FiveThirtyEight
Role: UX Designer
Date: April-May 2024
Duration: Three-Week Sprint
Location: General Assembly UX Intensive
Student Project: Group Collaboration designing for both business needs and user goals
“What should I believe? Who can I trust?"
With the inception of editorial news networks and social media, opinions disguised as facts were dispensed globally. This storm of unregulated information infected man with deep doubt and questioning. What is true? The immense amount of online information left people uneasy, anxious and confused.
The political arena has been deeply affected. The nation is acutely divided and American citizens are burdened by the potential outcomes of the 2024 election. For this reason, Americans are taking their vote seriously. They struggle to find trustworthy news sources that deliver unbiased, factual information.
Problem Statement
Voters need a more effective way to access unbiased voting information because currently they are overwhelmed by infinite biased information and struggle to track their outcomes.
How might we best inform voters…
Many voters require a more effective means to stay informed about voting measures. Because most Americans have smartphones, a mobile application can reach many voters and provide the information they desire. A previously popular statistical analysis outlet called FiveThirtyEight could be resurrected to become this application.
Solution Statement
The FiveThirtyEight app is a new mobile application where users can find unbiased voting information, election details and track election results. When preparing to vote, users can access and study ballot measures as well as save their voting preferences. Users can opt to receive notifications on the final results of measures relevant to them. With its trusted data analysis, users can navigate the voting process with confidence.
What is fivethrityeight?
FiveThirtyEight was a trusted data journalism website that covered politics, sports, economics and culture using statistical analysis. After years of success and a series of acquisitions, founder Nate Silver left the site to its last owner: ABC News. The once-beloved website lost its luster and now languishes under the leadership of Silver’s rival G. Elliott Morris (data journalist for the Economist).
Discovery: User Interviews
In our quest to resurrect FiveThirtyEight, we set several goals:
Discover users’ methods of sourcing voting information
Discover which platforms our users employ as well as their frequency of use
Identify opportunities to improve the voting process
We interviewed six individuals who met the requirements to vote in U.S. elections. They were both male and female, held opposing political beliefs and represented several generations: baby boomers, generation X and millennials. After synthesizing the data using an affinity map, several themes emerged among our interviewees.
All six individuals voted in the last election
They all stated that it was difficult to find unbiased information they trust; they believed unbias information does not exist
All six individuals stated that they all discussed politics with their significant others, parents or children
They all stated that they did not follow up on election results but wish they did
With the data collected, we created our persona, Sarah.
Sketches
Our team set out to design a mobile app that would solve Sarah’s problem. For this case, we assume Sarah has created a 538 account, specified her voting zip code, and opted in to receive notifications. The app was customizable to provide Sarah with information pertinent to her district’s ballot measures and election. Sarah could read and study the measures on her ballot and record a voting plan. By recording her voting plan, she can easily reference it when discussing election issues. Additionally, the voting plan serves as the source for notifications of post-election results. Sarah was interested in election results but did not exert effort to ascertain how the election turned out. She loses track of time and is unsure when the results are finalized. She wants a reminder and the app notifications do the job for her. The user flow below represents the user task we designed.
Design: Create wireframes & grayscale prototype
For this case, our team chose to focus on two flows.
Research and Voting Flow (above)
Election Countdown allows Sarah to orient herself
News pertinent to her election
List of upcoming election ballot measures
Sarah creates her voting plan visually: thumbs up “yes vote” or thumbs down “no” vote
Sarah’s home place displays her voting plan with live vote status
Results Notifications (to the right)
When the election results are finalized, Sarah will receive a notification linked to the app
Once opened, the 538 homepage displays the results of measures she saved in her voting plan
We placed the menu at the bottom of the screen because of the standard set by Facebook and Instagram. These Meta products have placed their menus at the bottom of the screen. Because of the volume of users of the platforms, it is reasonable to assume that our users have become accustomed to the menu location. Facebook’s monthly active users (MAUs) are 3.065 billion members. Instagram’s MAUs are 2 billion globally. We wanted the app to be easily navigated, learnable, intuitive, efficient and consistent.
Usability Testing
Navigation
Initially, we used the heading “Polls” in the navigation menu. However, we discovered that the word “Polls” confused users. As defined, the word “polls” in the noun form means the place where votes are taken; the number of votes cast; the numerical result of the voting. In the verb form, “polls” means to give one’s vote; to take a sampling of attitudes or opinions of. The word choice evoked users’ uncertainty and left them guessing. The app’s ultimate goal was to provide unbiased information so users have certainty and confidence in their decision-making. To build this confidence, users indicated that a 'News' option would be more useful.
Preferred Measure Heading
After recording their voting plan, users returned to their home page where their “preferred measures” were listed. The heading titled “Results” led users to conclude that the election was closed or finalized. Additionally, users wondered if the reported voting data represented votes counted or the voting plan of other app users. As usual, the users had a great recommendation. After clarifying the intended purpose of the data, users recommended we change the heading title to “Status”. This heading best describes the stage or state of the election: in progress or closed.
High Fidelity Prototype
Our team made the changes recommended by the users and created our high-fidelity prototype. We chose a patriotic color scheme synonymous with the American flag: red, white and blue. We maintained the 538 logo that ABC News currently uses. However, we changed its colors.
This project was challenging as its subject matter is very personal and important to American citizens. It is a presidential election year and I feel the tension in conversations and news reports.
The case brief was very dense and we touched on only a fraction of the possibilities.
Reflections
This was a group project for my User Experience Design Intensive. It simulated group design work and encountered both productive and challenging group dynamics. The project brief presented many requirements, endless possibilities and hopeful outcomes. We studied it repeatedly, deliberated and consulted the client to narrow the focus. We honed in on the user’s need for solid, trustworthy, true information. They distrusted previously trustworthy information sources and were suspicious of biased, opinion-based news organizations. We concluded that to honor users’ deep-seated desire to make a good voting choice, our solution must provide users with reliable ways to research ballot measures, record a voting plan, review the voting plan with others and receive results.
Our multi-generational team members were of various races, and genders, and lived in different regions of the USA. These factors enhanced our reach when selecting user interview participants. We sought to learn from all types of voters: young and old, male and female, liberal and conservative, all races and educational backgrounds. We spoke with an attorney, a history professor, an elementary school teacher and a college student. Across all user interviews, voters expressed the same worries, complaints and observations.
To Share or Not to Share
Interviewees revealed they felt afraid to discuss politics outside their most trusted circle. A member of my team was adamant that there be a “share voting plan” option. They believed voters would want to share it with others outside their families. I found the research did not support this option. Our interviewees shared that they kept their plans close to their chests and that voting conversations remained within the home: spouses or children.
My other teammate held a neutral position on the subject. She observed the benefit of voters sharing their plans with others via the app. Conversely, she also recognized the interview data reflected tightlipped political discourse. This prompted curiosity about my thought process. I sought the feedback of a fellow student to determine whether I was missing something or hanging on too tightly to my counterbelief. I presented the data and my design opinion and asked for her feedback. She listened, questioned and concluded that there was an opportunity to develop the share option. She offered that a voter’s most trusted confidant may be outside their familial circle. We discussed how I could view the option from a different perspective. I never want to miss something that could be wonderful.
Perspective Shift: Inquiry Before Advocacy
Recently, I listened to yet another episode of Lenny’s Podcast. Lenny interviewed his former AirBNB boss, Vlad Loktev who provided a great framework for having constructive conversations in the face of disagreement. As summarized by Lenny, inquiry before advocacy is as follows:
“Lead with curiosity and dial down advocacy: When entering a conversation or meeting, start by asking open-ended questions to understand others’ perspectives fully. This approach shows respect for differing opinions and helps you gather important information. Only after you have actively listened and absorbed the other viewpoints should you advocate for your own perspective.”
Our research delineated that political conversations were viewed as inner-circle, family conversations. Our interviewees shared that their conversations were in person. My teammate advocated for the voter whose most trusted circle was not family or local. I advocated for my position more than I sought perspective.
“I've always used inquiry versus advocacy. A lot of people approach a conversation with a point of view and they begin advocating immediately. "We should do this." Or, "No, we should not do this." Me, I always take the opposite approach. I inquire first. I'm going to ask a ton of questions because I fundamentally believe maybe there's something I don't.” Vlad Loktev on Lenny’s Podcast
Opportunity: Drive Return Traffic via Surprise
This project was constrained by time and only a fraction of the opportunities could be examined. One of the desires in the design brief was to increase return traffic to 538. Its origin was in statistics and projections. The data nerds, political junkies and baseball fanatics devoured with joy the ideas put forth by Nate Silver’s blog. Although a projection is nothing but a guess based on hard data, it provides confidence in its likelihood to be correct or true. Truth is what worried Americans crave at this moment. A reintroduction of consumable data would alleviate the anxiety of users.
I propose an article by a surprise guest statistician or expert be posted weekly. The subject matter selected would relate to current events or times of year. See examples below:
Holidays: Christmas Ornaments: Manufactured, Purchased and Trashed
Sports: Olympics Host Countries: What It Takes to Win the Bid
Politics: Fact Checkers: How Do They Do That?
Fashion: Couture versus Fast Fashion: Its Toll on Planet Earth
The draw is the element of surprise. Weekly, a 538 notification announcing the author and subject would be sent to entice the user to open the app. The entertainment value and the new-found knowledge would generate word-of-mouth advertising bringing new and returning users.
I look forward to Lenny’s weekly podcast wondering “Who will the guest be? “What’s his or her expertise?” “What am I going to learn?”. It’s the element of the surprise that drives me back. 538 users who search for concrete, reliable information can take solace in educating themselves on entertaining subjects while building trust in news and information disseminators.