UX Research | ux design | user testing

Voter's Edge

Overview

A redesign of the navigation and supporting pages with three primary objectives: to improve conversion rate and engagement, enhance the site's functionality and usability beyond competitors, and promote a more politically conscious culture. Their platform served over 1.7 million users during the 2016 U.S. elections, and for continued growth, they needed to continue to improve on the usability on the site.

problem

Based on our site analytics, user interviews testing and usability testing, we discovered that voters weren’t returning to engage with the platform. Here were the main pain points we decided to focus on with the redesign.

• Usability of Platform: Many of the main key features of the site, like the ability to compare candidates, was not easy to find or interact with.
• Misunderstanding the unique value proposition: The intent of the site is to make the voting process as transparent and simple as possible such that nobody should be discouraged by the information available. When browsing on the site, users were not able to understand that this voting resource was unbiased.
• Credibility: The main call to action required users to enter their address information. They did not understand the value, which directly correlated with the user feeling the website was a not a credible source. This was the first point of friction for the user.

My role

I worked with team of 4 designers that conducted market research through competitive analysis and user testing.  We analyzed and synthesized the research to apply to our design decisions. In parallel we had design studios to come up with style tile for branding. Then we finally did exhaustive rounds of user testing, iteration and prototyping to arrive at the final web application dashboard. I contributed to the design sprint of the landing page and Candidate Comparison.

solution

Our design solutions explored three primary areas that surfaced during our user interviews:

• Simplifying the main landing page to visually clarify the value proposition.
• Reorganize the site content to information more easy to navigate through.
• Educate new users by illustrating the concept and benefits of being able to select and save their choices to easier voting experience.

After a series of design studios with the team, we came together to ideate, sketch, and iterate until we had consensus.  Of candidates that participated in the follow up interviews and surveys, 95% accepted the redesign and preferred it over the previous solutions.  
In parallel, we developed and iterated on a series of style tiles for the overall rebrand of the site. This along with the design system created by the team in place positioned us well to begin hi-fi design after receiving sign-off on the final wireframes.

results

This redesign is currently being implemented, check back for updates on success metrics. In the meantime, you can donate to support the cause.