Project:
Voting platform design for chilean citizens on all devices.
Duration:
September 2022 to December 2022
Role:
UX/UI Design | Research
The online voting module was designed as an extension of the official chilean voting system (Servel), which offers a new way to cast a vote during elections through any device.
It allows users to cast their vote safely, easily and frictionless by resembling the paper vote as much as possible to be accessible for non-digital native users.
The current voting system in Chile is 100% physical and manual.
Citizens with reduced mobility, outside the country, designated in far voting locals have to spend a lot of time and effort to vote.
Design a digital alternative to physical voting that will let users from all backgrounds cast their vote safely, without the need to move, keeping it accessible for everyone.
Most users complained about moving to the voting location and waiting in line to vote, as it involves getting into public transport, endure the traffic, and lose time and energy in a crowded place.
Users shared their appreciation for a digital voting system, as it would allow them to save time and could help people with disabilities, illnesses or those who are outside the country.
78% of users polled reported an inclination to vote remotely, predominating a mobile device preference.
Most users think at least two layers of authentication are needed, using ClaveÚnica - an official government verification system - and two-factor authentication.
Josefa knows she has to vote, but hates having to lose a day of her weekend for that. She knows she will spend 2 hours in traffic and an hour or so in line to vote. She wants a way to finish her duty quickly to carry on with her day.
Manuel loves going to vote, but he has a degenerative condition that makes going to vote a difficult task given his reduced mobility. He lives far from the city and has to travel longer which can be problematic for his condition. He wants a way to exercise his right to vote in a more accessible way.
Users want to vote wherever they are
Users want more accessibility
Users don't want to wait in line to vote
Users need to go through 2 layers of authentication to verify their identity.
I conducted a moderated usability study both in person and remotely as per the participants' preferences where I took special attention to what their first action was on each screen to confirm whether this was intuitive enough for the different types of users I interviewed.
The results confirmed the design was heading the right way, however, some adjustments needed to be made regarding reassurance, simplicity and interaction:
Confirmation
Users expected a pre-confirmation pop-up before committing with a vote.
Additional Information
Users wanted a clean view of the candidates without additional information.
Interaction Zone
Users' error rate when interacting was very high due to small interaction area.
The online voting module was highly appreciated by all users, helping them cast their vote comfortably from home in a couple minutes with clear, straight-forward instructions and enough layers of security for them to feel safe that their vote was unique and wouldn't get tampered.
Learning what makes users feel safe with their personal information was an enriching experience, as people come from different backgrounds, their perception of sensitive data and how it can be handled was varied yet still had a common ground.
Researching how other countries have approached digital votes and how they handle or failed to handle fraud was key to understanding how to design this module.
