Long voter lines have plagued ballot casting for countless elections. Significant delays occur during the process of Poll Workers checking-in/verify voters using a Poll Book. The modernization from paper to digital formats for Poll Books has solved some of these problems - but in some cases, dysfunctional technology can bring the check-in to an absolute halt.

The legacy system was not built with accessibility standards in mind. Additionally, the hierarchy of content was haphazard and did not align with the relevant functionality for users. It was time for a complete overhaul.

Legacy Poll Book - valid voter confirmation

User Personas

Volunteer Poll Worker and Voter

There are two distinct users of a Poll Book. The first user is the Poll Worker who is typically a volunteer and has very little time for training in the system. The second user is the Voter who wants to trust the system and move through the experience as swiftly as possible. In both scenarios the experience with the Poll book is brief - limited to Election Day. In a unique fashion, both users interact with the system almost simultaneously as they are dependent on the actions of each other to complete the process.

Mapping

My initial approach was to build clear journey maps for all potential scenarios to assure there was no “getting stuck”. These efforts pinpointed critical steps in the process were a Poll Worker hands the Poll Book to a Voter for a signature verification and then receives it back for final confirmation.

Poll Book architecture v1

Mapping user journeys

Discovery

Result

The final design created streamlined paths for both Poll Workers and Voters to complete the check-in process. Careful consideration was given to clearly display info to assist Poll Workers so they knew when to ask for help (such as wi-fi being disconnected in an older building). The Voter experience was crafted to meet accessibility standards with large, easy-to-read type, limiting actions to one-per-screen, and keeping touch areas away from where a user may accidentally trigger them (for example, keeping confirmation buttons away from the bottom of the tablet screen near where a user may be holding a device or leaning against a mounted kiosk for support).

Role

IA, UX, UI, User Research, Wireframing, Copywriting