Redesigning Housing Court

The NuLawLab explored an early design investigation in partnership with the Massachusetts Trial Court and the design consultancy IDEO to consider a fundamental redesign of Housing Court in Massachusetts. This proposed five-year effort aimed to use service and system design methods to reimagine the court from the perspective of its full range of end-users — including represented and unrepresented parties, attorneys, judges, clerks and administrators, jury members, and others.

Despite the strength and potential of this vision, we were unable to secure the funding needed to advance beyond the initial design phase, despite several years of effort. At that stage, we sought $50,000 in pledges to pilot and evaluate a few of the ideas generated through our early design work, with outcomes anticipated within three months. We were confident that these early, objectively measured results would help demonstrate the project’s potential and attract additional funders to support a more ambitious, long-term effort.

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For more information about the project, or to become involved, please contact da.jackson@northeastern.edu.