eyeVote
Accessible Voting Registration WebApp
Project Overview
EyeVote is a voting registration solution for people with visual impairments.
Team
Pamela Guzman, Anna Roe, Satomi Richardson, and Janella Stephenson
My Role
Project Lead, UX Research
Duration
Six weeks
Tools
Figma, Mural, Notion, Zoom, G-suite
The Challenge
Create a voting registration experience specifically tailored to those with visual impairments.
The Solution
EyeVote, an audio and mobile first website that enables users to submit their voter application by using voice or text commands.
Research
Learning about the voter registration process
Every state in the USA runs elections differently, so I decided to go in on a state that :
1. has a substantial population of disabled citizens and
2. is more likely to invest in this community.
I learned that Maryland allocates 35% or $17 Billion of the state’s healthcare spending towards disability healthcare, which is high compared to other states.
22% of adults in Maryland are disabled
This equals 1 out of every 5 residents or 1,040,158 adults. While mobile and cognitive disabilities are the most common, vision disabilities in Maryland account for 4% of the disabled population or nearly 42,000 adults.
Competitive analysis
We developed a S.W.O.T analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) to understand where we have an opportunity to both learn and contribute.
Learning about our users
Interviews were the best method to learn about and have a deeper understanding of our users. The goal was to understand how vision-impaired citizens register to vote for government elections.
The target audience was vision-impaired American citizens at least 18 years old and living in Maryland (or in the US).
We recruited 7 participants, all with a different range of visual impairments, including fully blind and colorblind.
Main Insights
Online security is fundamental.
iPhone is their preferred device.
Primary Assistive Tech: VoiceOver and JAWS.
Site content needs to be straightforward.
Frequent phone app users.
Use the help of another individual to vote.
Learned about another assistive tech through online tutorials.
Personas
Now to go a little bit deeper, let's talk about the 2 user personas created based on all of the findings.
The problem statement was adjusted to cover the user's needs:
“People with visual impairments often encounter inaccessible websites and apps. This requires them to register to vote in person or with the help of another individual”.
As a solution, “eyeVote” was created as an audio and mobile-first website that enables users to submit their voter applications by using voice or text commands.
The Ideation process
First, a storyboard was created to visualize the comprehensive picture the personas completing their goal task.
I created a user journey map with the persona’s actions, thoughts, feelings, and pain points. This gave us a chance to look for possible improvement opportunities.
We focused on mapping seamless user experience flow. We started with rough sketching and, after a few iterations, streamlined the steps users need to take to complete their goal successfully.
Once we had our general User flow in place, we were ready to sketch and make low-fidelity wireframes. This was a stepping stone to our interactive prototype and usability testing.
Was it solving the problem?
I ran a few tests and quickly realized that the prototype was cluttered with small type and form fields.
A change of direction
We reflected, did some tests and iterated. We realized that we needed to design in diverse ways to meet our users’ goals and be truly inclusive.
This new eyeVote version is an audio-first website enabling users to submit their voter application using voice only. The same platform can accommodate users who wish to choose a keyboard for text entry.
Conversational User Flow
Conversational Prototype Testing
Testing Outcomes
It tested extremely well, and all participants easily finished the task in less than 4 minutes. The test also uncovered two severe usability issues:
Easy to complete (O)
People felt secure providing personal info “over the phone” (O)
Confirmation will be emailed, but we haven't asked for that detail in the flow. X
Question: “Do you have a disability and do not have a Maryland driver’s license or another MVA issued card?” X
Text Entry User Flow
We also created a text entry option prototype to widen the interaction possibilities for diverse users’ needs.
Text Entry Prototype
Testing Outcomes
During the usability testing, it was clear that we needed to make changes to onboarding to make sure users understood how to use eyeVote and that they have a choice to participate using audio-only or switch to text entry.
The text was too small (16px to 24px)
Onboarding was confusing
The entry point was unclear
The automatic transition made users feel like they didn’t have control
After doing all the iterations this is how eyeVote looks
Onboarding Page
The virtual assistant welcomes users with an automated voice first.
Users have an option to turn off the voice feature by clicking the person icon on the bottom right. allowing users to go through the registration manually.
Eligibility Screens
Users were asked several questions to verify their eligibilities.
With the audio version, users can answer each question by simply responding by voice.
With the keyboard version, users can just click the “Yes” or “No” button.
Data Entry Screens
In this case visual impaired people who needs to input their name, could do it with their voice by spelling it out.
In the keyboard version, users can just type in using the onscreen keyboard.
Confirmation Screens
Lastly, before submitting the form, users will be guided through the information they input to make sure everything is correct.
This process also allows users to edit incorrect information by saying “No” in the audio version or clicking the “No” button in the keyboard version.
