tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-326810102024-02-27T21:07:00.878-08:00Civic DesignDemocracy is a design problem.Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-88953284393484087492011-11-08T14:06:00.001-08:002011-11-08T14:06:31.898-08:00This blog has moved to <a href="http://www.civicdesigning.org/">www.civicdesigning.org</a>.Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-11378721331240619702011-06-11T05:05:00.000-07:002011-06-11T05:05:29.689-07:00Kavanaugh bill in NY state assembly would make ballots easier to read and use<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Add your comments to a posting on the web site for WNYC's radio show, "It's a Free Country," that presents a <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2011/jun/09/designing-clearer-ballot/">proposed redesign for the New York ballot</a>.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/">Brennan Center for Justice</a> worked with <a href="http://www.aiga.org/design-for-democracy/">Design for Democracy</a> and the <a href="http://www.upassoc.org/civiclife/">Usability in Civic Life</a> project to develop an updated best practice ballot design that takes into account the particularities of voting in New York state. <br />
<br />
On the show, which aired on June 9, 2011, New York state assemblyman <a href="http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Brian-Kavanagh/">Brian Kavanaugh</a> and Larry Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice discuss how important design is to successful voting and elections. On the show, Larry runs through the proposed design improvements and why they'll make a difference. There are images of a redesigned ballot on the site, as well, and the show invites your comments. <br />
<br />
New York voters have had a rough time transitioning from the mechanical lever machines they used to vote for 50 years to a new, paper-based optical scan voting system in the fall of 2010. Ballot design issues have a ripple effect. They frustrate voters, confuse election workers, and can make recounts complicated. All voters are affected by poor ballot design. We urge New York to pass the Kavanaugh bill. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hear the show and comment here:<a href="http://www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2011/jun/09/designing-clearer-ballot/"> http://www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2011/jun/09/designing-clearer-ballot/ </a></span></div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-40820302657018385372011-05-08T16:53:00.000-07:002011-05-08T16:55:17.713-07:00Plain language is indispensable<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On October 13, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Plain Writing Act of 2010. This is no small thing. Have you seen legislation and government documents, lately? The Act calls for writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and consistent with best practices for the subject or field and the intended audience. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Seems simple enough. To ensure that everyone is clear about plain language, the President issued a <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-15.pdf">memorandum</a> that provides guidance to heads of executive departments and agencies on implementing the Plain Writing Act. The six-page memo walks the talk -- that is, it lays out a phased approach for ensuring that Federal communications are clear and plain.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think we can all agree that getting straightforward information from the government is desirable. But plain language is fundamental to the success of civic design. When communications are simple and plain, it is much more likely that citizens will know about the benefits they're entitled to -- and that they will be able to enjoy those benefits. Imagine what it would be like if everything from Social Security reports and letters from the Veterans Administration (both of which have been doing a beautiful job with plain language for years), to trademark applications, to government contracts, to instructions on ballots -- were clear and simple. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What a world this would be. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
One of my favorite parts of the memorandum explains that each agency must have a page on their website explaining how they are meeting the requirements of the Act. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja76f6ezUZ1MCamYmuAp8zgk9-BBrldH0g4jFgtzZTuPYYYTrMTDRH0H5shwgYs6N0DTMirePv5_pYQPVGf5t3wmjbJ_434U7W4MFpEZ51cwHNi0vO_VgMT18h88M4jLbBp577w/s1600/m11-15.pdf+%2528page+4+of+6%2529-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja76f6ezUZ1MCamYmuAp8zgk9-BBrldH0g4jFgtzZTuPYYYTrMTDRH0H5shwgYs6N0DTMirePv5_pYQPVGf5t3wmjbJ_434U7W4MFpEZ51cwHNi0vO_VgMT18h88M4jLbBp577w/s400/m11-15.pdf+%2528page+4+of+6%2529-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkL0ElUzPpaaIImV1-qn6FJm5n0-ctkfkyz8K-9v3ouC5kUDPaOJoaZ4tZF6Pz8MRwv0FM2UhobYJSb6zS4bxE58zhWRrI3RbyGQXhqCGbI8mldIEu-sw1NnWsZyipDSkchlhnA/s1600/m11-15.pdf+%2528page+4+of+6%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-15.pdf" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Download the entire memorandum PDF here. </a>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-12163040622659511262011-03-28T13:48:00.000-07:002011-03-28T13:48:31.946-07:00The slides are up! SxSW and EVN feature sessions on ballot design<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10pt;">There’s been a lot of talk about ballot design and usability testing in places you might not otherwise expect to see it. It’s been exciting to see a growing interest in civic design from everyone from geeks to advocacy groups. </span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10pt;">I organized a panel at South by Southwest Interactive with Ric Grefe (<a href="http://www.aiga.org/">AIGA</a>), <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/people/norden_lawrence/">Larry Norden</a> (<a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/">Brennan Center</a>) and a Dana Debeauvoir (<a href="http://www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/">Travis County Clerk</a>) that not only had a great audience, but <a href="http://impactnews.com/sxsw/interactive/11991-travis-county-clerk-explores-intricacies-of-ballot-design-at-sxswi-">made the local papers.</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10pt;">The <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/danachisnell/voting-the-233yearold-design-problem">slides from that talk are available for download</a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10pt;">At a conference called EVN in Chicago where election advocacy groups, local elections officials, and others have met for the last seven years, I was delighted to be on a panel that <a href="http://www.wqusability.com/">Whitney Quesenbery</a> put together about working with local elections officials. Our star panelist, Jenny Greeve, was <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/election-fellows?searchtext=design%20for%20democracy%20fellow">AIGA fellow</a> in Washington State for 2 years. We emphasized that design and testing matters in elections, and the audience seemed to see the appeal. The presentation slides are available here: <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/danachisnell/usability-testing-in-local-jurisdictions">Dana’s</a> ~ <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyq/usability-for-port-chester-votes">Whitney’s</a> ~ <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyq/jenny-greeve-aiga-design-for-democracy-in-washington-state">Jenny’s</a>. </span></div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-71087317375059702082011-03-16T17:49:00.000-07:002011-03-16T17:50:38.228-07:00Top 10 Ballot Design Principles<div class="Section1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-for-democracy">Design for Democracy</a>, a project of <a href="http://www.aiga.org/">AIGA</a>, observed hundreds of voters using dozens of variations of designs for ballots over two years of research for the <a href="http://www.eac.gov/default.aspx">Election Assistance Commission</a>. The results formed the basis of a <a href="http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/EAC_Effective_Election_Design.pdf">beautiful design specification</a> for ballots and other election materials that the EAC published in 2006. Below are the top 10 guidelines that came out of that report. </span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Use lowercase letters.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> It’s easier to read mixed case and sentence case text than it is to read all uppercase text. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Avoid centered text.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Centered text is for wedding invitations and wine labels. Left justified text makes it easier to identify the beginnings of new sentences, assisting skimming. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Pick one sans-serif font.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Serif type faces feature tiny strokes at the ends of characters that may make text more difficult to read. The font used in this blog is Helvetica, which has no serifs – and is thus a sans serif font – and is similar to the recommended typeface for ballots and forms. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Use big enough type.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Research shows that 12-point type for print is highly readable by most people. On a computer screen, type should be at least 3 mm high. It is possible to use type that is too large for the purpose. Using 16-point or larger type for printed ballots may be too large. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Support process and navigation.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Voters make their way through a ballot in a particular way, whether it is a print ballot or an electronic one. The design of the ballot needs to reflect how voters expect to use it. It also needs to prompt behavior in the right places. For example, instructions for turning over a printed ballot to vote both sides should be at the bottom of the right hand column. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Use clear, simple language.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Avoid election jargon such as “partisan.” Use active voice, and cast instructions positively rather than negatively. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Use accurate instructional illustrations.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Using simple, clear illustrations that show clearly how to mark a ballot assists all voters, but especially helps low literacy voters. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Use informational icons (only).</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Some US jurisdictions include icons or symbols on the ballot for each party. However, such icons have been found to be distracting and confusing on ballots. Voters are more likely to make mistakes on ballots that include party icons. Icons should only be used to signal something the voter should pay specific attention to, such as special instructions or system warnings. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Use contrast and color functionally.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Using color judiciously, consistently, and for specific conventions can help voters find their way through the ballot. For example, shading and contrast can be used effectively on print ballots to set one contest off from the next. In electronic voting systems, color can call out voters’ selections; designate forward or backward progress through a ballot; or under- or <span class="SpellE">overvotes</span>. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Decide what’s most important.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> When all of the text on a ballot looks the same, it can be difficult for the voter to identify what she should do and how to do it. Create a visual hierarchy that clearly sets out the different elements of the ballot design and supports voters’ voting activities. </span></li>
</ul></div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-60770715112981988372011-03-07T13:36:00.000-08:002011-03-07T13:50:23.878-08:00Why is it so hard to produce a usable, well-designed ballot?<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This form changed the world. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oulhVuxmGENKVmFeSZGKMRDmlZEWESS89zT-BTXPVIV_wy2LWNASpakySolKMH7ojkiqecJRrG6_1F5xNDcvVXBZoMuuQhd0_HimWuzVeVMQy5RuWgZQ7c9KQiSUS2onQacKeQ/s1600/butterfly_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oulhVuxmGENKVmFeSZGKMRDmlZEWESS89zT-BTXPVIV_wy2LWNASpakySolKMH7ojkiqecJRrG6_1F5xNDcvVXBZoMuuQhd0_HimWuzVeVMQy5RuWgZQ7c9KQiSUS2onQacKeQ/s400/butterfly_large.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Miami-Dade presidential ballot from 2000, the "butterfly ballot"</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<br />
The picture is of the so-called "butterfly ballot" from Miami-Dade County from the presidential election in 2000. It is called a "butterfly ballot" because of how the candidates for this office flow over onto the second page of a two-page spread. The designer of this punch card ballot wanted to make the type large enough for her overwhelmingly older voting constituency. This caused the contest to flow to two pages. That caused the candidates to interlace across the two-page spread. The holes are meant for every other one to the left or every other one to the right. There are horizontal rules to call out the candidate pairs and arrows to point to the holes. If you use trifocals, and you're in a garage with bad lighting, or a high school gym where there's a lot of glare on the page, how might the alignment go for you? Also, it isn't hard to imagine a voter poking the first hole for the first candidate on the left. Then you must poke the second hole for the second candidate - right? <br />
<br />
This intentional-but-ill-informed design caused people to vote in ways they had not intended. It caused enough voters to make mistakes that it changed the outcome of a federal election. Which, because this election happened in the US and it was to elect the president, changed the world. This is not unlike the butterfly of the Chaos Theory. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Democracy is a design problem</b></span><br />
<br />
Whenever I tell people that I work in voting and election design, I get two questions. The first is, <i>So, is there money to be made there?</i> (No.) The second question is, <i>Why is this so complicated? </i><br />
<br />
The people who ask the second question usually have an answer to offer me, already. The solution, they say, is that there should be one voting system for the whole country. This would impose consistency that could be supported with standards, testing, and enforcement. But it isn't that simple. <br />
<br />
By tradition, running elections falls to the states and counties by virtue of the 10th amendment to the US Constituion, which says that anything that isn't covered in the Constitution falls to the people. It is considered a "states' rights" issue. All the Constitution says about elections is that there will be such to elect people to offices. Later amendments say who can vote (15th - barring discrimination based on race or color; 19th - womens' suffrage; 24th - eliminating the requirement to have paid income taxes; 26th - establishing 18 years as the legal voting age). Nothing says anything about who determines what system to use. It falls to the states. <br />
<br />
The multiplicity of voting systems is just one tiny slice of this wicked problem. As with other design problems, there are constraints. In the case of ballot design, there are several that interact: </span></div><ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Voting technology is a moving target, so standards and best practices always lag. </b></span></li>
</ul><br />
<ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Election management systems are reprehensibly difficult to use. </b>EMSs, into which databases of candidate filings and questions or measures must be poured to make ballots are so difficult that many county election officials just send their databases in to their voting system vendors to do the ballot layouts for them. </span></li>
</ul><br />
<ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Design specifications and language for instructions are embedded in county and state election legislation. </b>Type font, weight, and size, grid, and position of instructions are often specified in state election code. Election regulations also often include the exact wording of instructions. It's not uncommon for the instructions to have been written generations ago, in negative, threatening, passive voice. </span></li>
</ul><br />
<ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Election directors are excellent public administrators but they're not trained designers. </b>In most of the 3,000 or so counties in the US, the people who run elections are county clerks or registrars who handle vital records such as birth certificates. Most are women, who, on average have held that job for 20 years. They usually are not tech savants, but they don't fear tech, either. They are busy, burdened, and budgetless. Elections have become more and more complicated to administer. Even if they could use InDesign to lay out their ballots, they're not trained designers. For many, a "usable" ballot is one that can be counted accurately by the voting system. And they want to keep costs as low as possible. Printing, mailing, upgrades, bug fixing, translations, storage -- all this costs money. </span></li>
</ul><br />
<ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ballot templates are issued at the state level.</b> It is typical for the secretary of state, as the head of elections, to issue what's called a "ballot template" for state and federal elections. These also come from people who aren't trained designers and don't take into account the things that can happen when county and municipal contests are added to the ballot. They might not make room for multiple languages. They rarely put ballots through usability testing before live testing on Election Day. </span></li>
</ul><br />
<ul style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Municipal and county districts overlap to create what are called "ballot styles."</b> For example, there are places in Washington State where you could possibly have a unique ballot. There -- as in many voting jurisdictions throughout the US -- many lower level contests are included in the ballot, from school board to cemetery commission. The boundaries for those districts have been drawn in dozens of different ways. The right combination could draw a circle around your house. And yet, the county election official must ensure that you get to vote on exactly the contests you are entitled to. For this reason, some counties end up generating hundreds of ballot styles as different levels of districts overlap.</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Poor ballot design affects the outcome of elections </b></span><br />
<br />
When ballots are badly designed, voters get frustrated. People lose confidence in elections. Supporting elections on Election Day becomes difficult for poll workers. <br />
<br />
All voters are affected by poor ballot designs. Older voters, first time voters, some minorities, and voters who have less education are very likely to make mistakes that prevent them from voting as they intend. Even white, wealthy, educated voters make mistakes on ballots. That's what happened in 2000. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Although the butterfly ballot became the emblem for bad ballot design, we continue to see ballot design problems, both in paper ballots and on electronic touch screen systems. Technology has introduced more design problems. It has not solved them. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Voting: the 233-year-old design problem </span></b><br />
There are best practice guidelines, commissioned by the US Election Assistance Commission from AIGA's Design for Democracy project, that are evidence-based. Voting system manufacturers are gradually supporting more and more of the guidelines, as local election officials demand it. States are updating election code to loosen design requirements. Local election officials embrace these changes. Although change can be difficult, these particular changes can make the jobs of local election officials easier because the voter's franchise is more likely to be protected with every design improvement. <br />
<br />
Design can change the world. This is our superpower. We can affect the accuracy and accessibility of elections. But there aren't nearly enough people who are interested in civic design. <a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP5799">Join the movement at the most important panel in the Free World, at South by Southwest in Austin on Monday, March 14 at 3:30 Central time.</a> (Follow #uxvote on Twitter.) There we'll have on hand Dana Debeauvoir, county clerk from Travis County, Texas with Ric Grefe, the executive director of AIGA and the Design for Democracy project, along with Larry Norden, a civil rights lawyer and senior counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU. I'll be moderating. See you there. And at poll worker training for the next election. <br />
<br />
</span></div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-6261501855484830122011-03-03T14:46:00.000-08:002011-03-07T13:27:07.946-08:00Guidelines for a Plain Language Ballot<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><style>
@font-face {
font-family: "Arial";
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }h3 { margin: 12pt 0in 3pt; line-height: 16pt; page-break-after: avoid; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(230, 230, 230); font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial; }p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }span.MsoPageNumber { font-family: Arial; }p.MsoListNumber, li.MsoListNumber, div.MsoListNumber { margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText { margin: 0in 0in 13pt; line-height: 16pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; }span.Heading3Char { font-family: Arial; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(230, 230, 230); font-weight: bold; }span.BodyTextChar { font-family: Arial; }span.FooterChar { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0in; }ul { margin-bottom: 0in; }
</style> </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: small;">These guidelines are based on the results of an empirical study comparing a ballot with traditional language instructions (Ballot A) to a ballot with plain language instructions (Ballot B). </span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: small;">Voters were more accurate voting the ballot with plain language instructions. Voters preferred the ballot with plain language instructions by a wide margin (82%).</span></div><h3>What to say and where to say it</h3><ol style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Be specific. Give people the information they need.<br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">At the beginning of the ballot, explain how to vote, how to change a vote, and that voters may write in a candidate. <br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Put instructions where voters need them. For example, save the instructions on how to use the write-in page for the write-in page.<br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Include information that will prevent voters from making errors, such as a caution to not write in someone who is already on the ballot. <br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">On an electronic voting system, never have a page with only a page title (such as the Ballot A page that just said Non-partisan offices).<br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Make the page title the title of the office (State Supreme Court Chief Justice rather than Retention Question).<br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Have voters confirm that they are ready to cast their vote with a Cast Vote button, not a Confirm button.<br />
<br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">At the end, tell people that their vote has been recorded.</span></li>
</ol><h3>How to say it</h3><ol start="9" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Write short sentences.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Use short, simple, everyday words. For example, do not use "retention" and "retain." Use "keep" instead. For another example, use "for" and "against"</span><span style="font-size: small;"> for amendments and measures rather than "accept" and "reject."<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Do not use voting jargon ("partisan" "non-partisan") unless the law requires you to do so. If the law requires these words, work to change the law. Instead refer to contests as "party-based" and "non-party-based."<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Address the reader directly with "you" or the imperative ("Do x.").<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Write in the active voice, where the person doing the action comes before the verb.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Write in the positive. Tell people what to do rather than what not to do.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Put context before action, "if" before "then." For example, To vote for the candidate of your choice, touch that person’s name.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">When you want people to act, focus on verbs rather than nouns. For example, Write in a candidate's name.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">When giving people instructions that are more than one step, give each step as an item in a numbered list.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Do not number other instructions. When the instructions are not sequential steps, use separate paragraphs with bold beginnings instead of numbering. <br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Put information in the order that voters need it. Don’t tempt voters to irrevocable actions before explaining the other options. </span></li>
</ol><h3>What to make it look like</h3><ol start="20"><li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Break information into short sections that each cover only one point. <br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Keep paragraphs short. A one-sentence paragraph is fine.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Separate paragraphs by a space so each paragraph stands out on the page.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do not use italics.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Use bold for page titles.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Use bold to highlight keywords or sections of the instructions, but don’t overdo it.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Keep all the instructions in the left column. Do not put instructions under the choices for a contest.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do not use all capital letters for emphasis. Use bold. Write all instructions in appropriate upper case and lower case as you would in regular sentences. If the law requires you to use all capital letters, work to change the law.<br />
</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Use a sans serif font in a readable type size.</span></li>
</ol><br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These guidelines are part of a report on research commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The research was conducted by Janice ("Ginny") Redish and Dana Chisnell, with Sharon Laskowski and Svetlana Lowry of NIST. You can download the <a href="http://www.nist.gov/itl/vote/upload/NISTIR-7556.pdf">full report</a> at vote.nist.gov.<br />
<br />
Attending South by Southwest Interactive? Come see the most important panel on the program: "Voting: the 233-year-old design problem" with Dana Chisnell, Larry Norden, Ric Grefe, and Dana Debeauvoir, Monday, March 14 at 3:30 pm in 9ABC in the Austin Convention Center. Come say hello! </div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-59179935299887666772010-12-07T09:02:00.000-08:002010-12-07T13:16:26.608-08:00NY Mayor proposes improvements to voter access, including ballot designYesterday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced proposals calling for changes to state election law including allowing early voting. In addition, one proposal would let New Yorkers fill out their ballots at home and take them to a polling site; another will update the registration process and extend the registration period.<br />
<br />
What we're most excited about, though, is that the Mayor is proposing simplifying the ballot design with a focus on plain language instructions. <br />
<br />
This action is a direct result of talks that the Brennan Center for Justice's Larry Norden and UPA's Usability in Civic Life Project founder Whitney Quesenbery had with the mayor's office about New York's ballot and voting system design. <br />
<br />
From the press release: <br />
<br />
"Simplified Ballot Design:<br />
Guaranteeing that ballot instructions are readily visible and in plain language will ensure that voters are better able to understand the process. Streamlining the ballot by eliminating unnecessary and uninformative text will make it easier to read."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/12/report-voter-access-in-new-yor.html">Story in the New York Daily News</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/44774568/NYC-492-10-Voting-Reform">Press release from the mayor's office</a><br />
<br />
<br />
ADDED afternoon 7 December 2010:<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/nyregion/07elect.html?_r=1&nl=us&emc=politicsemailema4"> The New York Times has picked up the story.</a>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-10766509290583818822010-11-08T15:00:00.000-08:002010-11-08T12:07:37.751-08:00New York should have piloted their new voting systemIt would have been so easy. So inexpensive. So quiet. Run a mock election, learn some lessons, talk with election officials from other places about how they transitioned from one voting system to another. As Larry Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU remarked on WNYC on November 2, "49 other states have done this before us." But the New York Board of Elections did none of this, and the changing of voting systems seemed to be on the legislative agenda not at all. Instead, the Board and all the counties in New York did the equivalent of live usability testing in the primary in September and November. <br />
<br />
New York has known for several years that the state would have to ditch the generations-old mechanical lever machines for new voting systems. There was plenty of time to prepare for this historic transition. And there were plenty of people around who could have helped. Key people offered. And, there are plenty of resources the state board of elections could have tapped. There are evidence-based federal guidelines for election design. There are thousands of experts on changing voting systems across the US. Oh, and there are dozens of local design experts who the state and city boards of elections could have called on. <br />
<br />
But none of that happened. Why? For the purposes of narrowing the discussion, let’s just focus on ballot design.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Why the New York ballot is a disaster </span></b><br />
While on its face, ballot design seems like a simple thing to do well, it is actually a complex mix of constraints and interactions. There's the fact that the software for creating ballots is usually so difficult to use that many jurisdictions outsource it back to the voting system manufacturer. Next, most people who design ballots are not trained in design, they're trained to be election administrators. Part of that is controlling costs. Local election officials are smart, well intentioned people. But if it comes to deciding between expanding a ballot to two cards to make it easier to read and use, or keeping everything on one card because it saves the county money on printing (and mailing) by making the font smaller and the spacing tighter, many election officials are going to go with smaller, tighter type.<br />
<br />
It would be completely unfair to blame the design of the New York ballot on local elections officials, though. In fact, a lot of ballot design is out of control of the local elections official. The responsibility here lies with regulations, history, and bureaucracy. Typefaces and wording for instructions are often specified in election regulations. Community history and norms make up traditions that are embedded in local culture. And, many ballot design decisions are made at the state level, usually without consideration of usability data. Let’s talk about just those factors for a moment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Some design problems are embedded in legislation </b><br />
According to New York election law, the ballot must be "full face". That means that everything to be voted on must appear on one side of the ballot. (The November ballot actually violated this; the ballot questions were on the back of the candidate contests.) There's some logic to this, I suppose; New Yorkers have been voting on lever machines for a long time. A major change in the look of the ballot might throw voters off completely. But I doubt that.<br />
<br />
In addition, the instructions are legislated in the election code. This is very common across the US. Some states are more flexible on this than others, even though the wording is legislated. New York codified its instructions without regard to the final ballot design. And the final ballot design didn't take into account what the legislated ballot instructions must say. Instruction (2) reads: “To vote for a candidate whose name is printed on this ballot fill in the oval above or next to the name of the candidate.” But the bubbles for candidates appear below the names.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRj-Ey7Tb9H-HszSsAnzuYgzwHrdpwvTadzc1lFD1nV77AbcRwBfgcUVvLWmcfMz_5DbGEXwrtrWkAB3pSn3HtAc_FZ24O8r8dRmPcNcpbJNDwaTxD_wBpPVLJ8wmvq1hlEWDecg/s1600/November+Sample+Ballot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRj-Ey7Tb9H-HszSsAnzuYgzwHrdpwvTadzc1lFD1nV77AbcRwBfgcUVvLWmcfMz_5DbGEXwrtrWkAB3pSn3HtAc_FZ24O8r8dRmPcNcpbJNDwaTxD_wBpPVLJ8wmvq1hlEWDecg/s640/November+Sample+Ballot.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New York sample ballot for November 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<b>Tradition also influences ballot design </b><br />
New York uses <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion">fusion voting</a>. That means that although one party nominated a candidate, other parties can endorse a candidate as theirs. For example, on the 2010 midterm ballot, Andrew Cuomo appears as the Democratic candidate for governor, but also as the nominee of the Independence party and Working Families party. If you really want Cuomo to be governor, might you mark him in all three places? That’s called a double vote. But only one counts.<br />
<br />
Mechanical lever machines prevent double voting. Officials doubted that voters would make this mistake on paper ballots, but there’s nothing to prevent it happening. In fact in a large usability test on October 9, 2010 sponsored by UPA, AIGA's Design for Democracy project, and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU, we found that double voting was not fiction. What about taking away fusion voting to prevent these kinds of voter errors? Fusion voting is legislated, but it is also deeply embedded tradition. Removing the option probably would have devastating effects on smaller but highly active political parties.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Bureaucracy gets in the way</b><br />
The usability test on October 9 was conducted by a group of concerned volunteers, for free. Why didn’t the New York Board of Elections do a test? This is a mystery. The Brennan Center and UPA offered months ago, but the BOE declined, saying that they had spent all the money they were going to spend on the new systems. And, though the board had been <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/letter_to_new_york_state_board_of_elections_regarding_overvotes_on_optical_/">warned about likely problems</a>, the state BOE entered the state primary election in September 2010 in denial. That Election Day clearly showed the predictions of problems to be true, and fusion voting wasn’t even part of the ballot in the primary. In response to appeals for simple, inexpensive remedies, the Board said it was too late to make changes that they said required the voting system to be recertified and too late to make other changes because of how close the November federal election was.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">What the design community can do about it</span></b><br />
One of the wonderful things about working in election design is how easy it is to affect immediate, positive change. There is a woeful lack of involvement from the design community in election UX. Your country, your state, your town all need you. Here’s what to do:<br />
<br />
<b>Meet your local elections officials.</b> Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo are not going to come to you. You have to go to them. Let yourself be known. If you live outside New York County, get yourself to the county election department and introduce yourself. Ask for time with the election director. Ask questions, and then listen. Make yourself available to them without expectation of monetary profit. (There’s very little funding for design and testing in local governments right now.)<br />
<br />
<b>Do civic duty.</b> Sure, you vote in every election, but have you ever worked an election? There is so much to learn by being a poll worker about how election administration works and how voters vote. Immersion holds many lessons.<br />
<br />
In most communities, there are also citizen advisory committees that work on voter outreach and voter education. When I lived in San Francisco, I was on a committee that wrote summary digests of ballot measures for the Voter Information Pamphlet.<br />
<br />
Yes, these things can take time away from work. But what’s more important: a little less income, or doing your part for world peace?<br />
<br />
<b>Read the guidelines.</b> There’s a lot of guidance on how to design for elections. You might start with Marcia Lausen’s book, Design for Democracy. It gives a high-level very Design view of ballot design. The Brennan Center’s report, <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/better_ballots/">Better Ballots</a> gives 13 case studies that show that specific ballot design elements may have affected election outcomes. AIGA’s Design for Democracy project has compiled a very <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/election-tools-resources">good collection of tools and resources</a>. Read through what’s there.<br />
<b><br />
Get to know the LEO Usability Testing kit. </b>The Usability Professionals’ Association realized years ago that there weren’t enough usability specialists to test all the ballots out there. What to do? Give local election officials (LEOs) tools for doing testing on their own. The <a href="http://www.upassoc.org/civiclife/voting/leo_testing.html">LEO Usability Testing Kit </a>is in wide use in many counties across the US, but it’s also a great tool for volunteers to use to run mock election usability tests.<br />
<br />
<b>Make election UX a topic at local community meetings.</b> After you get your feet wet in the election UX world, tell the story to other designers. Have them vote a badly designed ballot and talk about that experience. Encourage them to get involved.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Where the New York ballot is going from here</span></b><br />
After a little media attention for sloppy design that might have prevented voters from voting as they intended, counties and states usually get the message. Florida is no longer the poster child for messy elections, Ohio inherited that honor for the 2008 presidential election. Now, its new sibling New York is competing strongly to outdo Ohio. Let’s hope that New York wakes up and reforms its election board and administration.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, the New York State Inspector General conducted an <a href="http://reformny.blogspot.com/2010/10/have-you-read-it-yet.html">investigation of the reported issues</a> with the September 2010 primary. As Larry Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice wrote, "It is remarkably well-written, and it is sinister, sad and comical all at once." <br />
<br />
After the primary, the Brennan Center filed a law suit against the New York State Board of Elections, "over a discriminatory New York State policy for counting political party votes under a procedure known as 'double voting.' ... The policy unfairly penalizes both the voters and the minor parties they support." You can read a bit about <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/conservative_party_of_new_york_state_and_working_families_party_v._new/">the suit</a> on the Brennan Center web site.<br />
<br />
- Dana Chisnell<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The opinions expressed here are Dana's only, and not the officially sanctioned position of UPA. </span></i>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-70025180294825406192010-08-11T11:20:00.000-07:002010-08-11T11:20:50.687-07:00Voting: The 233-year-old design problemWhenever I talk about my involvement in voting and elections, whoever I'm chatting with invariably asks:<br />
<br />
Why is it so hard to design a good looking ballot that prevents voters from making mistakes?<br />
<br />
Why doesn't the whole country use the same voting system?<br />
<br />
<br />
Design in elections is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem">wicked problem</a>. And I think designers will be fascinated with learning what the constraints <i>really</i> are. So, I decided to take it to big audience - <a href="http://www.sxsw.com/interactive">South by Southwest Interactive 2011</a>. I need your help to get on the program. Please go to the '<a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/5799">panel picker' and vote for my session</a>. <br />
<br />
Just to give you a head start, here's the description:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>Do you think the "butterfly ballot" was an isolated problem? How did the hanging chad become a world-class design problem? Did you know our 43rd president was chosen because of a decision made about font size? By someone who was not a trained designer? Did you know that the presidential election in 2000 was not the first - or last - time that design problems affected the outcome of an election? If you're trained in design, interested in fair elections, or looking for a way to affect world peace, come to this panel. This is probably the most important panel in the Free World. And we're not kidding. </i></blockquote><br />
<a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/5799">Please vote Yes, This rocks!</a> before August 27, 2010. Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-72380863813763078252010-07-06T06:57:00.000-07:002010-07-06T06:58:35.190-07:00Dear New York, please let me correct my ballot<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) Voting and Usability Project and the Brennan Center for Justice are urging the New York State Board of Elections to change the interaction and a message on the state's new voting systems. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/opinion/06tue4.html?_r=1&th&emc=th">New York Times joined the discussion in an editorial</a>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The issue: New York is changing from using mechanical lever machines to optical scan ballots. This change is good. However, with New York's particular ways of voting that include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulative_voting">cumulative voting</a>, it seems likely that some voters will vote too many times in a given contest. Florida saw some of this with a similar configuration; after some counties changed the system configuration to return overvoted ballots to voters, overvotes went down while the number of ballots cast remained constant. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Right now, the systems are configured to hold the ballot in the tabulator when it detects an overvote or undervote, while showing the voter a message on a small screen.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDxabbxjyfqdFqrBIpRzncJ5ZNYEDXT3n4JWjBW5_IJ6tnTbW_UpQvFuGWcW6B7pbhgHQdY4xYD1aRKjl3z4yN_2v2ncVVesnRgjRLvHmOzTqLBuUwoUYE3fQg95Pv8RdvWkv_A/s1600/image001-6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDxabbxjyfqdFqrBIpRzncJ5ZNYEDXT3n4JWjBW5_IJ6tnTbW_UpQvFuGWcW6B7pbhgHQdY4xYD1aRKjl3z4yN_2v2ncVVesnRgjRLvHmOzTqLBuUwoUYE3fQg95Pv8RdvWkv_A/s640/image001-6.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The message voters get when they mark their ballots for too many candidates on a contest, while the tabulator holds the ballot</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This would be remedied by a clear message from the tabulating machine as it pushes the ballot back out for the voter to review and change, if she wants. But these systems hold the ballot while the voter reads a poorly worded message to decide what to do. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The New York State Board of Elections argues that the tabulator returning the ballots automatically will slow voting. The Brennan Center and UPA argue that when the machine holds the ballots, voters are more likely to let the flawed ballot be cast. This means that vote on that contest will not count, which is likely to disenfranchise thousands of voters and call results into question. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-28631040808958988612010-06-23T09:55:00.000-07:002010-06-23T09:56:52.916-07:00Was Alvin Greene picked by voters trying to eliminate errors on their ballots?<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/18/e-voting-issues-in-south-carolina.html">post on the Newsweek site</a> pointed out on June 18, usability of a voting system may have influenced yet another election. This time, it's the Alvin Greene victory in the Democratic Senate primary in South Carolina last week. We think it's likely that one particular feature of the user interface may have caused some voters to change their vote: representing undervoted contests on the review screen in red. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Proximity and placement in the ballot could have made a difference</b></span> </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We know that placement in the order of candidates does influence the likelihood of getting votes. (According to Michael Alvarez colleagues at the Voting Technology Project at CalTech, candidates that appeared above and below Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California recall of Gray Davis in 2003 received more votes that they probably normally would have if they'd appeared elsewhere in the list of 150 candidates for governor: <a href="http://vote.caltech.edu/drupal/node/26">http://vote.caltech.edu/drupal/node/26</a>). <br />
<br />
Placement in the overall ballot also makes a difference. There is roll-off in later contests mainly because voters don't know much about the candidates that appear lower down on the ballot, such as judges. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Using a computer to vote introduces usability issues with navigating ballots </b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Using electronic voting systems introduces another layer of usability issues in marking and casting ballots as voters must navigate the ballot differently from how they use a printed, optical scan ballot. All electronic voting systems show a summary review screen at the end of all the contests. It lists all of the contests with the choices the voter made for each. The information is color coded: On most systems a completely voted contest appears blue; an under- or un-voted contest appears red. There is mixed research about how much attention voters pay to this screen. One thing we do know is that some voters are seriously disturbed by the red messages. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In one study, red on the summary screen of an electronic ballot caused some voters to change their votes</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In a study that Janice ("Ginny") Redish and I conducted for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2008 (<a href="http://www.nist.gov/itl/vote/upload/NISTIR-7556.pdf">http://www.nist.gov/itl/vote/upload/NISTIR-7556.pdf</a>), we observed that many of our 45 study participants wanted so much to remove the "error" that appeared on the summary review screens for undervoted contests that they sometimes resorted to extraordinary measures to get the system to remove the red entries on their ballot review screens. <br />
<br />
The voting system we used in our study behaved similarly to commercially available systems. That is, study participants could select candidates using a touch screen and move forward or back in the ballot by touching appropriate buttons. When they got to the review screen, they could touch the contest they wanted to review or change to go back to it. This is different from the South Carolina system, which forced voters to review undervoted contests before casting the ballot. Although the flow of our system was more straightforward, study participants chose to go back into the ballot to change the red contests to blue. <br />
<br />
Some participants voted for candidates they were not otherwise interested in voting for; at least one participant entered blank write-in votes (by going to the write-in for a contest and putting in a blank space) to make the red entries in the review screens turn blue. We observed 17% of our study participants asking questions, expressing concerns, and changing votes because the red color bothered them so much. </div><br />
<i>-- Dana Chisnell</i>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-82246619654843457022010-01-13T07:40:00.000-08:002010-01-13T07:40:25.921-08:00Ballot Design Still Matters<div class="byline">By Lawrence Norden – <em>11/10/09</em><br />
</div><div class="byline"><br />
</div><div class="byline"><em>[Reprinted with permission from <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/ballot_design_still_matters/">http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/ballot_design_still_matters/</a>] <br />
</em><br />
</div><div class="byline"><br />
</div><div class="byline"><br />
</div>We've devoted a number of blog posts to the effects of <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/how_bad_is_north_carolinas_ballot_flaw_the_numbers_say_pretty_bad/" target="_blank">poor</a> <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/double_bubble/">ballot</a> <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/art_bad_design/">design</a>, whether on <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/more_ballot_design_challenges_in_ohio/">touch-screens</a> or <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/how_bad_is_north_carolinas_ballot_flaw_the_numbers_say_pretty_bad/">paper ballots</a>. In fact, we've collected a <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/better_ballots/">fairly large amount of data</a> to make the case that bad design may be the single biggest cause of lost votes in recent elections.<br />
<br />
Last week's election presents more evidence, if any was needed, of the potentially disenfranchising effects of poor design. As <a href="http://horsesass.org/?p=21892" target="_blank">a political blog in Seattle noted</a>, a poorly-designed ballot probably caused as many as 40,000 King County voters to miss a property tax State Ballot Initiative. As you can see from this picture of the ballot:<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="928" src="http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/blog/WAballot.jpg" width="550" /> <br />
<br />
The contest was placed immediately below the instructions and to the left of all other contests -- very easy for voters to miss. What can election officials do to avoid these kinds of mistakes in the future? Well, one thing is to use design checklists, like those provided by the <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/election-design-top-ten" target="_blank">Design for Democracy</a> and <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/index.php/ballots/pages/design_recommendations/">the Brennan Center</a>. But I'm not sure that in this case, either of those checklists would have alerted officials in King County to the problem. (While both checklists emphasize the importance of consistency in presentation -- and having all contests <em>except one</em> to the right of the instructions is certainly inconsistent -- I'm afraid this direction would have been too general to provide sufficient warning for many officials).<br />
<br />
And while it's easy, in retrospect, to say this problem should have been obvious, I don't think that's fair. Such problems are almost never obvious beforehand. Election officials and others working on forms are usually on tight deadlines, trying to get the ballots to fit into limited space and ensuring that everything and every name is correct. Even if they are only focused on how a design might confuse voters, they are often so familiar with the design that they're blind to problems; for the very same reason that it's often so difficult to spot one's own typos.<br />
<br />
<br />
What probably<em> would have </em>alerted officials to this problem ahead of time, and at little or no cost, would have been a simple usability test: observing ten or fifteen King County citizens as they "voted" on the ballot <em>before </em>the design was finalized. This solution is simple, easy and cheap. The Usability Professionals Association has <a href="http://www.upassoc.org/civiclife/voting/leo_testing.html" target="_blank">a great explanation</a> of how it's done.<br />
<br />
If county officials watched a dozen people fill out the ballot, at least a couple might have accidentally skipped the ballot initiative. And, with that, officials would have been alerted to the fact that their ballot contained a serious flaw.<br />
<br />
The ballot eventually got it's usability test, of course...but on Election Day. And approximately 40,000 voters showed -- a little too late -- that this particular ballot design failed.Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-82053089147610878722010-01-06T14:45:00.000-08:002010-01-06T14:45:32.532-08:00London : 21 January 2010 : Election Ballot Usability with Clare Barnett and Caroline Jarrett<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The UKUPA is proud to announce our <a href="http://ukupaeventjanuary2010.eventbrite.com/">first 2010 event</a> with a very timely look at a usability study carried out on online voting for the UK Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission was concerned about whether the design of ballot papers was making it difficult for electors to vote accurately. Spurred by this, the Electoral Commission commissioned User Vision and Effortmark to conduct usability tests with a range of voters in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.<br />
<br />
In their talk, Clare and Caroline will provide insight on how they approached the project and what they learned:<br />
<br />
About ballots:<br />
<br />
* What makes voting hard or easy<br />
* How details of design affect the task success of voting<br />
<br />
About running a paper testing project across four countries:<br />
<br />
* Offline and online testing, differences and similarities<br />
* How we analysed the results<br />
<br />
***********************<br />
<b>About the speakers:</b><br />
<br />
Clare Barnett of <a href="http://www.uservision.co.uk/">User Vision</a> is a usability consultant who graduated with an MA in psychology and politics. She spent 10 years in financial services as a Web designer championing usability, then moved to do usability full time.<br />
<br />
Caroline Jarrett of <a href="http://www.effortmark.co.uk/">Effortmark</a> is a usability consultant who specialises in forms, paper and web. She is co-author of "Forms that work: Designing web forms for usability" and "User Interface Design and Evaluation".<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">***********************</span><br />
<b>Date:</b> Thursday 21st January 2010<br />
<b>Time:</b> 6.30pm for 7pm start<br />
<b>Location:</b> LBi, Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU<br />
<br />
Register via our Eventbrite <a href="http://ukupaeventjanuary2010.eventbrite.com/">http://ukupaeventjanuary2010.eventbrite.com/</a><br />
<br />
There is no charge for UPA members. For non-members the cost is £10, and for student non-members £5 - payable at the door.<br />
<br />
</div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-72299407089441516262010-01-05T10:52:00.000-08:002010-01-05T10:52:31.748-08:00AIGA launches online election design gallery<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Times New Roman";
panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3;
mso-font-alt:AppleGothic;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Arial;
panose-1:0 2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
line-height:15.0pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Arial;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-parent:"";
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@page Section1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;
mso-header-margin:36.0pt;
mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style> <br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As AIGA's Design for Democracy turns into a volunteer-run project (as UPA's Usability in Civic Life is), Jessica Hewitt, who was the AIGA staff point person on the project for the last few years, has headed up a couple of important efforts that demonstrate recent progress in election design. <br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Design for Democracy's seminal project for the Election Assistance Commission completed in 2007 generated evidence-based and beautiful design specifications for effective layout and design of optical scan ballots, signs, and other election administration materials. Those have been <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-for-democracy-eac-reports">posted on the AIGA web site</a> for some time. In addition to the report of best practices, anyone can <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-for-democracy-eac-reports#Section-2-materials">download templates and graphics files</a>.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now that the design best practices have trickled down to the county level, the project has been collecting examples of how they've been implemented. Interestingly, though the design best practices were developed mainly for ballots and signage, local elections officials have successfully applied the salient parts (along with usability testing) in ingenious ways to voter registration forms, voter information pamphlets, ballot inserts, posters, and other print and online materials. Jessica Hewitt and Amy Vainieri present many of them on the AIGA web site in its <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/election-gallery">Election Design Gallery</a>, another great resource for local elections officials as well as professional designers working in elections. <o:p></o:p><br />
</div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-46908018584384436992009-12-23T09:01:00.000-08:002009-12-23T09:01:44.108-08:00Want to work on ballot design? Read these first.As <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-for-democracy?searchtext=design%20for%20democracy">AIGA's Design for Democracy project</a> moves into a new phase, we can celebrate their work on research and design guidelines for ballots and election materials. Elections all over the US are smoother and more voters are able to vote as they intend than ever before because of this work. Well done, people! <br />
<br />
Let's continue this good work. <br />
<br />
Whenever I speak to designers about design in voting and elections, one of the first questions I get is, "Why is it so damn hard to get to a ballot that is easy to use?" As with many design problems, this one is more complicated than you might think. As with other design problems, there are business and technology constraints. There is also history, culture, and momentum. In addition, there are local laws that also affect design of ballots and election materials. <br />
<br />
And so, Design for Democracy has put together a <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/ballot-design-top-10">top 10 pointers for designers</a> who want to work in the election space.<br />
<br />
Special thanks to Jessica Friedman Hewitt, who has been AIGA's lead on the D4D project. Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-37579727035439953362009-11-30T08:56:00.001-08:002009-11-30T08:56:23.404-08:00Top 10 guidelines for creating a plain language ballot<span style="font-size: small;">In June 2009, Ginny Redish and Dana Chisnell presented the findings from research they did for NIST on the language of instructions on ballots at the Usability Professionals' Association conference. In addition to their many fascinating findings, they distributed a handout with quick tips for creating and presenting plain language instructions for ballots. Here they are: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What to say and where to say it</b></span><br />
<br />
1. At the beginning of the ballot, explain how to vote, how to change a vote, and that voters may write in a candidate.<br />
<br />
2. Put instructions where voters need them. For example, save the instructions on how to use the write-in page for the write-in page.<br />
<br />
3. Include information that will prevent voters from making errors, such as a caution to not write in someone who is already on the ballot.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">How to say it</span></b><br />
<br />
4. Write short sentences.<br />
<br />
5. Use short, simple, everyday words. For example, do not use "retention" and "retain." Use "keep" instead. For another example, use "for" and "against" for amendments and measures rather than "accept" and "reject."<br />
<br />
6. Write in the active voice, where the person doing the action comes before the verb.<br />
<br />
7. Write in the positive. Tell people what to do rather than what not to do.<br />
<br />
8. When giving people instructions that are more than one step, give each step as an item in a numbered list. Do not number other instructions. When the instructions are not sequential steps, use separate paragraphs with bold beginnings instead of numbering.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">What to make it look like</span></b><br />
<br />
9. Keep paragraphs short. A one-sentence paragraph is fine.<br />
<br />
10. Separate paragraphs by a space so each paragraph stands out on the page.<br />
<br />
<br />
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Times New Roman";
panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Arial;
panose-1:0 2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.MsoEndnoteReference
{vertical-align:super;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-parent:"";
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="display: none; font-family: Arial;">-</span><span style="display: none; font-family: Arial;"><sup> </sup></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 8pt;">From Redish, Chisnell, Newby, Laskowski, and Lowry, <i>Use of Language in Ballot Instructions</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 8pt;">, NIST IR 7556.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 8pt;">To see all 28 guidelines, go to </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 8pt;"><a href="http://vote.nist.gov/NISTIR-7556.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial;">http://vote.nist.gov/NISTIR-7556.pdf</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 8pt;">. The guidelines are the last appendix in the report, pages 189-190.</span> Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-8235831530014709462009-11-19T07:15:00.000-08:002009-11-19T07:15:02.586-08:00Ballot Design Issue Causes Major Under-Vote in King Co. WashingtonA blog post at <a href="http://horsesass.org/?p=22173">the horsesass.org blog</a> published on November 11, 2009 brought attention to a surprising result on a ballot measure in King County's election held a week earlier. <br />
<br />
David Goldstein of <a href="http://horsesass.org/">horsesass.org</a> writes that, "forty-some thousand King County voters … were disenfranchised due to our state’s <a href="http://horsesass.org/?p=21892">wholly inadequate ballot design </a>and review procedures" because the ballot measure appeared on the ballot below the instructions in the left hand column. <br />
<br />
It is a heavily researched and tested best practice in ballot design to put instructions for marking a printed optical scan ballot in the top left column on the first ballot page. Typically, this leaves a blank space beneath. Unfortunately, it's extremely tempting to fill that space, and election officials in King Co. did.<br />
<br />
Although Washington State has been among the most progressive in implementing good ballot design practices, and in having local elections officials usability test ballots and other forms, King Co. tested <i>after</i> ballots had been sent out to voters. Their test revealed the problem that otherwise well-trained officials had missed, leaving them to expect a large under-vote on the measure. That’s exactly what happened. By the estimate of the state election director, Nick Handy, the undervote was somewhere nearer 50,000 votes. <br />
<br />
The measure failed statewide by a large margin. If the measure had passed by 5,000 or so votes, this burp in King Co. would likely have tripped a recount because the 2-1 vote against in King Co. could have changed the result. <br />
<br />
Goldstein of horsesass.org goes on to laud the Brennan Center's recommendation in their Better Ballots report that counties conduct usability testing before ballots are final using the guidelines and kit developed by UPA's Voting and Usability Project.Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-80350642896438328072009-07-26T21:12:00.000-07:002009-07-26T21:27:00.883-07:00Trends in design issues in voting and elections<span style="font-family: lucida grande;">The elections track at IACREOT was geek heaven. I don’t mean just for election wonks like me, but also for anyone who cares about technology at all. The International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Elections Officials, and Treasurers (IACREOT) was in Spokane, Washington July 7-11. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">A few themes ran through the panel discussions. I would argue that they all have design and usability components that need attention: </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">Voter registration (databases)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">Military and overseas voting (email, Internet, encryption, troop security)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">The current Holt bill in Congress (proposes replacing all direct record electronic (DRE) voting machines with paper or optical scan voting systems) </span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">Trend 1: Voter registration forms and databases</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">As the elections world chips away at solving problems in local jurisdictions such as security and managing recounts, more difficult problems arise to be solved. There was much discussion about creating a national voter registration database. Creating and maintaining such a database would solve problems with people being registered in multiple states and voting more than once in federal elections. This doesn’t happen a lot, but it would smooth operations in every single state in managing voter registration. In one session, a panel of elections officials from countries outside the US talked about (among other things) how they register voters and where the data comes from to maintain the voter registration databases. For example, in Canada, the Quebec provincial elections authority that is charged with overseeing elections to parliament maintains address and other personal information for voters (in Canada, they’re called electors), by getting feeds from the provincial socialized healthcare databases, which are constantly being updated by citizens themselves. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family: lucida grande; font-weight: bold;">Trend 2: Military and overseas voting</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">With hundreds of thousands of troops actively engaged in conflicts, getting ballots to voters in the military and getting those ballots counted is an extremely difficult problem. For military personnel on bases that are not in war zones, it is somewhat easier; electronic means are available, such as faxes, to send ballots back to local jurisdictions, which can then be duplicated and scanned to be counted. But in war zones, some troops are in such sensitive situations, they only know each other’s first or last names. Finding these troops, getting them their ballots, and then finding ways for them to return their voted ballots that is timely, secure, and secret is a huge problem. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: lucida grande;font-size:130%;" >Trend 3: Holt bill on replacing voting systems (again)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">It was the consensus of consultants and think-tank types that the bill that Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) has proposed will not only not be passed, but will probably never reach the floor for a vote, mainly because there are so many other, very important problems with Congress to deal with, and frankly, because the other Democrats who would back it have got what they wanted: a Democratic president and legislature. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">Creativity and innovation abound in the elections world</span></span><br />Though attendance was lower this year than last year at IACREOT, there were plenty of stories of creative approaches to dealing with the complexities of voter registration and military and overseas voting. Many counties are trying combinations of new technologies in small experiments to make administration easier, but also to make it easier for voters to vote, no matter where they are in the world. In the meantime, they're looking for design guidance. What's the best voter registration form? How does that transfer to an online form? Many interesting design problems to be worked on.Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-82923885538891876352009-05-09T11:52:00.000-07:002009-05-09T12:19:53.090-07:00Testing ballots: Real names or fictional? Direct how to vote or not?<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">How do you design a study to learn about ballot and voting system usability without doing the research during an election? </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">The ideal situation would be to watch over voters’ shoulders on Election Day. But because we prize voting privately in the United States, observing voting on Election Day just is not an option. What’s a researcher to do? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It’s a challenging research situation. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">What ballot should be used in the study? Should you use a real ballot from a recent election? </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">What are the tradeoffs there? Next, you have to set up a situation that is similar to Election Day but isn’t. Turns out that making a study a lot like Election Day doesn’t really work for research. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Why researchers use constructed ballots with fictional names</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">There's a lot of research about whether fictional names are okay in voting studies, particularly by the people at Rice University in the <a href="http://accurate-voting.org/">ACCURATE project</a>. They found that fictional names are okay as long as they're realistic. The NIST standard ballot for certification testing uses fictional names. Many researchers have picked up that ballot (or subsets of it) to use in their research. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When you use real names locally, it can be jarring if the design or the format looks different from what participants are expecting, and you instantly have artifacts from that. If there's one thing that does not look like the ballot they used, then voters notice and it's an instant distraction. So why not make the whole thing up? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Most researchers have decided not to use a real ballot from a recent election with. Why not? Using a constructed ballot, with fictional contests, names, and amendments or questions:<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">avoids asking people to vote in a contest where they might have their own opinions, or where it asks them to reveal their political preferences<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">levels playing field across levels of political interest<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">allows constructing a ballot that can be used to test different usability issues in types of contests or tasks</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Why researchers tell participants how to vote</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Now, why not let study participants vote the way they want to? Why give them a slate to vote or task scenarios to work from? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In usability tests, researchers often ask participants to carry out pre-determined scenarios. Sometimes this is done to measure specific behavior, sometimes to make sure certain things are tested, sometimes to make sure that the facilitator is ready for the next expected thing. Part of the art of conducting a usability study is knowing when to let participants do what they want to do and knowing when to go back to the test design. (In the ideal world, what the participant wants to do and what you want them to do are the same thing.) Researchers in the elections space make this decision consciously and deliberately to make sure that they can collect the data measures that will prove (or not) a hypothesis. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Instructed voting makes it possible to evaluate error rates without directly observing the participant voting. People who study how people use other kinds of technology try to instrument the system to capture test data or observe directly. These things are difficult to do with voting systems. So, instructed voting versus "just vote as you might" asks the participants to be thoughtfully accurate, and not just randomly mark the ballot.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The special challenges of voting research </span></span><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Researching how people interact with most technology, a researcher can go into the field, hang around where the person is doing what they want to do and ask questions. Election Day is not the time for that. Most voting research requires that the number of variables be limited and those that remain are controlled.<br />So far, researchers have found that using the NIST standard ballots and directed tasks is the best way to manage that.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > -- By Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /></span>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-33909773358959062952009-04-30T14:04:00.000-07:002009-04-30T14:06:33.136-07:00Plain language makes a difference: Voters are more likely to vote as they intend when ballot instructions are simple and clear<span style="font-family: verdana;">How well do voters and poll workers understand the language of ballots and voting system instructions?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Today the National Institute of Standards and Technology released its report of a carefully controlled quantitative study in which 45 US adults over a range of ages and education levels each voted two ballots that differed only in the wording and presentation of the ballot instructions. The participants also discussed and compared specific pages from the two ballots. Janice (Ginny) Redish, Ph.D. led the study. She found that: </span><br /><br /><ul style="font-family: verdana;"><li>Voters voted more accurately on a ballot with plain language instructions than on a ballot with traditional instructions. </li></ul><ul style="font-family: verdana;"><li>Voters with less education made more errors in voting. </li></ul><ul style="font-family: verdana;"><li>Voters could tell the difference and preferred the plain language ballot by a wide margin. </li></ul><span style="font-family: verdana;">See the full report here: http://vote.nist.gov/NISTIR-7556.pdf, or go to vote.nist.gov/docmap.htm. </span>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-22314559873303379382009-03-01T09:33:00.000-08:002009-03-01T10:04:35.780-08:00Technology as a solution in 1957: "Behind the Freedom Curtain"<span style="font-family:arial;">This </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.archive.org/details/Behindth1957">1957 film</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> housed in the Internet Archives in the Prelinger Archives is a tutorial on how mechanical lever machines work -- with a little chauvinistic flag-waving thrown in for good measure. It is very much a period piece (remember </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhuac.htm">HUAC</a><span style="font-family:arial;">?), but also does a good job of explaining the kinds of mistakes that voters make on paper ballots. The </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/votingmachine.html">Automatic Voting Machine Co.</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> that made the film makes the case that those mistakes can't be made on the lever machine. See: <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/Behindth1957">http://www.archive.org/details/Behindth1957</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Go from that film to the results of a review of the November 2008 election in Florida, where 15 counties switched from direct record electronic (DRE) voting machines to paper, optical scan ballots. Twice as many ballots were rejected in 2008 than were rejected in 2004. But still, the rejection rate was 0.75%, well below the 2.9% in 2000, and below the "expected" residual vote rate of about 1% on average. From the New York Times on February 26, 2009:</span><br /><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">The final report sent to state lawmakers showed that 0.75 percent, or 63,680 of the 8.39 million ballots cast in Florida, did not count in the presidential race. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Barack Obama">Barack Obama</a> defeated <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/john_mccain/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about John McCain.">John McCain</a> in Florida by more than 236,000 votes. In the presidential race four years earlier, the rate of uncounted ballots was 0.41 percent, equating to about 31,000 votes.</blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Read the whole New York Times article here: </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/us/26florida.html?nl=pol&emc=pola1">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/us/26florida.html?nl=pol&emc=pola1. </a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2004, George W. Bush defeated John Kerry <span style="font-style: italic;">in Florida</span> by 380,978 votes. In 2000, Al Gore received 543,895 more individual votes <span style="font-style: italic;">nationally</span> than George W. Bush, but Bush received more electoral votes. In Florida in 2000, the margin of victory was </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;">0.0092%</span><span style="font-family: arial;">, in favor of Bush. (See: <a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and </span></span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2004">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2004</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.)</span>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-4845339974512267162009-01-20T11:38:00.000-08:002009-01-20T11:43:19.313-08:00Ever onward: A hope for continued progress in election reform<span style="font-family: arial;">The Bush Administration spurred major election reform in the US. This reform movement included technology, security, and accessibility. It urged improvements in plain language in public documents, transparency in process, and alternative ways and days for voting. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Election reform has resulted in some great things: ability to vote for many who were unable to vote independently before; examination of steps in the process that hadn’t received much attention before, such as recounts and record-keeping; research-based improvements in ballot design – and much more. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But there is more yet to be done. Many voters are disenfranchised – still – by suboptimal design and the lack of usability in election materials they receive, voting machines they use, ballots they mark. Here’s hoping that the new administration continues to see election reform as a priority and continues and expands funding for research sponsored by the federal government that will result in easier, more accurate voting. </span><br /><br />-- Dana Chisnell<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Note: This post reflects the views of the person who wrote and posted it. It does not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Usability Professionals' Association or its individual members.</span>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-79887245555973653282009-01-02T06:09:00.000-08:002009-01-02T06:36:17.320-08:00Come hear: UPAers on ballot usability, plain language, and evaluating doc for poll workers<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Several of us on the Usability in Civic Life Project at the Usability Professionals' Association will be speaking at events in 2009 on topics that we hope elections officials, design practitioners, and human factors researchers are interested in. The dates, places, events, topic titles, and speakers are listed below.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="Section1"> <table style="border: medium none ; border-collapse: collapse;font-family:arial;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="border-style: solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Date<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Place<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Event<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Topic title<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Speakers<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Feb 6</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Washington, DC</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">NASED</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Usability Testing Ballots</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Dana Chisnell </span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">May 3-6</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Atlanta, GA</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">STC</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Rewriting the Voting Experience On Election Day</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Susan Becker, Ginny Redish, Whitney Quesenbery, Josie Scott, Sarah Swierenga, Dana Chisnell</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">June 12</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Portland, OR</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">UPA</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Improving the User Experience of Voting </span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ginny Redish, Dana Chisnell, Sharon Laskowski, Svetlana Lowry</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">July 7-11</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Spokane, WA</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">IACREOT</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Improving the User Experience of Voting</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Dana Chisnell</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">July 19-24</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">San Diego, CA</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">HCI International</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">User Experience in Elections: Poll Workers</span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Dana Chisnell, Karen Bachmann</span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><!--[endif]--></p> </div> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><br /></span>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32681010.post-32127054309225225492008-12-11T20:32:00.000-08:002008-12-12T06:16:41.825-08:00Israelis struggle with poor usability<div></div><div>Israel's Likud party's primary held this week appears to have been a usability fiasco. The new computer interface was so difficult that even party leaders had trouble using it, according to an article in the Jerusalem Post. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>Amir Dotan described the system for us. The voters choose 12 candidates from one list, 2 candidates from a second list, and 1 from a third list. But, instead of selecting a name, they have to select the ID number for the candidates they want. No names appear on the ballot, just a list of ID numbers representing all of the candidates. Touch a number, and the name appears in a list. Once the selections are made, a review screen shows the number, name and (sometimes) a picture. The confusion seems to have been a poorly implemented attempt to display all candidates on one screen.<br /></div><div><br /></div> <div>Political opponents accused current leaders of nothing less than "raping democracy" with a difficult-to-use computer system. But the answer is probably simpler than that: they forgot that usability matters. And it matters the most in "mission critical" situations like elections. </div><br /><div>Links:</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Article in the Jerusalem Post: <a href="http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728115482&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull" target="_blank">http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728115482&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull</a></div> <div>Amir Dotan's blog (in Hebrew) <a href="http://www.amirdotan.com/blog">www.amirdotan.com/blog </a></div> <div>Images and descriptions: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitneyq/sets/72157611073610948">http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitneyq/sets/72157611073610948</a><br /><span class="x_Apple-style-span" style=""> <div><br /></div></span></div>Dana Chisnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00714198669290460546noreply@blogger.com0