UX/UI Design
Art direction
UX/UI Design, art direction
ADOBE CREATIVe suite
sketch/figma
invision
ADOBE CREATIVe suite, sketch/figma, invision
APRIL 2019
APP DESIGN
APRIL 2019, APP DESIGN
Ahh, voting. Our American right and for most, the only means in which we get to voice our concerns and opinions in government. Voting is a passion of mine and as a poll worker every election, I am often amazed at the lack of young people who show up. For years, I was an election worker near the University of Southern California and even within such a close vicinity the turnout under 30 was shocking. And of the young people that do show up, many were unsure of the process and what to do.
I conceived VoteSmarter as a tool to help users understand their ballots and make more informed choices, making them feel more prepared for the polls. A single point of reference where you can gain information about candidates and ballot measures, find polling locations and understand the basics of voting in the United States.
Users need a way to streamline the information gathering step of the voting process so they can make informed decisions at every election - and therefore participate in every election.
In the 2016 election, which was hotly contested and much debated, the expectation of voter turnout was high. The overall turnout was a sad 61% and of all eligible young people, only half showed up to vote. Even less young people turned out for midterms. What was keeping them from the polls?
I began with the theory based on what I witnessed personally at the polls: new voter confusion on what to do. Was the process of voting confusing new voters and therefore suppressing voter turnout? I set out to research and conducted interviews with new voters aged 21-26. Through a series of in person and video chat interviews I started establishing themes in what young voters were finding in regards the voting experience.
What I found was that it wasn't necessarily the process of voting that was confusing, but who to vote for that was the biggest pain point. When users lack the confidence and understanding of what they're voting for, they are less likely to participate. We need to build confidence through education.
I also did extensive competitor research. What I found was there were some sites that were doing some aggregating of information, but not in an app and not as extensively as what I was proposing.
From the interviews I was able to develop a user persona: Hannah. This would help keep my user in focus as I set out to create a solution for her.
Having established Hannah's MVP, I was able to create a user flow that maps out the task flows I ultimately want users to journey through. Keeping focused on the MVP, I determined which features need to be prioritized and created a site map before moving onto sketches of my design solution.
From my sketches, I created a basic prototype using Sketch & InVision that walked my user through the basic journey. I conducted a series of usability tests and made adjustments to my interface as I gathered feedback.
Finally, after multiple rounds of testing and refinements to my simple prototype, I added some High Definition designs and started tested again. Test the working prototype below.
This project is only a proof of concept, but I hope to make it a reality some day. I constantly imagine new ways of enriching the education experience for voters: could we include a bot style chat with candidates? Live streams of town halls? Could we include a ride-share feature giving voters access to transit? Is there a way to gamify the process so you earn badges or rewards as you complete your education or vote in multiple elections? I see many opportunities to not only create a robust tool for users but to increase voter turnout and keep democracy alive.
