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Designing the voting experienceMaking elections easy for voters to understandWhitney QuesenberyCenter for Civic Design
[email protected]@civicdesign
ResourcesHow voters get information: Best practices manual for official voter information guides in California
Available from https://cavotes.org/download-best-practices-manualWebinars: http://civicd.link/BPRwebinars
Field Guides to Ensuring Voter IntentDesign guidelines for election officials, based on solid research and best practices
Available from http://civicdesign.org/fieldguides/
Raising the bar for usability and accessibility How far have we come?
From 2000 to 2016
Design makes a difference to voters...
...and can affect election outcomes
Pushing the boundaries of inclusion
Usability Accessibility Accommodation Assistance
Push the boundaries
Thanks to David Baquis of the Access Board for this concept
Make voters feel like
experts...not students
"Human-Centered Design for the Voting Experience" Stanford Social Innovation Review
How long will I have to be there?- New citizen, Pasadena
I don't know too much about voting. That's why I stopped doing it.- 21 year old, Modesto
I do have one question. What do you actually do when you vote?- 18 year old, Baltimore
Why is election information so hard?
Jargon
Low literacy
Civic literacy gaps
Information gaps from the community review of the California Voter Bill of Rights• There are options for how and when you
vote• You can get a new ballot if you make a
mistake• The whole idea of provisional ballots• You can vote if you are in line when the polls
close• You can vote after a conviction for a felony• What is a primary election?
Trying to explain primaries
Primary election... What's that?
What's different?
Who can vote?
What happens?
Who do we vote for?
Why do it like this?
Learn to think like a voter...It's not just simpler words, but the designing the entire experience
Words that make sense to them Designing for a narrow field of view Repeating information at the right
time
... to anticipate their needs
The secret is usability testing...
...with many different types of voters
Communicating with voters across civic and reading literacy gaps
Election information designDesign and write to minimize the effort it takes to learn about voting Write in plain language Design for reading Make information visual
Write for low reading literacy
From the National Assessment of Adult Literacy
43% of adults can only read simple sentences.
Use clear, unambiguous words
BeforeReview your choices
Better
AfterReview what you're voting for
Don’t require inferences or arithmetic
Better
BeforeYou could have voted for 4 candidates and you only voted for 2
AfterYou voted for 2 people. You can vote for 2 more.
Make messages meaningful
Design for easy reading Large enough text Contrast beyond WGAG 2.0 Sans serif font
Make the important words stand out
Make information visualSupport words with pictures Show the big steps in
instructions. Provide a accurate instructional illustrations.
Identify communication types: Signal web, phone, and so on with images
Use color sparingly: Call attention, identify languages, type of voter, or election year
Write in bites, snacks and meals
Bite: Shortest possible explanation
Snack: Summary, with enough information for an experienced voter
Meal: Full details or instructions
HT to Leslie O'Flavahan
Use the cover for a quick 'bite'
Key information on this page- County - Title of book- Election- Where’s your polling place- Contact info
Who is this from?What is this book?
What, and when, is this election?
Where’s my polling place?
How can I get in touch?
Answer voters' questions Include overview and details.
Make it easy to get the main point quickly.
Provide a roadmap: Show an overview of a process.
Show readers where they are: Use headings on each page and within content.
Help voters understand the process
Instructions that covered voting to mailing make a difference.
Help voters read measures
Voters said that they "always read" this page even though it's a newly designed page.
It's just enough information for them to get started, and have some context for the pages that follow.
Help voters meet legal requirements
Put signatures in a boxWith an "x"
All the time
Plain interactionwith a simple linear flow
Better
Voters can miss instructions that are on the side of the screen because they are focused on the main interactive area.
Designing the future of electionsPhotos: ITIF AVTI/CATEA
EZ Ballot
Georgia Tech – CATEA | AVTI
Anywhere Ballot
University of Baltimore | Center for Civic Design | Oxide Design Co | AVTI
Voter registration forms
More online tools
Election design can delight votersStart from election design principles
Meet voters' needs for easy interaction, plain language, and clear design
Test with voters
Thank you.
