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Shack Shares Insights from Research on ODR for Family Law Cases in NCTDR Webinar

Sandy Wiegand, December 18th, 2024

RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack joined ODR.com CEO Colin Rule and Redek founder Nicolas Lozada this month for an ODR Cyberweek 2024 webinar on the topic of online dispute resolution to settle family law cases, focusing on a report Shack co-authored in 2021.

ODR Cyberweek is a free, virtual conference hosted annually by the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution (NCTDR).

Shack answered questions about the 2021 evaluation of a Michigan ODR program she conducted with University of California Davis law professor Donna Shestowsky, which was the first third-party evaluation of a family law ODR program in the United States.

The program, in Ottawa County, Michigan, was launched by the 20th Circuit of Michigan’s Friend of the Court in August 2020 with the goal of providing parties with post-judgment family law disputes a simpler, more convenient and cost-effective way to reach agreements related to child custody, parenting time and child support. It also aimed to increase efficiency in the disposition of these matters.

Among the topics that came up in the ODR Cyberweek discussion were the varying levels of interest by caseworkers and others in participating in ODR; the likelihood that cultural and demographic differences might impact openness to ODR, as well as ways of dealing with conflict in general; and the potential for and possible hurdles to using ODR to mediate cases where intimate partner violence is a factor.

Shack also offered insight on how to improve communications with parties about ODR as a means to improve understanding of the process and increase participation, based on findings from RSI’s ODR Party Engagement (OPEN) Project.

Lozada, who founded the Colombian ODR startup Redek, noted the challenges of advocating for ODR in Colombia when consistent internet access and use remains out of reach for much of the population. In addition to the access problems this presents, it can also mean that those who do have access remain wary of the legitimacy of online programs, Rule suggested. 

ODR.com recently launched a new AI-powered platform for ODR in family cases that integrates with court systems and provides tools to support mediators.

NCTDR’s ODR Cyberweek serves an international audience, is open to the public, and includes panels in English, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. Additional topics this year included AI integration in courts, mediation and arbitration, recent innovations and research findings. The event also included tech demos and a student panel. Recordings of many of the ODR Cyberweek sessions from this and previous years can be found in the NCTDR’s ODR Cyberweek Archive.

Posted in Accessibility, ADR Resources, Convening of Experts, Family, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Online Dispute Resolution, OPEN Project, Program Design, Program Evaluation, Research, RSI News, RSI Youtube Videos | No Comments »

‘I Think My 10-Year-Old Can Do This’: RSI’s Model ODR Communications Are User Tested

Stephen Sullivan, October 23rd, 2024

RSI recently completed user testing research for the ODR Party Engagement (OPEN) Project! We are excited to share insights from our experience conducting the testing and what we learned from participants about our model court communication materials.

User Test Study

As part of the OPEN Project Phase 2, RSI developed prototype materials — a webpage, a notice document, an informational video and an interactive guide — to help courts communicate more effectively about online dispute resolution (ODR). We worked with an inclusive designer to create materials that exemplify best practices based on designer expertise, OPEN Phase 1 findings and previous research. To ensure these materials were accessible and user-friendly, we planned a series of user tests to obtain feedback from actual users whose backgrounds resemble those of self-represented litigants.

Over the past two months, the RSI research team conducted user tests across the country. We recruited a total of 15 demographically diverse participants from distinct areas: a rural town in New Hampshire; Baltimore, MD; and the Santa Fe-Española area of New Mexico. Participants were instructed to use the materials to complete relevant tasks: read about ODR, watch the informational video, prepare for ODR as a defendant, and sign up for an account. While they tested the materials, RSI researchers observed and took notes on their behavior, listened to their thought process, and asked follow-up questions. We also disseminated post-test surveys and conducted semi-structured interviews about their experience with the materials.

Read more background on the ODR Party Engagement (OPEN) Project, from concept, to focus group feedback, to creation of tools for courts, in RSI’s earlier blog posts.

Real World Feedback

Feedback from the user tests helped us to identify strengths and weaknesses in each of the materials. Users overwhelmingly praised our video for its clarity, engaging visuals, concise discussion about ODR and appropriate length; the video averaged a 4.73/5 rating for how easily it was understood.

The sessions highlighted the importance of accessible visual design. Participants missed some of the information on our webpages because they lacked sufficiently visible indicators for clickable or interactive content. Higher saturated colors, consistent blue hyperlinked text and plus signs are some of the fixes we will implement in new versions of the webpages.

Participants were excited about the prospect of ODR being available to them. The relative ease of their testing experience only amplified this excitement; participants shared frustration with previous instances trying to navigate difficult-to-use court materials. In contrast, they found our materials to be simple to follow and understand.

User testing also provides a beneficial opportunity for users to share their own creative ideas for improving the materials. During the sessions, these ideas encompassed: making the account login interface more accessible, identifying when repetitive information was useful or distracting, and enhancing the perceived trustworthiness of our notice document.

Participants were excited about the prospect of ODR being available to them. The relative ease of their testing experience only amplified this excitement; participants shared frustration with previous instances trying to navigate difficult-to-use court materials. In contrast, they found our materials to be simple to follow and understand, a sentiment shared even among those who were hesitant to use digital technologies generally. Describing the account creation pages, one participant in New Hampshire noted, “Yes, [I would feel confident helping a friend sign up for ODR using this system]. It’s really easy to use. I think my 10-year-old can do this.”

We will next return to our design partners to implement the feedback we received from user testers. RSI is grateful for the participants’ generosity and excitement for the project. We are planning to conduct one more round of user testing once the revised materials are completed to ensure any lingering issues are addressed before making the final models available for courts. RSI is also grateful to the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) Foundation for its funding of the OPEN Project.

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Posted in Accessibility, Online Dispute Resolution, OPEN Project, Research, RSI News | No Comments »

How Can Community Mediation Centers Successfully Diversify Their Rosters?

Stephen Sullivan, August 7th, 2024

Community mediation centers have long recognized that parties feel seen and benefit from working with mediators who are from diverse backgrounds. Despite this, they have found it difficult to develop mediator rosters that reflect the communities they serve. The Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Chicago is undertaking an innovative project to address this issue. The staff of CCR has engaged RSI to develop a guide to support other community mediation center staff in their efforts to increase equity in their mediator rosters, and to assess their implementation outcomes. Funding for this project has been generously provided by the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation (AAA-ICDR) Foundation. 

Ongoing DEI Assessment 

The Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago has engaged RSI to create a guide to help community mediation centers diversify their mediator rosters.
RDNE Stock Project via Pexels

Over the past year, CCR has been working with an external diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) partner to audit its mediator mentorship program (MMP). The MMP is an intensive, three-month training program that prepares participants to meet CCR’s performance-based evaluation standard. Participants then provide a minimum 18 months of mediation services through CCR’s programs. CCR’s primary goals are to increase the demographic diversity and inclusivity of its recruitment, selection, training and retention processes. Meeting these goals has required a comprehensive and holistic retooling of the program. For example, CCR staff are experimenting with new models for meeting program requirements, establishing new communication practices, and creating ways to accommodate different types of mediation skill sets. Measuring the success of these changes is critical; CCR is also developing new survey instruments and tools to determine impact.

RSI is assessing CCR’s progress in meeting its DEI goals, to document lessons learned and share what CCR staff would recommend to other organizations.  

Project Outcomes

RSI will communicate findings from our assessment of CCR’s efforts in two main ways: 1) a guide for community mediation centers, and 2) an evaluation report.

Through interviews with key CCR staff, review of audit documents, and analysis of demographic data, RSI will create a reference guide for community mediation centers to learn from CCR’s approach. The guide will include instructions and templates for engagement techniques, methods for measuring demographic data, and forms for screening and interviewing. Along with these materials, we will discuss how CCR staff members implemented changes and addressed challenges.

Our collaboration will also culminate in a final evaluation report, which will focus on insights from CCR’s new survey instruments. RSI will analyze survey data to determine which areas of the retooled program saw the most success and which areas require further refinement. Both the guide and the report will be disseminated widely, through CCR’s website, RSI’s website, the National Association for Community Mediation’s virtual library, conference presentations and social media. Ultimately, our goals are to understand existing exclusionary practices or biases within mediator programs and break down barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion in mediation practice.

We plan to share the guide for community mediation centers and our CCR evaluation in mid-2025. Follow RSI’s blog, newsletter and social media for the latest updates.

Posted in Community Mediation, Diversity and Inclusion, Program Evaluation, Research, RSI News | No Comments »

After Successful Pilot, RSI Seeks Mediator Partners for Next Phase of Trust Project

Jennifer Shack, July 17th, 2024

Last year, RSI began the pilot phase of a research project to examine how mediator behaviors might affect parties’ trust during mediation. During this exploration phase, our research team has been observing small claims and eviction mediations and marking down mediators’ communication behaviors, in a process referred to as coding, for the Trust Project. We gathered pre- and post-mediation surveys from the parties, and we interviewed the mediators involved.

From left, Rackham Foundation’s Ava Abramowitz, RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack and Behavior Analysis Trainer Kenneth Webb gave a presentation on the early findings of RSI’s Trust Project at the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution 2024 Spring Conference in April 2024.

After coding 22 mediations and completing a thorough review of our piloted data collection instruments, RSI has successfully completed our pilot phase. We are excited to share that we will soon be expanding the project and are looking for mediation organizations and/or individual mediators who would like to partner with us.

Method Adapted for Mediation

The Trust Project is based on behavior analysis (BA), a research method that codes for particular communication behaviors and connects them to desired outcomes. This method has been used successfully in negotiations and sales. BA examines the particular behaviors used as well as the sequences of behaviors that occur, to determine their effects on specific desired outcomes. In this instance, RSI is interested in changes in trust between the parties and changes in trust in the mediator. We are also interested in mediation results and participant perceptions of the mediation and the other party.

Over the course of five years, Ava Abramowitz and Ken Webb worked to modify communication behaviors used in the contexts of negotiations and sales for use in mediation — with a lot of input from mediators and researchers. Ava is a former assistant U.S. attorney, longtime mediator and secretary of the Rackham Foundation. Ken is an expert in behavior analysis, coding and training negotiators to improve their practice. He trained RSI’s researchers in behavior analysis. Thanks to generous support from the Rackham Foundation, RSI has the opportunity to conduct this innovative research into the effects of mediator behaviors on party trust.

Watch Michael Lang’s 2021
In Their Voices interview with Ava Abramowitz and Ken Webb for more insight into the idea of applying behavioral analysis to mediation — the concept behind the Trust Project!

Mediator Partners Sought

For the next phase of the Trust Project, RSI will observe mediations of small claims, family and larger civil cases, both in person and online. We are looking for partners in this endeavor. Interested organizations and mediators would work with RSI to determine how to effectively recruit parties. Mediators will be asked to complete an initial survey about their background and approach to mediation, to facilitate observations of their mediations, and to complete a survey after each observed mediation. We will preserve confidentiality of the mediations, the mediators and the parties by removing any identifying information from the data.

If you are interested in participating in this impactful research, please contact RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack at jshack@aboutrsi.org.

Posted in Court Mediation Program, Eviction Mediation, Pilot Program, Program Design, Research, RSI News, Training, Skills & Techniques, Trust Project | No Comments »

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