Enter Password
Industry
Learning Management System
Roles
Designer | Researcher | Sprint Facilitator
Team
5 members
Introduction
Founded by Marcus Bullock, Flikshop empowers incarcerated individuals by maintaining family connections and providing pathways to successful re-entry. My team’s mission was to evolve FlikshopMe (an Android tablet app for residents) and Flikshop Home (a mobile app for post-release life) into a cohesive ecosystem. We focused on gamifying the Learning Management System (LMS) through "Flikshop Bucks" and badges to incentivize education and reduce recidivism.
Research
Under the guidance of Dr. Bill Kules, we adapted Jake Knapp’s Google Ventures Sprint model, expanding the traditional 5-day cycle into a 5-week deep dive to accommodate rigorous facility regulations.
Logistical Navigation: We researched complex facility protocols for digital postcards to ensure every feature was "regulation-ready".
Proxy Research: Since direct access to residents was restricted, we conducted expert interviews and gathered insights from ex-residents to build an authentic user narrative.
Competitive Analysis: We benchmarked the social care market to identify gaps where Flikshop could uniquely serve the "Seeker" population.
Challenges
The primary challenge was designing for a digitally diverse demographic—some of whom had been incarcerated for over 20 years and lacked familiarity with modern UI patterns.
Inclusive Iteration: We worked closely with a long-term ex-resident to simplify interfaces, ensuring they were intuitive for users regardless of their duration of incarceration.
Policy-Driven Design: Every element was tailored to minimize customization requirements across different state facility security levels.
The core challenge was balancing extreme security requirements with the human need for connection.
Navigating Facility Regulations: Every design element had to be meticulously tailored to accommodate strict and varying facility security protocols while minimizing the need for custom coding per location.
The Digital Literacy Gap: I had to design for a user segment with vastly different levels of tech familiarity, particularly individuals who had been incarcerated for over two decades and were unfamiliar with modern mobile UI patterns.
Constrained Research: Due to security limitations, we could not conduct direct interviews with current residents, requiring us to rely on expert interviews, proxy insights from ex-residents, and anecdotal data from the client.
Design
Our process moved from high-velocity Crazy 8s sketching to high-fidelity prototypes.
To ensure the platform was both inclusive and scalable, our design process prioritized a universal design language that balanced brand identity with high accessibility. We curated a component library using a "basic" aesthetic, utilizing clean & high-contrast layouts to ensure the interface remained performant and adaptable across the entire Flikshop ecosystem, beyond just the LMS and Postcards.
Mindful of the diverse educational backgrounds and varying digital literacy levels among incarcerated residents, we implemented a rigorous typography hierarchy and simplified iconography. This focused on maximizing readability and reducing cognitive load, ensuring that even users with limited exposure to modern technology could navigate the system with ease.
Key Features
Interactive Digital Postcards: We enhanced the experience of receiving "Flikshops," allowing residents to react to and interact with messages from family within regulatory boundaries to maintain emotional bonds.
"Bucks & Badges" Reward System: I implemented a gamified reward economy where residents earn "Flikshop Bucks" for positive behavior and badges for hitting educational milestones in the LMS.
Personalized Gallery (Photo Folders): Residents can save and categorize favorite postcards into galleries; these digital collections can be converted into printed physical albums as rewards or birthday gifts from the Flikshop team.
Flikshop Home (Post-Release Hub): To ease the transition back to society, we designed a dedicated mobile interface focusing on high-friction re-entry tasks like finding housing, career exploration, and resume building.
Conclusion & Handoff
We delivered a comprehensive package including market studies, research findings on the transition to "returning citizen" status, and a roadmap for the Flikshop Neighborhood app. While the client focuses on deploying the tablet features, our team has volunteered to mentor the next phase of students to ensure the vision for Flikshop Home becomes a reality.
As a life-long student of design, I’m continuously improving my work. Please look forward to more updates.
Sashank Mullapudi's Portfolio © 2025. Designed by Sashank Mullapudi