Vote! 🗳️
My Vision
Project Overview
I sought to create a design solution to a common American nightmare: voting.
Voting has several solvable problems that I designed solutions for:
Inconsistent ballot layout between states,
Risk of COVID-19 exposure,
Long waiting periods,
Limited Language options,
Limited time frame in which you can vote,
Voter suppression,
Confusing ballot structure,
Potentially inconsistent recounts.
This application design was part of a semester-long class project I completed.
I completed a seven-step design process in order to bring my vision to life.
I consulted with several existing government texts on ballot design to maintain a relatively similar 'feel' and aesthetic to current ballots. I did research on foreign ballot solutions and the latest security features.
I also user-tested different prior iterations to gain valuable feedback regarding the usability and desired features regarding my design.
I worked in a team-setting, collaborating with my classmates on their apps, giving and receiving valuable feedback.
Through this process, I iterated on my designs countless times, finally arriving at this design.
Project
Solo Product Research & Design
Conducted
August - December 2020
Class
UX Design & Research @ UT Austin
Methods
Usability Testing, Contextual Inquiry, Figma design, Wireframing, User Interviews
UX Research and Design
Interactive Figma Prototype
Please use this interactable Figma prototype I built!
Many of the features that I included were suggestions from live user interviews and direct observation.
Generative User Interviews
On-Site Field Interviews
As this project’s timeline overlapped with the 2020 US Federal Elections, I utilized the opportunity to speak to real voters at a polling location in Austin, Texas.
I began by asking simple, broad, and generative questions including:
Why did you choose to vote today?
Is there anything you would like to improve about the voting experience?
Why do you think some people choose not to vote?
As a semi-guided interview, while I did have written questions, I felt it would be best to let the users guide me, speaking to them about what they valued.
Takeaways
“In Texas, I’m worried about the security of my ballot. I can’t be sure that it was counted.”
Through these exploratory interviews, I learned several common concerns and takeaways about voting that guided my design process.
COVID Exposure
Wait Times
Ballot Security
Confusing Ballot Layouts
I elucidate how I address these findings in later sections.
Me conducting a field interview in front of a polling location.
Design Inspiration
Design Process
Sketching Wireframes
Figma Design I
This was my very first design in Figma. As you can see it it quite unrefined, which I later iterated on in later designs.
Figma Design II
In this design generation, I added several features I learned from my on-site interviews.
These features include live wait times, straight ticket voting, and better iconography, and sharing features.
Evaluative Usability Testing
Qualitative User Study
Using the second generation design interface, I performed summative usability testing, before moving on to the final design stage. I performed both in-person live usability testing and remote testing via. Zoom.
I began with a guided task-based exploration, moving on to a prototype usability evaluation, and finally ending with a post-test survey.
I recorded participant actions and responses to analyze for pain points later.
I began by instructing users to complete a few simple tasks including:
Try voting for your preferred Senate candidate.
Can you check out the polling location closest to you?
Why don’t you try checking the wait times for the polling locations around you?
In the usability evaluation stage, I asked questions such as:
Are there any features that you felt were missing in ‘Vote!’?
Were there any places you felt like you didn’t know what to do when using the app?
Is there anything about in-person voting that you’d like to see incorporated?
Live Usability Testing
Remote Usability Testing
Questions
Key Findings from Usability Testing.
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Straight Ticket Voting ✅
Allows users to vote for all the candidates belonging to a single party on the ballot.
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Live Wait Times 📈
Utilizing existing web interfaces that allow voters to explore wait times at in-person polling places.
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Security Details 🔒
Being more upfront with users about the specifics of how the platform is intended to be secured.
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Social Media Sharing 📱
Flexing 💪 on your friends & family that you’ve voted.
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Better Categorization 🏛️
Some users found the previous flow confusing, so it was updated with a more streamlined, less complex approach.
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Iconography ▶️
Who doesn’t love emojis? Better icons were added to help users better navigate the app.
Final Design
For this final design, I wanted to go for a more modern and stylish design. I drew more heavily from my design inspiration above resulting in the aesthetic you see here.
The above ☝️ mentioned features (learned during usability testing) are all utilized in this final design.
Final Deliverable Presentation.
I presented this slideshow in a 20-minute presentation to my professors. It includes key decisions in my design process, as well as much of my background research - both from users and online sources.
Reflection
What went well:
Because of the security and pandemic-related concerns surrounding the 2020 election, I chose a very timely and important issue to study, as I learned in my preliminary interviews.
I liked that I gained experience using both remote and in-person usability testing, particularly important in a [post] pandemic world.
I worked on this project alone, meaning that I was forced to gain skills both in design and research. This really put me out of my comfort zone, but now I feel much more comfortable designing.
What could have gone better:
As this was my first time designing an entire application framework in Figma, I felt that my designs could have been stronger, particularly the second generation that I presented during usability testing.
Because of my novice Figma skills, I was forced to evaluate my prototypes on desktop, despite the interface being designed for mobile. In the future, I hope to avoid that type of nonparallel testing.
I really would have liked to speak to some kind of cloud security expert, so I could have had an expert’s opinion on my ideas.