I’m very interested in social change but continue to struggle with how I can effectively bring my design expertise to the social sector. I had reservations about OpenIDEO, but decided to participate in the challenge just to try it out. I viewed the experience as an opportunity to be involved in a community of likeminded creatives as well as a way to motivate me to making something valuable.

The hardest aspect of the challenge is working without constraint. Because participants can’t know all the details of the challenge context, there’s no real way for contributors to evaluate the viability of ideas. In terms of conceptualization, that can be an effective technique for innovation; however, I’m interested in more than revolutionary ideas. I’m looking to make a real and meaningful impact for social change. Looking at past OpenIDEO challenges, I don’t see any ideas that have been truly realized by partner organizations. Mostly, I find posts referring to different ways that partners are  “considering how to incorporate [participants] concepts into [their] business plan and strategy” (View Post).

Without being able to fully immerse ourselves, concepts become even less viable. We don’t have access to the appropriate knowledge experts to fully understand the complexity of the problem domain. My knowledge of voting is extremely fundamental, my knowledge of the American voting system is nonexistent. My ability to understand the problem is limited to a few “inspiration” posts and Google searches. Not ideal for improving an already sensitive and controversial issue.

My OpenIDEO experience was not disappointing because of it’s platform, it was disappointing because it doesn’t meet my desire. Taken for what it is, OpenIDEO has good intentions, but it’s too far removed from the practical value I’m interested in contributing to the social sector. I’m still trying to figure out my next exploration into design for social change and I’m not discouraged. I’m glad that I decided to participate in OpenIDEO and am proud of the work I contributed.

Stay tuned for the next adventure…

Here’s my final submission (you may also view it as a PDF Presentation or on the OpenIDEO site):

MyVote provides four key benefits to how we vote in America today.

Flexibility – MyVote will allow citizens to participate in elections from anywhere in the world. They may vote at their convenience and take as much time as they need.

Integration – To meet the needs of everyone, multiple voting options will always be required. MyVote will join the elections ecosystem as one voting option among several.

Retention – MyVote will provide easy access to the voting system which will increase voter participation. The convenience of the service will increase return voters and even promote participation in less popular votes.

Extension – MyVote will open new opportunities for other service and experience innovations around voting in the digital/technology, mobile, and social spaces.

Tenets serve as guiding principles and validate design choices made along the way.

Simplicity – The application should be easy to use. The experience should be limited to the core features designed for the purpose of voting and refrain from unnecessary bloating.

Transparency – The application should communicate effectively and efficiently. The design should help guide users in understanding where they are, what they are doing, and where they are going.

Accessibility – The design should adhere to accessibility and usability standards.

Privacy – The application should enable a private registration and voting experience. The design should provide appropriate information and control of stored and shared data on the device as well as within the system.

Security – The application should be fully secure not only for the individual registrant but for the overall voting system.

How will this concept improve election accessibility for everyone?

The iPhone provides a solid framework for accessibility enabled by the device as well as the human interaction guidelines.

Mobile & Hearing Impairment – The nature of the iPhone itself solves for these issues. The device is portable and consists of a visual screens.

Vision Impairment – The iPhone offers several options available for different degrees of sight including: a screen reader, magnification, high contrast, and speak selection.

Physical Impairment – The iPhone offers several options available for different degrees of motor capabilities including: speak selection, and assistive touch.

Language Translation – The iPhone allows users to select their preferred language. MyVote will provide translations for relevant languages and users will be enabled to vote in their own language.

How well does this concept adapt to the changing needs of different voter communities?

The momentum mobile technology has been accruing over the last several years is going to continue to rapidly advance. The need for a mobile system in which people may vote should be made safe and easy to access from anywhere at any time.

What further thinking needs to be considered to realize this concept?

After exploring the key features of the app, there are still major topics to consider.

Security – This app must be safe and secure, not only for individuals, but for the system. We must ensure every vote is counted once and is submitted by an individual citizen. A mobile security expert will need to be consulted.

Integration – This app should integrate into the existing voting system without having to make significant alterations to the system itself. This topic is a policy as well as a technology issue. Experts in these areas should be consulted.

Ownership – Who should be responsible for the development of this app, government or private interests? There is an argument made for either.

Perception – How will the public respond to the release of this app? What measure can we take to ensure a positive reaction and utilization of this tool?

Design – There remains several gaps in the design that need attention after consulting with the appropriate experts. Interaction and visual design needs to address accessibility and usability with thorough testing.

If you like the work, please visit my submission and give it an “Applause”. Thank you and enjoy!

My goal with this work is to envision a mobile voting experience which would allow and encourage citizens to participate in elections. The breadth of users range from those who are disabled, to those who would rather not deal with the “hassle” of the current voting process.

This concept is one piece of a greater puzzle. We will continue to need a multi-faceted system to address the breadth of challenges faced with contemporary voting but a mobile application solves for many of them.

This application would enable voters to participate easily from anywhere in the world. It would remind us to vote on election day and allow the flexibility for peoples circumstances. It is a step in visualizing how the voting system could enter the age of mobility. I believe the momentum mobile technology has been accruing over the last several years is going to continue to rapidly advance. The need for a digital system in which people may cast a vote and participate in one of the greatest rights our citizenship affords should be made safe and easy to access.

I love the idea that we could have a smartphone application that would allow us to vote remotely, but after looking around there are still questions about how the experience should be modeled. Here are some tenets I’ve been considering when thinking about what a smartphone voting experience should be:

Simplicity
The application should be easy to use. The experience should be limited to the core features designed for the purpose of voting and refrain from unnecessary bloating.

Transparency
The application should communicate effectively and efficiently. The design should help guide users in understanding where they are, what they are doing, and where they are going.

Accessibility
The design should adhere to accessibility and usability standards.

Privacy
The application should enable a private registration and voting experience. The design should provide appropriate information and control of stored and shared data on the device as well as within the system.

Security
The application should be fully secure not only for the individual registrant but for the overall voting system.

I think the biggest question is security. How do we prevent voter fraud and how do we convince the public that the system is safe? To develop this application would require the consultation of security and legal experts to best design this system in such a way that would be safe. For the purposes of this exercise, I tried to refine the design based on the online registration process currently active in Washington state.

Who’s involved
I think this project could be handled by a typical software design program. Phases of work would include design research, synthesis and conceptualization, interaction design, visual design, usability testing, and development.

During the research phase and throughout the project a breadth of participants would need to be involved including: smartphone owners (voters and non-voters), people with varied disabilities, government administrators (familiar with current voting systems), domain experts (digital security, accessibility/usability), and others.

Who’s going to pay for it?
Like with all politics, the public gets quite fickle when money comes into play. A concern of mine regarding this concept is credibility and how the public would respond to different “business models” around this application. It seems like the safest choice would be to have the development be handled by the government as an extension of other voting programs.

Thank you Jake Zukowski for critiquing my work!

Awhile ago, I create this compilation of drawings from various projects and sketchbooks. I’ve always taken pride in sketching, for me, it’s the best way to work out design problems. I thought this illustration would make a lovely wallpaper so I created this 1920 x 1200 JPG for anyone to download for free.

Please enjoy!

The highlight for me was the analogy Jamer draws from Charles and Ray Eames’ film “Powers of Ten” and the complexity of the challenges humanity faces. Over the last couple years, I’ve been overwhelmed by this complexity as I’ve been exposed to increasingly broader forms of design issues.

I enjoyed the simple answer that Jamer proposes in response to those feelings. Each of us has the power to contribute to the solution, even when the problem extends well beyond our means to solve it. Our charge is not to solve the wicked problems that the world faces, but to decide what our contribution to solving those problems will be.

I’m not convinced that social internet services are responsible for the homogenization of our culture, I would disagree that social networks “are sensitive neither to individual humans nor to the human collective”. It seems to me that when done well, social networks provide a forum in which people choose to be as individual or homogenized as they desire. The ability to say whatever I want, from anywhere, anytime to anyone is the offering, how I choose to engage with that forum is what defines my online identity.

I do agree that communication is breaking down into far too small pieces, and am curious to see what the future holds for our ability to comprehend complex ideas, or even focus long enough to read them. But I have hope for the intelligence of people empowered by the possibilities that technology offers.

Over the last few days, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with Alison Dempario to create this illustration for a fundraising event Alison is coordinating for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Portland, Oregon. I can easily say this is one of the silliest illustrations I’ve drawn, but I had a great time and am thankful for the opportunity.

If you’re going to be in Portland come March, register for the Tournament. Good luck to all the participants!

Special thanks to Bethany Bauman for making the introductions :)

Creating web content can be messy, complicated, and expensive but the value it delivers to our clients is paramount. Our ability to create beautiful artifacts is meaningless if we can’t effectively communicate with our customers with clarity and brevity.

Content strategy (planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content) can be integrated with our User Experience Design Model when relevant. Like any process model, the necessity and role of each discipline varies on the scope of a project, but we want to emphasize the value an impactful content experience adds to our work.

Some of the values that content strategy encourage include:

• Defining key themes and messages
• Creating recommended topics to be covered
• Justifying content purpose and value
• Unifying brand messaging through guidance and governance
• Revealing content gaps through analysis
• Organizing metadata frameworks and related content attributes,
• Increasing findability through search engine optimization (SEO)

The web is built for content. The best web experiences are designed for communicative concepts that speak to audiences in a meaningful and useful way. Deft committed to treating content as a critical asset, worthy of strategic planning and investment in order to better our clients digital communications and create useful and usable interactive experiences for their audiences.

Referred articles:

A List Apart, The Discipline of Content Strategy
UX Magazine, Content Strategy and UX: A Modern Love Story

Across the industry I’ve seen a range of definitions for User Experience Design and understanding of the disciplines associated with it. The term has become so ubiquitous and varied that, like “branding”, it seems to confuse clients more than benefit.

I believe User Experience (UX) Design is an umbrella term that combines five core disciplines for the creation of interactive systems.

Design Research

The identification, evaluation, and understanding of problems to inform the design process.

Common Activities:

• Business analysis
• Contextual analysis
• Qualitative and Quantitative analysis
• Usability audits
• Surveys and Interviews
• Findings documentation

Information Architecture

The organizational structure of a system of information to facilitate intuitive access to content.

Common Activities:

• Global element definition
• Navigation pattern design
• Application map development
• Wireframe design

Interaction Design

The design of interface elements to facilitate the user’s relationship to the systems functionality and content.

Common Activities:

• User story creation
• Functional inventory documentation
• Component requirement documentation
• Template identification and design
• Wireframe design

Visual Design

The visual treatment of concepts, elements, and components within an artifact.

Common Activities:

• Visual exploration
• Mockup creation
• Style guide documentation
• Key state definition
• Asset development

Development

The functional creation of interactive concepts within a system or artifact.

Common Activities:

• Prototype creation
• Database architecture
• Application architecture
• Front- and back-end development
• Component library creation

Rhythm

Rhythm is the movement created by the regular or irregular accents of formal elements. This effect can be achieved by patterned repetition, implied texture, or tactile texture. The recurrence of formal elements could include: color, line, shape, or value.

Emphasis

Emphasis occurs when special importance or significance is given to a specific element. This significance can be stressed using weight, color, value, proximity, or proportion. Individual elements are given varying levels of emphasis, beginning with the focal point and prioritizing the hierarchy to create a sense of balance.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy is created by the careful balance of emphasis throughout an artifact. The strongest hierarchy guides your eye through the elements based on the priorities set by the designer. The hierarchy should reinforce a sense of unity, variety, and harmony of formal elements within the artifact.

Proximity

Proximity is the relationship of space between elements, negative and positive.

Proportion

Proportion is measured by the relationship of size between elements. This relationship can be effected by the physical scale as well as the visual scale of an element.

Contrast

Contrast is created by the juxtaposition of differing elements, such as color, value, or proportion to produce a more dynamic expressiveness.

Color

Color is used to express emotion and emphasize the concepts being communicated by an artifact. Color can be manipulated and refined by employing basic tenets of color theory, such as color schemes (e.g. Monochromatic, Complementary, Triadic, or Analogous).