EZ-Ballot: Universal Design Voting Application


About

EZ Ballot is a prototype application built for simplifying the voting process. Current voting machines require many voters with visual, cognitive and dexterity limitations to vote with assistance. To answer this problem a ballot app was designed and prototyped that enables people with disabilities to vote without assistance.

Designing a simple multimodal interface

To simplify the experience EZ Ballot breaks down the voting process into a series of simple yes or no questions. The ballot structure works same way for all inputs and outputs regardless of modality. To provide flexibility for people with impairments, EZ Ballot allows inputs through voice, touch and physical buttons and output via visual, auditory and tactile feedback.

Wireframes and Flow Diagram

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Design and Prototype

I was responsible for Information Architecture, Wireframing and Prototyping of the application. The application was built for Windows 8 tablet. Bi-weekly user studies were conducted to evaluate the design. Based on the feedback the workflow and the prototype was modified to improve the design.

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User Testing and Evaluation

The final prototype was tested with 16 participants with vision, cognition and dexterity impairment. The feedback showed considerable increase in usability particularly with users with vision impairment. However few users (without vision impairment) mentioned the voting process seemed lengthy compared to regular voting.