POLITIMATCH ORIGINAL UI/UX DESIGN
UI/UX Design and Original Application Design Assignment
PolitiMatch Original UI/UX Design, 2024, Figma
Introduction
Software:
Figma
Project Duration:
4 weeks
Goals and Requirements:
Develop an original application idea
Conduct research to assess user wants and needs and analyze competitors
Design UI and UX in response to these desires
Ideation:
When brainstorming ideas for the purpose of my original application, I was asked to consider a series of questions, one of which being the following: how can we protect our democracy and rights? Since I was starting this project in the midst of election season, my mind instantly went to voting as a way to protect democracy. Digging into the many aspects of the voting process, I realized many people had a hard time voting for candidates at non-presidential election levels. With this app, the goal is to provide users with comprehensive profiles for political candidates, as well as recommendations for which options might best match their own political preferences.
Problem Statement:
Newer and first-time voters do not know which candidates to vote for at non-presidential levels, leading to a lack of confident and informed choices during election season, which ultimately results in inaccurate ballot choices and unhappy citizens.
Target Audience:
Newer and first-time voters, likely aged 18-25
Process
Contextual Inquiries
Focuses:
Main task for potential users was to complete their mail-in voter ballot
Observe user tendencies, both conscious and unconscious
Empathy Map
Focuses:
Use user behavior to build the structure of the application
Identify potential pain points of the voting process
Impact/Effort Priority Matrix
Focuses:
Brainstorming and/or narrowing down potential features
Wireframe Sketches
Focuses:
Presentation of information
Visual style
Final Designs
Welcome / Onboarding
Change ZIP Code
Questionnaire Home
Answer New Question
Add to My Ballot
Receive Compatibilities
Return to Categories
Candidate Profile (collapsed)
Compare Candidates
Candidate Profile (expanded)
Reflection
Challenges:
The most difficult part of this project was just the sheer amount of information I was working with and trying to sort out. On top of having to build the concept for my app from scratch, politics is a complex and detailed subject. I struggled a lot with how to give users access to all the information they needed, without overwhelming them with the parts of it they didn’t want.
User Interface:
For the user interface, I put a lot of thought into how to make my app visually unique. I opted for rounded corners and tight gutters to create a modern and elevated feel. Also, I know that politics can be an exhausting and stressful topic for some people, so I felt that having clearly visible buttons and labels would simplify the process for less politically-involved users.
User Experience:
My main goal for the app was for the process to be extremely customizable to each users’ wants and needs. Politics is a very personal thing and my research showed that every voter values information differently. Though I didn’t have time at the point to design these screens, ideally all of the information on the Candidate Profile screen would be a card that can be tapped into, leading to another screen providing further information. This allows users to skim the information they care less about, but easily find the information that is most impactful to their decision-making.