaking to the people who you’re aiming to support.
Subject matter expertise: And what did we hear from professionals? Sadly, no one is ever 100% safe online. So at the last minute it was renamed. Get safer online instead of Get safe online, since absolute safety could never be guaranteed.
Read the Get safer online resource.
The difference we made
In the two years following the launch of Bright sky supported 67,381 people experiencing domestic abuse (Source: Hestia’s Annual Reports)
The Respond to Abuse site was part of a programme that reached over 250 businesses.
Contact me
If you need support with digital strategy or content design, get in touch.