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Dana Chisnell

inuse
May 24, 2018

Dana Chisnell

Democracy is a design problem

inuse

May 24, 2018
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  1. What questions do voters have about elections? How well do

    county election websites answer voters’ questions?
  2. What questions do voters have about elections? Cataloged 145 county

    election websites How well do county election websites answer voters’ questions?
  3. What questions do voters have about elections? Cataloged 145 county

    election websites Conducted usability tests How well do county election websites answer voters’ questions?
  4. 6 The received process 1. We tell you about the

    election coming up 2. You register to vote 3. You decide how to participate 4. Find your polling place 5. Learn how to mark your ballot 6. Get voter ID 7. Learn who is in office now 8. Learn what is on the ballot 9. Mark the ballot and cast it 10. Check results Chronological 1 3 2 4 6 5 7 9 8 10
  5. 7

  6. 7

  7. Voters are ballot-centric They want to know whether it is

    worthwhile investing in the process
  8. 6 Election announced Register to vote Decide how to take

    part Find the polling place Learn how to mark a ballot Get voter ID Learn who is in office now Learn what’s on the ballot Mark the ballot Check results The Voter Journey Receives ballot automatically, which is marked and put in drop box or turned in at early voting location or at polling place on election day. Already registered to vote for previous election. Has gone to the same polling place for years. It's close to home, easy to get to, and well marked. Already knows how to mark because the ballot design has been the same for years. Also, a ballot was sent in the mail, so our voter could practice. No ID needed. Familiar with the local representatives and reads about them in the news. A voter guide arrives in the mail and has information about all the candidates and ballot measures. Practiced marking the ballot received in the mail and found no surprises on the ballot. Gets notifications of election results from local election website. 2 3 4 1 5 Did not receive information about early voting options either online or by mail and missed the deadline. Never sees a ballot nor gets instructions on how to mark the ballot. Is not familiar with the local representatives. Is registered, but moved out of that county. Now must update voter registration by printing, filling out, and mailing the voter registration form. Has never been to this polling place before and it's far from work. Upon arriving, there are no signs to indicate where to go. Managed to get voter ID even though DMV is far from home and the lines are long. Doesn't receive a voter guide in the mail and is overwhelmed by all of the information found online. Never hears who won local races. Doesn't understand how to mark ballot and didn't know about several of the races and candidates. 6 4 2 3 5 1 The journey of a voter who: • is stable geographically • was introduced to voting by parents • is familiar with the process The journey of a voter who: • moves often • has no network to ask questions of • is self-taught about the process
  9. 6 Election announced Register to vote Decide how to take

    part Find the polling place Learn how to mark a ballot Get voter ID Learn who is in office now Learn what’s on the ballot Mark the ballot Check results The Voter Journey Receives ballot automatically, which is marked and put in drop box or turned in at early voting location or at polling place on election day. Already registered to vote for previous election. Has gone to the same polling place for years. It's close to home, easy to get to, and well marked. Already knows how to mark because the ballot design has been the same for years. Also, a ballot was sent in the mail, so our voter could practice. No ID needed. Familiar with the local representatives and reads about them in the news. A voter guide arrives in the mail and has information about all the candidates and ballot measures. Practiced marking the ballot received in the mail and found no surprises on the ballot. Gets notifications of election results from local election website. 2 3 4 1 5 Did not receive information about early voting options either online or by mail and missed the deadline. Never sees a ballot nor gets instructions on how to mark the ballot. Is not familiar with the local representatives. Is registered, but moved out of that county. Now must update voter registration by printing, filling out, and mailing the voter registration form. Has never been to this polling place before and it's far from work. Upon arriving, there are no signs to indicate where to go. Managed to get voter ID even though DMV is far from home and the lines are long. Doesn't receive a voter guide in the mail and is overwhelmed by all of the information found online. Never hears who won local races. Doesn't understand how to mark ballot and didn't know about several of the races and candidates. 6 4 2 3 5 1 The journey of a voter who: • is stable geographically • was introduced to voting by parents • is familiar with the process The journey of a voter who: • moves often • has no network to ask questions of • is self-taught about the process At every step is a decision Stay in and move on? Drop out.
  10. 6 Election announced Register to vote Decide how to take

    part Find the polling place Learn how to mark a ballot Get voter ID Learn who is in office now Learn what’s on the ballot Mark the ballot Check results The Voter Journey Receives ballot automatically, which is marked and put in drop box or turned in at early voting location or at polling place on election day. Already registered to vote for previous election. Has gone to the same polling place for years. It's close to home, easy to get to, and well marked. Already knows how to mark because the ballot design has been the same for years. Also, a ballot was sent in the mail, so our voter could practice. No ID needed. Familiar with the local representatives and reads about them in the news. A voter guide arrives in the mail and has information about all the candidates and ballot measures. Practiced marking the ballot received in the mail and found no surprises on the ballot. Gets notifications of election results from local election website. 2 3 4 1 5 Did not receive information about early voting options either online or by mail and missed the deadline. Never sees a ballot nor gets instructions on how to mark the ballot. Is not familiar with the local representatives. Is registered, but moved out of that county. Now must update voter registration by printing, filling out, and mailing the voter registration form. Has never been to this polling place before and it's far from work. Upon arriving, there are no signs to indicate where to go. Managed to get voter ID even though DMV is far from home and the lines are long. Doesn't receive a voter guide in the mail and is overwhelmed by all of the information found online. Never hears who won local races. Doesn't understand how to mark ballot and didn't know about several of the races and candidates. 6 4 2 3 5 1 The journey of a voter who: • is stable geographically • was introduced to voting by parents • is familiar with the process The journey of a voter who: • moves often • has no network to ask questions of • is self-taught about the process
  11. 6 Election announced Register to vote Decide how to take

    part Find the polling place Learn how to mark a ballot Get voter ID Learn who is in office now Learn what’s on the ballot Mark the ballot Check results The Voter Journey Receives ballot automatically, which is marked and put in drop box or turned in at early voting location or at polling place on election day. Already registered to vote for previous election. Has gone to the same polling place for years. It's close to home, easy to get to, and well marked. Already knows how to mark because the ballot design has been the same for years. Also, a ballot was sent in the mail, so our voter could practice. No ID needed. Familiar with the local representatives and reads about them in the news. A voter guide arrives in the mail and has information about all the candidates and ballot measures. Practiced marking the ballot received in the mail and found no surprises on the ballot. Gets notifications of election results from local election website. 2 3 4 1 5 Did not receive information about early voting options either online or by mail and missed the deadline. Never sees a ballot nor gets instructions on how to mark the ballot. Is not familiar with the local representatives. Is registered, but moved out of that county. Now must update voter registration by printing, filling out, and mailing the voter registration form. Has never been to this polling place before and it's far from work. Upon arriving, there are no signs to indicate where to go. Managed to get voter ID even though DMV is far from home and the lines are long. Doesn't receive a voter guide in the mail and is overwhelmed by all of the information found online. Never hears who won local races. Doesn't understand how to mark ballot and didn't know about several of the races and candidates. 6 4 2 3 5 1 The journey of a voter who: • is stable geographically • was introduced to voting by parents • is familiar with the process The journey of a voter who: • moves often • has no network to ask questions of • is self-taught about the process The burden is cumulative The frustration and time that each step takes adds up like compound interest.
  12. It’s behavioral economics all the way down • There are

    many more steps to voting than most people realize • Mental models between organization and user don’t match • Voters are making rational tradeoffs at every step
  13. The map is not the journey It’s an artifact that

    documents our current understanding of the problem.
  14. A thousand journeys like Bill’s 30 researchers 145 websites 40

    participants • Voters are 
 ballot centric
  15. A thousand journeys like Bill’s 30 researchers 145 websites 40

    participants • Voters are 
 ballot centric 2 researchers 4 LWV partners 3 county partners 44 stakeholder interviews 2 workshops 100 intercepts ~ 6-12 prototypes • Civics literacy issues • Connect policy to life
  16. A thousand journeys like Bill’s 30 researchers 145 websites 40

    participants • Voters are 
 ballot centric 2 researchers 4 LWV partners 3 county partners 44 stakeholder interviews 2 workshops 100 intercepts ~ 6-12 prototypes • Civics literacy issues • Connect policy to life 2 researchers 1 advisor 1 designer 2 grad students 33 participants ~50 prototypes • Elections assume
 high digital & 
 reading literacy
  17. A thousand journeys like Bill’s 30 researchers 145 websites 40

    participants • Voters are 
 ballot centric 2 researchers 4 LWV partners 3 county partners 44 stakeholder interviews 2 workshops 100 intercepts ~ 6-12 prototypes • Civics literacy issues • Connect policy to life 2 researchers 1 advisor 1 designer 2 grad students 33 participants ~50 prototypes • Elections assume
 high digital & 
 reading literacy 17 researchers 19 elections 12 states 12 election officials 100-150 poll workers • Guiding principles 
 for poll workers
 help effectiveness
  18. A thousand journeys like Bill’s 30 researchers 145 websites 40

    participants • Voters are 
 ballot centric 2 researchers 4 LWV partners 3 county partners 44 stakeholder interviews 2 workshops 100 intercepts ~ 6-12 prototypes • Civics literacy issues • Connect policy to life 2 researchers 1 advisor 1 designer 2 grad students 33 participants ~50 prototypes • Elections assume
 high digital & 
 reading literacy 17 researchers 19 elections 12 states 12 election officials 100-150 poll workers • Guiding principles 
 for poll workers
 help effectiveness 3 researchers 2 partners 48 ppts in UT 52 ppts in diary study 6 geographic areas 200+ diary entries 100+ interviews • Civics literacy issues • Voters encounter 
 obstacles & frustrations • Voter guides can help
  19. A thousand journeys like Bill’s 30 researchers 145 websites 40

    participants • Voters are 
 ballot centric 2 researchers 4 LWV partners 3 county partners 44 stakeholder interviews 2 workshops 100 intercepts ~ 6-12 prototypes • Civics literacy issues • Connect policy to life 2 researchers 1 advisor 1 designer 2 grad students 33 participants ~50 prototypes • Elections assume
 high digital & 
 reading literacy 17 researchers 19 elections 12 states 12 election officials 100-150 poll workers • Guiding principles 
 for poll workers
 help effectiveness 3 researchers 2 partners 48 ppts in UT 52 ppts in diary study 6 geographic areas 200+ diary entries 100+ interviews • Civics literacy issues • Voters encounter 
 obstacles & frustrations • Voter guides can help • Implementation 
 is a campaign • Tie choices to 
 outcomes 1 researcher
 2 LWV 22 counties trained 40+ counties 
 consulted 30 counties adopted 1 election
  20. Hard problems Takes a lot of research to understand the

    problem space Some of the research is hard
  21. What ques*ons do 
 voters have 
 about elec*ons? Where

    and how 
 do voters get 
 informa*on about 
 elec*ons?
  22. What ques*ons do 
 voters have 
 about elec*ons? Where

    and how 
 do voters get 
 informa*on about 
 elec*ons? What issues do voters 
 with low literacy face?
  23. What ques*ons do 
 voters have 
 about elec*ons? Where

    and how 
 do voters get 
 informa*on about 
 elec*ons? What issues do voters 
 with low literacy face? What’s the role of 
 poll workers?
  24. What ques*ons do 
 voters have 
 about elec*ons? Where

    and how 
 do voters get 
 informa*on about 
 elec*ons? What issues do voters 
 with low literacy face? What’s the role of 
 poll workers? What helps voters
 become well 
 informed?
  25. What ques*ons do 
 voters have 
 about elec*ons? Where

    and how 
 do voters get 
 informa*on about 
 elec*ons? What issues do voters 
 with low literacy face? What’s the role of 
 poll workers? What helps voters
 become well 
 informed? How well does
 official elec*on 
 informa*on work? Adjacent possibles
  26. Obstacles Information Access •Little or no information online about the

    voting system •Has low civic literacy and is confused by levels of government •Misinformation and fake news has become common •No local website with information •Little or no information online or hard to find about early voting or voting by mail •No or incorrect location information online •Information is hard to understand •Doesn't usually read the news •Too little or too much information is available •Ballot instructions are hard to read and understand •Doesn't know where to look for results •Confusing registration forms •Information is difficult to sort through - doesn't know what to trust •Provisional ballot notice is hard to understand Voting rights •Lost voting rights because of felony •Doesn't have proper ID or supporting documentation (social security card, birth certificate, etc.) •Doesn't have supporting documentation (social security card, birth certificate, etc.) •Can only vote by mail for pre- approved reasons •Turned away from voting - not on voter roll •Doesn't know that voter ID is required at the polling place •Ballot is not available in preferred language •Doesn't have voter ID Time and deadlines •Strict registration deadlines •Strict deadlines to vote by mail •Long lines of more than 30 minutes •Can't get to a polling place on Election Day or during the open hours •Postal service timing is unreliable for getting and returning a ballot Data and technology •Changes in the voting system since last time voting •Must print, fill out, and send in paper application to vote by mail •Confusing online voter registration process •Does not have a printer Travel and logistics •Moves often •DMV is far away and expensive to get to •No signage at polling place •DMV is far away and expensive to get to •Polling place changed •Data from DMV is slow to get to election department •Expensive or hard to get to polling place
  27. Democracy is a design problem • Voters are ballot-centric •

    Voting feels like a test • The burden is cumulative
  28. Democracy is a design problem • Voters are ballot-centric •

    Voting feels like a test • The burden is cumulative • It’s hard to tie what happens in an election to eventual consequences
  29. Democracy is a design problem • Voters are ballot-centric •

    Voting feels like a test • The burden is cumulative • It’s hard to tie what happens in an election to eventual consequences • The system makes people apathetic