UChoose
An app that provides the elderly, citizens with disabilities, and those abroad with a comprehensible alternative to voting in person.
How we started
Team Toast was tasked with creating a mobile voting app for the state of New Jersey. The brief asked us to focus on voters with disabilities, the elderly, and citizens abroad.
Within the context of the global pandemic, a mobile voting app would be beneficial not only for those with disabilities, the elderly, and those abroad, but for everybody.
Thus, Team Toast looked beyond the brief. There is an urgency and importance of having this app in the general market.
DURATION
2 week sprint
METHODS
User research
Competitive research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Rapid usability testing
TEAM TOAST
Annie Im
Alice Jong
Thomas Bui
TOOLS
Figma
Zoom
508 compliant design
At a glance
PROBLEM
Our user needs a better way to exercise her right to vote because her physical limitations have made it difficult to vote in person without compromising her personal health & safety.
INSIGHTS
Security is most important to our users. They want to feel the same security voting in person as they do online.
SOLUTION
UChoose. An app prioritizing
- Security
- Accessibility
- Simplicity
Let's get into the nitty gritty
Our methodology
We started by conducting preliminary research to understand the current voting climate. Once we understood the context of our issue at hand, we delved into understanding our user. Using the data collected, we are able to define the user, the problem, and our possible solution. Having identified these things, we jumped into fleshing out the solution—ideating, prototyping, and testing.
Below, you can see the details for each of these steps.
USER INTERVIEWS
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
How are we voting now?
When thinking of voting, most people think of in-person voting and mail-in voting. For the majority of the population, these methods work. But, there are problems in the system.
This isn't working.
In-person voting
- Long waiting lines.
- No rest areas.
- Large crowds.
- No time off of work.
Mail-in voting
- In many states, you have to apply/need an excuse.
- You need a secure mailing address.
- No assistance for voters with disabilities/language barriers.
- The postal service is sometimes unreliable and hard to time.
What are the other solutions out there?
Democracy Live is the online voting platform currently used in West Virginia. It's a slightly complicated system, however, with some of the same issues as before.
- Voters must apply by going in person to the county clerk.
- Voters may submit online, by email, mail, or fax.
- No assistance provided.
- A long process that can get confusing.
View Democracy Live task analysis
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USER INTERVIEWS
Defining our user
The problems in the current voting systems disproportionately leave behind:
- The elderly
- The disabled
- Citizens abroad
What we wanted to learn
- Users' comfortability with completing tasks with sensitive information, such as government related tasks, online.
- Users' feelings on security and privacy online.
- Users' current voting habits.
What we did learn
We interviewed six people who fit within our defined user base. What we found was this:
- Most users have had accessibility issues with voting in person.
- Users' digital privacy is incredibly important to them. Most users take proactive steps to protect themselves online.
- Users are comfortable completing government tasks and providing personal data online. (So long as that information is for the government)
Focus Pocus
These findings tell us that we need to prioritize:
- Security
- Accessibility
- Simplicity
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PERSONA & USER JOURNEY
Gayatri is sick of voting in person!
Gayatri is a fictional persona based off of the data we collected. She represents the very real needs, desires, and frustrations of our user base.
Gayatri is in her mid 50s and has fibromyalgia. In the past she has had to bring her own shade and seating, and asking for accessibility aids hasn't been met with success.
The Scenario
Gayatri is voting in this year’s local elections. Due to her physical limitations, she has chosen to vote via Mail-In Ballot in lieu of voting in-person. She is hoping she can register & submit her ballot in time to be counted in the upcoming elections, while also feeling confident that her ballot was actually received.
What we learn
Having identified Gayatri's pain points, we discover these opportunities:
- An online voting process that would eliminate the need for physical documents to be scanned.
- An option to input votes directly into systems online for submission.
- Online confirmation of ballot being submitted.
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PROBLEM & SOLUTION
Let’s distill the problem:
Gayatri needs a better way to exercise her right to vote because her physical limitations have made it difficult to vote in person without compromising her personal health & safety.
Defining a solution:
If we create a mobile app that allows all users to easily and securely place votes, Gayatri will feel safe, capable, and confident in her voting activities.
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DESIGN STUDIO
Gimme all your ideas
We conducted a fast sketching exercise wherein we drew as up as many ideas as we could within 6 minutes.
Then, we presented our ideas to each other, critiqued, and fused our ideas together.
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PROTOTYPING
Where we went first
Through our low-fidelity prototype, we were able to flesh out our principles of security, accessibility, and simplicity.
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USABILITY TESTING
How enjoyable is the experience?
We tasked these real-life Gayatris with:
- Verifying their identity using a document.
- Voting in the 2020 general election.
Through these tasks, we hoped to observe their understanding of the multiple ways to discover and contact other users as well as an innate understanding of our features themselves.
What we learned
We interviewed 10 people who fit within our defined user base. What we found was this:
- Users found the app straightforward and easy to understand.
- Users weren't sure how safe they felt with biometrics.
- A few users wanted more feedback from the app.
Immediate solutions
We implemented these changes:
- Removing mandatory biometrics.
- Adding more feedback from the app confirming identity security measures and ballot casting took place.
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Our solution
It's all about bringing user desires to life
Security
Blockchain technology and an "Auto Wipe" feature to secure voter's identities.
Accessibility
Large photos of candidates and big text while voting.
Simplicity
A clean and simple user interface with minimal animations.
The finalized prototype
Try it out for yourself
What's next for us?
In usability testing of our high-fidelity prototype, users were highly satisfied. But, what our users taught us was that there's a lot of potential for this app. This is just a stepping stone for us.
We'd like to:
- Provide users with feedback on the status of their ballot.
- Explore different ID verification methods.
Turns out, I love being in a team
I'm an introspective person who sometimes has trouble voicing my own opinions. I mostly prefer to work alone and approach others for their advice and feedback. So, I was nervous about working on every aspect of this project as a group. But thankfully, my teammates are hardworking, kind-spirited, and communicative people. Without their support, UChoose would not have been able to come to life.
At the end of all this, I realized that a team brings valuable perspectives, emotional and professional support, and a whole lot more fun to the whole process! Turns out, I'd rather work in a group than all alone.