Votewise prototype, made with Adobe XD. Click on screen to start.

INTRODUCTION

Fig 1. Voters at a voting booth (Mills, 2022)

On Saturday, 25 March 2023, NSW had their quadrennial state election which determined the future representatives in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. In the weeks leading up to the election, voters were inundated with election information from relentless political party advertisements to messaging disseminated by the NSW government. Despite the constant wave of election information, information on candidates and their parties’ proposed policies remained limited. Was it because policies are not influential in voting outcomes?

"53 per cent of voters cast their ballots based on policy issues,

down from 66 per cent in 2019 but still forming the majority."

2022 Australian Election Study

For information on policies, the options available to voters were external messaging from political parties, party websites and third-party media, all of which have issues regarding accessibility and political biases that impact how younger voters engage with elections.

Fig 2. Voters at NSW voting centre (Lozano, 2023)

“While a majority of youth have a strong sense that they could achieve

change and a strong personal political identity, many don’t feel

informed or qualified enough to participate in politics."

(Booth, Medina, Siegel-Stechler & Kiesa, 2023)

According to a survey on youth civic participation in 2023 (Booth, Medina, Siegel-Stechler & Kiesa), youth (18-29) political parties and major news media were among the most distrusted institutions. The survey also found that despite a majority of youth (76%) believing that their age group has the power to achieve change, only half feel “as well-informed as most people.” Bushra Amiwal (2020), an elected official serving on the Skokie School Board of Education, states how “young voters are not at the centre of traditional politicians’ strategies” which leads to them feeling disengaged in political discussions. Current election information comes from sources younger voters distrust and there is a lack of systems in place to inform and engage with younger voters.

Votewise is a non-partisan app that streamlines all necessary election information, allowing users to make an informed decision when voting. The app would be positioned as a government-endorsed platform and feature functions available via the Australian Electoral Commission such as enrolling and voting resources.

The core functions of the platform would be split into two sections, election information and the questionnaire. Election information that would be collated are voting information, candidate information and policies. The questionnaire would be a feature that allows users a more engaging method to learn about different policies and topics of interest while also giving them insight into how their political position sits within the spectrum of major political parties. Users would answer a series of questions related to policies, candidates and parties, and their results would be visualised via a collection of graphs.

By streamlining all necessary election information, the app aims to cater to young voters aged 18-29 and their familiarity with digital tools to improve the accessibility of election information. Votewise aims to make elections more inclusive for an age group that is often overlooked in political discourse and help leverage their influence on future election outcomes.

PRECEDENTS

AEC

Fig 3. Screenshot of AEC home screen (2023)

The Australian Electoral Commission is a federally-run agency that is responsible for organising, running and overlooking federal elections. Its website provides viewers access to all the logistic-related information regarding federal elections. From the wide selection of pages, the key functions for voters are:

• How to vote
• Enrolling to vote
• Updating enrolment details
• Upcoming elections
• Government structure
• Accessibility (Read speaker)

Every state has their own electoral commission counterpart.

Party Websites

Fig 4&5. Screenshot of NSW Labor and Liberal websites (2023)

Every political party has a website that provides users on the party’s visions, policies and candidates. Their policies are sorted into topics that are salient in political discourse and span a wide range of sectors and industries.

Vote Compass

Fig 6. Screenshot of Vote Compass home screen (2023)

Vote Compass is an interactive website application that provides users with insights into how their views align with the major political parties and candidates. Designed by political scientists at Vox Pop Labs, users participate in a brief questionnaire consisting of 50 questions, from which the results are analysed and then presented through a series of graphical visualisations.

In their methodology, party and candidate political positions are extracted from external sources and analysed by a research team of political scientists. Based on the analysis, Vote Compass adjusts its calibrations based on what they think each party would answer for each proposition. Direct dialogue is then established with each party as a final check for their proposed calibrations, giving parties an opportunity to review and challenge them before it's launched to the public.

DESIGN PROCESS

Planning and Scoping

Votewise was a project that spanned over 11 weeks with designated deliverables. Creating a Gantt chart helped highlight these deliverables and associate a designated time frame to each one. I was initially planning to also create a website but after assessing it with the given timeline, I narrowed my scope to just the mobile app.

Before starting the process of creating wireframes, I created an information architecture of Votewise to outline all the different functions that would be included. These functions are currently all fulfilled by different entities and Votewise seeks to congregate them all onto a unified platform.

Votewise caters to that fall in the millennial and Gen Z demographic (18-35) who aren’t actively aware of key developments in politics but care about how their vote may impact political outcomes. The app will cater to the demographic's familiarity with new media technology and its role in shaping future societal outcomes.

Prototype 1

Prototype 1

The first set of wireframes was made using the AEC's colour palette, referencing the information architecture. From the first round of peer feedback, it was brought to my attention that the colour purple can be associated with femininity and spirituality. With my app's intention of remaining non-partisan, it meant a different colour palette that was more politically neutral. Another point of feedback was to figure out the graphic style early in the design process to make it easier to transition from wireframes to UI.

Prototype 2

The following screens were made using the unrefined version of the logo and a new selection of colours. The prototype introduces a progression bar as an added incentive for users. In this iteration, I did feel like the screens and graphics felt flat and generic. Feedback from this week reiterated these concerns so I decided to spend some time refining my graphics.

Logo and Graphics

Fig 7. Votewise logo sketches

After generating a series of sketches, I proceeded to digitise some of them using Illustrator. Among those options, I opted for the set that evokes the image of a ballot paper being placed into a ballot box. The letter ‘V’ is divided into two sections, forming a checkmark symbol within its structure.

Using the Votewise logo as a reference, I created an icon family that reflects the Votewise logo, with the colours, rounded corners and linear style as their main distinctive features.

Following the creation of the icon family, I changed the Votewise logo to match the outline style. Although I liked the solid versions better, I decided it would make more sense holistically to adjust my logo accordingly.

Primary colours

Secondary colours

From the sets of possible colour combinations to brand Votewise around, I initially chose yellow and black as were colours that didn't have any strong association with any major parties or topics of political discourse. In contrast to alternatives like orange or brown, the combination for Votewise's relation to politics didn't appear overly arbitrary either. However, a comment I did receive was how the prominent use of yellow reminded them of Clive Palmer. To address this concern and maintain the app’s non-partisan nature, white was incorporated into the primary colour palette in later prototypes. So in the final prototype, grey and white were the main background colours while yellow was used in moderation to ensure Votewise remained visually unbiased and impartial.

The primary typeface for Votewise was Kiro, a font with a more visually contemporary and modern appearance. The sans-serif font compliments the app’s non-partisan nature and enhances its overall aesthetic appeal.

Fig 8. Screenshots of Commbank app.

Because of the black and yellow colour scheme that I chose for Votewise, it was hard for it to not remind me of Commbank. Since I was struggling to make the screens feel polished, I asked a friend to send some screenshots of the Commbank app to reference how they approach icons and graphics. I particularly liked how the app used grey outlines for their icons and buttons against the black background which was something I took on-board in the next iteration of screens.

Prototype 3

This iteration used a dark-theme approach whilst applying a more linear, outline style for buttons and features. At the time, I liked the darker background however, I found it hard to make the screens seem polished. I also found it hard to make it graphically interesting so everything felt very flat. The main points of feedback were:

• Define icon/graphic style. Try out more outline based icons rather than solid colour ones. How will people be able to identify Votewise icons?

• Consider adding white as another neutral colour for the background

• Choose another type that is more modern and ‘exciting’

Using feedback from the last iteration of screens, I experimented with a white background and embraced a more linear graphic style. After a series of iterations, the screens started to visually look more polished which was reflected by comments by my peers. The typography was changed from Proxima Nova to Kiro, a more modern-looking typeface. From there, it was all about the push to get all the screens and interactive elements done.

Remaining Non-partisan

When it came to interactive elements, the biggest challenge was identifying functions and features that would prompt users to trust the platform as non-partisan.

To achieve this, the features included aim to:

Be as transparent as possible about the sourcing of data and information.

Provide users with full autonomy in how they want elements sorted to minimise bias from the platform.

Removed Features

Originally, I planned on including a transport system that would provide users transport options and directions. Upon consulting with peers on whether they’d consider using the feature if it was available to them, the answer was a resounding no. The large majority would still just resort to Google maps.

Based on the responses, the transport screen and location swap feature were removed from the final outcome. The location feature now only gives the location of voting centres.

CONCLUSION

Spanning two terms, this project was quite the journey from start to finish. The final outcome ended up being 63 screens. Originally, I was planning on using Figma however, due to my familiarity with the Adobe Suite, I ended up going with Adobe XD and Illustrator. Screens and graphics were made in Illustrator while interactions and prototyping were done in XD.

I initially chose this direction for my project because I wanted to create something that I felt would be useful and relevant in the current design space. Although, I do enjoy making things visually interesting, my values as a designer rest in my desire to produce meaningful projects that hold value and offer benefits to others. I felt that an election app would be able to fulfil a niche, however, the intention to make it non-partisan produced many barriers that I did struggle to overcome, especially when it came to graphics.

Despite all these barriers, the constant feed of feedback from my peers really helped keep me on track towards my final outcome. The consistent testing of ideas and recommendations really helped define every decision I made which ultimately lead to a final outcome that I am happy with.

To build on what I've already done, user testing with the intention of testing whether they trust the app would help identify the efficacy of non-partisan features that were put in place. More developed information on the sourcing of data would help polish the backend systems that would be put in place, making it a more feasible concept.

References

NEC. (2023). 2023 NSW State Election. NSW Electorial Commission. Retrieved July 1 2023 from https://elections.nsw.gov.au/elections/state-government-elections/2023-state-general-election

Cameron S, McAllister I, Jackman S & Sheppard J. (2022). The 2022 Australian Federal Election. Australian National University. Retrieved July 1 2023 from https://australianelectionstudy.org/wpcontent/uploads/The-2022-Australian-Federal-Election-Results from-the-Australian-Election-Study.pdf

Booth R, Medina A, Siegel-Stechler K & Kiesa A. (2023). Youth Are Interested in Political Action, but Lack Support and Opportunities. Circle. Retrieved July 1 2023 from https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/youth-are-interested-political-action-lack-support-and-opportunities

Amiwal B. (2020). Engaging Young People in Politics. PBS Teachers Lounge. Retrieved July 1 2023 from https://www.pbs.org/education/blog/engaging-young-people-in-politics

IMAGES

Fig 1. Mills, D. (2022). Federal Election 2022: Guide to voting, polling booths. [Digital image] Retrieved July 1 2023 from https://www.couriermail.com.au/ news/national/federal-election/where-and-when-you-can-vote/news-story/ c943c57ea9a2db13fb4510ef4cab2ad3

Fig 2. Lozano, E. (2023). How to vote in the 2023 NSW State election. [Digital image] Retrieved July 1 2023 from https://eccnsw.org.au/how-to-vote-in-the-2023-nsw-state-election/

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