On this project I applied Lean UX methods by making assumptions about our users, designing based on those assumptions, and proving the validity of those designs with user testing.
The App
Voting is a right in the United States that not everyone takes part in. Voteable was a mobile app I designed with a team as a school project to minimize some of the barriers that keep some people from getting to the polls and voting.
Setting & Context
I completed this project with a team of two others over about seven weeks in my Interaction Design II course at Kennesaw State University. We followed the Lean UX method, working in sprint cycles that were dominated by collaborative design and constant iterative testing to validate and refine our ideas and designs.
My Role
As team lead I developed and cast vision to establish our app idea and delegated design and research tasks. However, I was still a big part of the process contributing to much of the research, design, branding, and interviewing our users during testing.
The Situation
The Problems
Less than 60% of Americans participate in major elections. And the numbers go down for smaller local and state elections. Many voters aren't even aware of the smaller elections and miss out on engaging in their local government. And voters typically arrive at the polls with information about just one big race.
Our Solution
We want to solve this by focusing on providing users with an easier way to register to vote. We also wanted to to help voters prepare for the voting experience by providing accurate and unbiased election information. Lastly, we wanted to keep voters engaged with the democratic process by notifying them of elections of every level, from President to Mayor.
Project Timeline
Assumptions
Because this process doesn’t begin with research, we kicked off by laying out all of our assumptions about our users and product. This was important to make sure we were all on the same page when we moved on to collaborative design. These assumptions could then be tested and validated when we conducted user tests later throughout the process.
Things we Considered
The business outcomes we are trying to achieve. The users that we are trying to serve. The user outcomes that motivate them. The features we believe will work in this situation.
Personas
Primary: Maria
Age: 22
Location: Urban
Occupation: Working College Student
Voter Status: Unregistered
Maria has never voted before and isn't registered. She's avoided registering because the process has seemed complicated and the time she would have to put in hasn't seemed worth it. She wants to stay informed about her community. As a senior in college, future job opportunities are on her mind.
Needs/Desires: Wants to register to vote, needs to find out what to do on election day, curious about what types of issues she might need to consider about candidates
Obstacles: Limited budget, unfamiliar with the voting process
Secondary: Michael
Age: 31
Location: Suburban
Occupation: Contractor
Voter Status: Participated in Major Elections
Michael is tired of hearing about politics. He has mostly voted Republican but is mostly fed up with the political system. He's mainly concerned with finding an honest candidate. He'd like to know what local issues he'll have to vote on at the polls.
Needs/Desires: Wants unbiased election information, wants to know what's on the ballot ahead of time, has a few key issues he cares about
Obstacles: Lost interest in politics, limited time to invest in learning about candidates
Voter Registration
Voter registration is usually a simple process, but the process of finding the proper form, filling it out, and occasionally having to mail it is enough of a barrier to keep plenty of people from registering. Voteable is a helping hand to voters to help them through the formal process.
1. Scan & Skip
Voters can scan their Driver’s License to avoid filling out some repetitive form information. Users had varying levels of comfort when it came to giving out personal information, like a Driver’s License. Because of this, we added a way to skip this and manually find your form with just the essential information.
2. Register with Us
Each state has a different process for voter registration. Whenever possible, Voteable gives users a chance to simplify the process by registering through the app. However, once Voteable helps users find the appropriate form, they can continue the process on their own.
Election Information
Finding out what they’ll be voting on at the ballot is one of the most important ways a voter can prepare for an election. Voteable prepares voters for this, without overloading the user with too much information.
1. Candidate Stances
Voters can easily learn about a candidate’s stances on the most common issues without being overloaded with information. We provided the source for this information after multiple users expressed interest in understanding where we acquired our information.
2. Election Navigation
Voters can quickly navigate between different elections to see what candidates and ballot measures they’ll be voting on.
Home & Profile
It’s important to personalize the voting process for each user. Voteable helps remind forgetful voters and inform curious voters when and where they’ll be voting on election day.
1. Change Voter Information
Moving is a part of life, but there’s no reason that should stop voters from voting. Users can fill out their new permanent address information and Voteable will help them with the new forms to get registered in their new home.
2. Voter Hub
All of the next steps and important information are available on the home page. Users can find their polling location, upcoming elections, and relevant election news.
3. Notifications
Voteable keeps you updated about the voting process. Stay up to date on the biggest things like registration deadlines, election dates, and important political race information.
Branding
Takeaways
Voting advocacy is something I’m very passionate about. Working on a project that champions democracy was made some of the challenges more motivating to face.
I’ve led group projects before and it’s still a difficult process. Delegating the workload successfully is something that I’ll constantly be learning to improve.
Lean UX is a fast process that relies on rapid iteration and constant user testing to validate designs and ideas.