Design: Your Civic Duty

Why is it often so hard to understand voting, the most essential civic duty? Confusing information packets and poorly designed ballots can actually sway an election. Together, we’ll discuss and critique voter information materials and ballots. We’ll discuss tactical tips for designing content and layout, and do some hands-on activities to practice redesigning some materials. You’ll learn about the challenges and opportunities of designing for the public sector, and what you can do to help your community — even if you don’t consider yourself a designer.

Transcript

1. DESIGN Your Civic Duty a BND DSGN workshop with Molly McLeod
2. Hi! I’m Molly. Who are you?
3. You’re all designers!
4. What are we doing? 1. What even is design? 2. Critique some voting instructions 3. Make lentil soup 4. Content tips 5. Design tips 6. Practice activity! So fun. p.s. I’m gonna share a link to these slides at the end :)
5. How do you want someone to feel when they’re using something you made?
10. If you care about creating a great experience for someone using something you’ve made, you’re a designer.
11. Design is not (only)
 how things look.
12. Design is not (only)
 how things look. Design is 
 how things work.
13. Government is a massive, continuous service design project. Dana Chisnell, United States Digital Service
17. 200+ pages!!! ALL CAPS LEGALESE
20. (critique)
21. (critique)
22. (critique)
23. (critique) Wait why are these words bolded? And do I care this is called an “overvote”? No. No I don’t. This spacing makes me feel claustrophobic.
24. (critique)
25. (critique) Important info buried!
31. Who are your users/audience? What are they trying to do? What do they need to know? What’s the call to action? Before you start making anything…
32. What information would you want if you were making lentil soup?
38. Content Typography Color Layout
39. Content The thing(s) you’re aiming to communicate
40. Write short sentences. Use simple words. Remove unnecessary words. Content From Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent
41. Write in the active voice, where the person doing the action comes before the verb. Content From Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent
42. Write in the active voice, where the person doing the action comes before the verb. Content
43. When giving instructions that are more than one step, make each step an item in a numbered list. Do not number other instructions. Content From Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent
44. Separate paragraphs by a space so each paragraph stands out on the page or screen. Content From Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent
45. civicdesign.org
46. Typography The art & science of arranging text
47. When choosing a font: keep in mind legibility and personality. Times and Helvetica are harder to read. Typography
48. Avoid decorative fonts. Typography
49. Sans serif fonts tend to be easier to read. Typography
50. Make the text bigger! Typography 24-60 pt: headers 18-24 pt: paragraph/body text (web) 12-18 pt: paragraph/body text (print) 6-10 pt: honey I shrunk the type!
51. Use all-caps sparingly. When used for more than a few words, it can seem like yelling and is hard to read. Typography To register to vote in Oregon, you must be a U.S. citizen, an Oregon resident and at least 17 years old. TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN OREGON, YOU MUST BE A U.S. CITIZEN, AN OREGON RESIDENT AND AT LEAST 17 YEARS OLD. How to Register HOW TO REGISTER
52. Left justify text. Centered text and right justified text is hard to read. Typography Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: • Online using My Vote. • By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. • In person at the county elections office. How to Register Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: Online using My Vote. By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. In person at the county elections office. How to Register
53. Choose one way to emphasize text. Typography
54. practicaltypography.com
55. Color Only use rainbows!!!! (just kidding)
56. Use light text on a dark background or dark text on a light background. Make sure there’s enough contrast. Color
57. Don’t rely on color to convey important information. Keep color- blindness in mind. Color
58. michelf.ca/projects/mac/sim-daltonism
59. color.adobe.com
60. Layout How to arrange things in a pleasing fashion
61. If everything is important, nothing is important. Highlight a call- to-action. Layout
62. To create hierarchy, make a clear path for the eye to follow. Use 2-3 font sizes, and no more than 2 colors for text. Layout Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: • Online using My Vote. • By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. • In person at the county elections office. Deadline: October 18th How to Register to Vote Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: •Online using My Vote. •By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. •In person at the county elections office. Deadline: October 18th How to Register to Vote Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: •Online using My Vote. •By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. •In person at the county elections office. DEADLINE: OCTOBER 18TH How to Register to Vote
63. Place related items close to each other and leave white space. Layout Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: • Online using My Vote. • By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. • In person at the county elections office. Deadline: October 18th How to Register to Vote Registering to vote in Oregon is quick and simple. Oregonians can register: • Online using My Vote. • By mail using a voter registration form (PDF). This form also is available en Español. • In person at the county elections office. Deadline: October 18th How to Register to Vote
65. Any other questions?
66. Activity time!!! Okay cool, it’s time for… Any other questions?
67. Hmm… these instructions need our help! Let’s redesign them together.
68. What’d ya make?
69. U.S. Digital Service
70. VOTE DESIGN
71. This government was designed to be changed. Jesse Williams
72. mollymcleod.com/resources Together, we can design better government. Find this slide deck and links at