Vote Right - Voting Application

Goal - Enabling Users to understand their candidate's policies before voting.

Providing a system for voters to make an informed & conscious decision through their ideas & policies for different electoral roles.

Understanding the Challenge - 

In the USA less than 60% of eligible voters participate during the election. About 40% of people do not know the policies of all of the major candidates according to PewResearch.

Concept

UI/UX

Role

User Research,
Visual Design, UI/UX

Duration

6 Weeks (Fall 2020)

Problem - 

The USA has one of the lowest election turnout percentages with less than 60% eligible voters participating in the elections.

Solution - 

Enable Voting online, which would be an easy way to enable more people to vote at their ease reducing other complexities like accessibility and lengthy registration process.

Easy Registration

Enable users to upload an image of any federal ID which would help them register with ease and make the voting process more accessible.

Multiple Registration Options

If the voter does not have a federally issued ID, the form can be used to conduct online voter registration.

Problem - 

Many Voters are not informed about local elections and can't make educated decisions.

Solution -

To keep voters informed with accurate information about all local, state & federal elections.

Registered to Vote

Notify Users about their registration with all the election information that they will be participating in.

Local, State & Federal Elections

Provide an accurate representation by listing all the levels of the election that the user will be participating in.

Problem -

Over 30% of the voters are unaware of the candidates' various policy stances as they queue up to vote on Election Day.

Solution -

Allow users to determine their own matching candidate through a questionnaire about the candidates' policy stance.

Questionnaire Based Matching

Every policy that the candidates have will be considered in drafting a questionnaire for the user to determine their exact match.

Live Results

Every question determines the likeliness to one candidate with an accurate representation being shown through a percentage match with more details for the users to read through and understand.

Research

The thoughts and user inputs that resulted in the above-presented solution.

Assumptions

As the demographic is too wide and has multiple contrasting opinions, I started the project based on a few assumptions. The assumptions guided me to devise a solution that can be later used for user inputs and usability testing.

Application's Focus

The app's focus would be to help users to vote in a much easier way and provide a service that- is accessible to everyone without a hassle. Voting online is a major security issue but assuming that technology is created in the near future which is full-proof.

User Group

The user group is the young, college students, employed & retired personnel with no particular leaning political ideology.

User Goals

Users want to know where they are registered to vote, have deep knowledge & understanding about matching with the best candidate and vote easily.

Developing the Feature Set

Registration Information
Enabling the users to locate and verify if they are actually registered automatically through any means of Federal ID. 

Matching with the right candidates
Help people gauge the right candidate by the means of answering questions related to various different policies in questions and matching them with the most appropriate candidate.

Live Updates
Every question determines the likeliness of your stance with the candidates. The live update graph provides a representation of your matching with all the candidates.

Vote
A hassle-free voting system for the user to help pick candidates and vote accordingly in the application after matching with all the candidates.

Understanding the Users

Graduate Student

Never Registered before, Avoiding to Register because it is a lengthy process. He is also curious about various policies as he has a bright future ahead and wants to be an ideal citizen.

Working Individuals

Has a background that leans on a particular political ideology. She is unsure about a few decisions which have prompted her to think about why she should choose one over another and wants a deep dive into the policy stances of candidates.

Individuals in Service

A very hectic schedule leading to Election Day forces them to have a responsibility added which could be easily taken away if they could vote right off their phones at any time & any place without having to worry.

Prototype(s)

I put myself in the shoes of each of the above individuals to understand the exact pain points. Post that I intended to base my solution by merging all 3 solutions into an all-around application that would satisfy the needs of the specifically targeted users.

Graduate Student

• Voter Registration
• Understanding the Election process

Working Individuals

• Matching Candidates
• Make an Informed Decision

Service Men

• Vote Online
• Easy Registration and Information Availability

Wireframing

Wireframing was an important step in the process which helped me to visualize the solution as a rough sketch. The most important thing which it led me to was the UX writing for the scenario which was much easier to translate for the real experience the app would provide.

User Testing

Registration Information
Enabling the users to locate and verify if they are actually registered automatically through any means of Federal ID. 

Matching with the right candidates
Help people gauge the right candidate by the means of answering questions related to various different policies in questions and matching them with the most appropriate candidate.

Live Updates
Every question determines the likeliness of your stance with the candidates. The live update graph provides a representation of your matching with all the candidates.

Vote
A hassle-free voting system for the user to help pick candidates and vote accordingly in the application after matching with all the candidates.

User Testing

Questions - 

Do you think voting is a right each and every eligible citizen deserves?

Do you think accessibility is a major issue when it comes to casting votes?

Do you think understanding all the candidates' policy stances is very important?

What according to you would be a more accessible option to vote? Online or Mail-In Ballots?

Through what mediums do you conduct your research before casting a vote for a particular candidate? Do you think there can be a better alternative for the same?

14/15 interviewed users agreed it would be better if they could vote online.

40% of the users said they don't look up for the opposition candidates' policies before they vote.

80% of the users agreed it would be better if they could understand all the candidates' policies.

100% of the users agreed that voting should be enabled for each and every eligible citizen of the country.

Final Designs

Reflect

Lean UX is a great strategy but the collaboration part is hard. Maintaining constant input channels through the users and iterating at a fast pace is a great strategy and a design process I certainly enjoyed.

Understanding how to formulate a strategy in which cases like these require you to handle sensitive information without leaning towards a particular stance was something I took utmost care of and it helped me formulate my ideas in the right channels.

The security aspect of online voting is a huge challenge I would say. As I developed the assumptions, this was the biggest thing to swallow. If it is secure enough, only then would people use it. But security over accessibility is an unfair balance and hence I decided to move ahead keeping in mind how important is the right to vote for each and every individual.