A Better Ballot for New York State in 2012
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A better ballot for New York State in 2012 Whitney Quesenbery WQusability / Usability in Civic Life Drew Davies Oxide Design Co / AIGA Design for Democracy
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In 2010, New York State used paper ballots for the first time. This presentation offers a design concept for how NY ballots can use the design guidelines in the EAC ballot templates to make New York State ballots more readable, while still working within current election law. Design mockup by Drew Davies, Oxide Design Co. and AIGA Design for Democracy Analysis and presentation by Whitney Quesenbery, WQusability and UPA Usability in Civic Life
Transcript of A Better Ballot for New York State in 2012
A better ballot for New York State in 2012
Whitney QuesenberyWQusability / Usability in Civic Life
Drew Davies
Oxide Design Co / AIGA Design for Democracy
A - Instructions at the top, in larger text and illustration of a correct mark.
B - Rows have all required items, with clear party names
E - Shading and heavier line weights between contests helps distinguish single-column and multi-column contests.
C - Uncluttered voting areas makes candidate names easier to see, and allows larger text.
F - Ovals to the left of the names puts ovals in direct proximity to each candidate
H - Message reminds voters to look at both sides of the ballot and reduces roll-off
G - Single sans-serif font creates unified design with good readabilltiy
D - Ballot identification has a strong visual hierarchy
A
F
B C
E
H
D
G
Best practicePlace instructions in the upper-left corner of the ballot, where they will be read first.
Put each instruction in its own paragraph, so each one stands out.
Shading separates instructions from the rest of the ballot.
Ilustration shows the correct way to mark.
Instructions where voters need - and will see - them
New York election lawAllows instructions to be continued on the back of the ballot.
Nothing prohibits the illustration, showing correct ballot marking.
A
Best practiceLess clutter makes party names easier to read.
Row headers make party names clear
New York election lawRequires party name, party emblem, row letters and “finger” pointing towards the candidates.
B
Best practiceShow what’s most important – the candidate and party.
Avoid clutter around candidate names.
Make text big enough.
Left-align text (not centered).
Voting squares are clean and uncluttered
New York election lawRow identifiers in the voting square.
Oval “above or next to” the name.
Candidate names in a uniform font.
C
Best practiceUse font size and weight to create a visual hierarchy of the information to identify the ballot.
Use page numbers.
The ballot is easy to identify
New York election lawRequires specific identification information, but does not specify the location.
D
Best practiceUse contrast, color, and line weights to separate instructions from contests and contests from each other.
Line weights create strong boundaries. Thick lines separate contests. Thin lines separate candidates.
Shading and line weights separate contests
New York election lawNo requirement for the weight of lines.
E
Best practiceOvals to the left of the names puts ovals in direct proximity to each candidate.
A single sans-serif font used on the whole ballot.
Bold text used for emphasis.
Voting oval is to the left of the name
New York election lawOval “above or next to” the name.
Candidate names in a uniform font.
F
A single font is easy to readG
Best practiceInstruction to turn ballot over is placed in the bottom right, at the end of the last column or row on the page.
Instructions are where they are needed
New York election lawNo requirements.
H
We are here to help
Usability in Civic Lifehttp://usabilityinciviclife.org
Design for Democracyhttp://ww.aiga.org/ design-for-democracy/
Civic Designhttp://civicdesigning.org
Whitney [email protected]
Drew [email protected]
Dana [email protected]
A project of
Usability in Civic Lifeusabilityinciviclife.org
Research commissioned by EAC
Research commissioned by NIST
Usability in Civic Life and industry best practices
Research commissioned by NIST
http://civicdesigning.org/fieldguides
Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent
Summaries of useful, field-tested, best practices in a pocket guidebook.
Download or order printed copies
