Poll Pal
Overview:
MY ROLE:
TOOLS USED:
User Interviews, Competitive Analysis, & Data collection.
Persona, Empathy Map, & Crazy 8's.
User Flow, Interaction Design, Responsive Wireframes, Prototype, & Usability Testing.
HTML5, CSS, React, OAuth, Sellenium Web Driver, MongoDB, ES 6, Ballotpedia API.
We interviewed a collection of 10 people who had not voted in the 2016 election. The main reason behind not voting, lack of accurate and reliable information. 7 out of the 10 said they were overwhelmed by the amount of skewed media delivered on Facebook.
Vote Save America is an excellent resource to register to vote. We wanted to create an all inclusive platform that includes- registering to vote; as well as finding out more about candidates and initiatives in your district.
Millennials especially have the potential to boost their political clout by turning out in greater numbers. Just 49 percent of eligible voters from that generation voted in 2016, compared with 69 percent of eligible baby boomers.
The following persona was created based on the evidence gathered from the user research. Natsha Beddon represented primary users which were millennials or first time voters that want a better understanding of their ballot. The empathy map reflects her feelings and how her environment could influence her decisions.
-Nikki Reed
With knowing the time limit and resources our team had, I used an Agile Project Management approach. I conducted a sprint in brainstorming the design of Poll Pal by using creative thinking, Photoshop, and a Crazy 8s exercise. I allocated myself 5 minutes per section with 2 minutes in between.
The initial thought for the app was a Tinder for politics, users would swipe left or right on different candidates and initiatives; and be able to read a small bio with statistics on if the candidate/initiative was more left or right. However, with limited time and resources, we decided that entering a zip code would lead to a list of different candidates and initiatives would then lead to a user being able to create their own ballot was the most feasible option.
Similar to the research I had 8 people sit down for a usability test session. I had four people that were in the millenial generation and 4 people from Generation Z.
The first thought for the app was a Tinder for politics, users would swipe left or right on different candidates and initiatives; and be able to read a small bio with statistics on if the candidate/initiative was more left or right. However, with a 3 week deadline, I am extremely proud of how Poll Pal turned out.
Improvements: 1. Finding a faster compression for the pulling up candidates and initiatives after the user enters their zip code. 2. Minor design improvements with the nav bar & responsiveness. 3. Pulling in candidates twitter API to show their feed on ballot card. 4. All around more information that is right in front of user after they enter their zip code. 5. Add Favicon
Expansion: The next step would be expansion into an iOS and Android App. Also, expanding and make over of the apps UI once the mobile version is confirmed and we make it into a "Tinder"-esque app.
