Project Overview
As part of the Google UX Design Certificate, we were tasked with designing an experience for social good. Along came Polly (wink), a mobile app/website that makes learning about local politics fun and easy. Today, the average person has to go to multiple websites to learn about basic things such as their representatives, polling stations, and community board meetings. On top of that, most of these government websites are hard to navigate and do not present information in an easily digestible way. Many people who genuinely want to help out in their community are discouraged from doing so by this high barrier to entry. Polly intends to solve this problem by teaching the user everything they need to know about local government in a simple and engaging way.
Research
The target demographic for Polly is 16-35 year olds who want to get more involved in local politics. They need an efficient, straightforward way to learn about local government and volunteer opportunities so that they can make informed voting choices and work towards bettering their community.
User Interviews: I spoke to users across several demographics to figure out how much they know about their local governments and where they got that information from. While all users were well-versed when it came to federal politics, they knew surprisingly little about local government. This insight confirmed the need for an app/site like Polly. In general, users found it difficult to figure out who their representatives were, what they did, and how to get involved.
Personas
Vanessa is a young professional working full-time who needs a quick and convenient way to learn about local government so that she can find opportunities to volunteer.
Initial Designs
Sketches
Wireframes
Low-Fidelity Prototype
User Testing
I organized a 20 minute, remote, unmoderated usability study with five participants across different demographics.
Main Findings:
Add a Homepage: Before looking at the bottom bar, users scanned the landing page to find what they were looking for.
Expand Profile Page: Users expected to see more information on their profile page, such as registration status.
Improve Flashcards: Users wanted to be able to take action from the flashcards, such as learning about representatives.
Design Updates
Before Usability Study: The profile page showed a user’s district, representatives, and upcoming elections.
Before Usability Study: Upon opening the app, users are taken directly to the Learn page.
After Usability Study: I added additional information such as registration status and polling place to the profile page to make it more useful.
After Usability Study: Because users kept scanning the landing page for information, I added a home page to summarize the contents of the app.
Final Designs
Conclusion
At the beginning of testing, users shared that they weren’t involved in local politics because they didn’t understand how it functioned or how to participate. After seeing the app, they said they were eager to use Polly to get more involved.
Next Steps:
Add short, educational videos to the app/site
Gamify the flashcard section to make it more interactive
Expand the app/site to work in all zip codes