Public Safety, Government Sector
2023
Redesigning Punjab’s Women Safety Service
A service design intervention for Punjab Safe Cities Authority to improve the visibility, usability, and trust in their Women Safety Service, empowering women across Punjab, Pakistan to access emergency support through a redesigned ecosystem of digital and physical touchpoints.
Safety Design
Civic Innovation
Services
Service Design, UX Research & Strategy, UI/UX Design, Creative Direction & Content Design
Category
Public Sector / Safety & Emergency Services
Client
Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA)
Understanding Safety Gaps in Public Services
Despite the introduction of a safety app by PSCA in 2020, only 0.3% of women in Punjab were using the service. Through primary research, auto-ethnography, surveys, and interviews with users and PSCA staff, the project identified critical issues: poor usability, underdeveloped features, lack of awareness, and societal reluctance to report violence.
Why Women Weren’t Using the Service
“Only 16% of women had heard of the service—awareness and trust were the biggest barriers.”
Research insights revealed an app difficult to navigate in emergencies, ineffective outreach campaigns, and a mismatch between user needs and the service’s touchpoints.
Identifying the Design Gaps
The research synthesized seven insights including underdeveloped features, lack of preparedness among users, missing community-building components, misuse through prank calls, and the absence of female first responders.
Designing A Multichannel Safety Service
The redesigned Women Safety Service aims to shift from a reactive model to a proactive, preventive, and community-rooted system. Interventions included a redesigned mobile app, new awareness strategies, and a framework for safe community spaces.
Four Pillars of Redesign
A redesigned mobile app, digital awareness, community-led Safe Spaces, and female first responders.
The app was reimagined with features like SOS countdown, predictive live chat, route suggestions, demo mode, and live location sharing. Safe Spaces allow local businesses to act as temporary refuges, while influencer campaigns and pre-call messages improve visibility.
From Service Concept to System Integration
Beyond digital redesign, the project proposed organizational and policy shifts—like onboarding female officers as First Responders and partnering with NADRA and PTA to power verification and awareness. A revised service blueprint and value exchange map captured the improved flow of trust, safety, and usability.
Building a Trustworthy Public System
Women no longer feel alone: the system enables help, community support, and informed action.
The project is a powerful case of how research-driven service design can meaningfully impact women’s lives by redesigning trust, access, and visibility in public services.
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