DigiPol
Direct democracy mobile app
ROLE
UX/UI Designer, Brand Designer
CLIENT
Flux Party
DELIVERABLES
UX research, UX/UI design
TEAM
Myself
TIMEFRAME
2 months
TOOLS
Figma, Illustrator
Challenging political disengagement with direct democracy
As the UI/UX designer for Digipol, a mobile app by Australia's Flux party, I had the opportunity to create a platform that promotes digital democracy and empowers Australian voters. I worked closely with the Flux party’s team of developers to research the problem space, wireframe, prototype, test and design the UI for their mobile democracy app, bringing their ideas to life on a project with a minimal budget and on a tight campaign timeline.
The problem with politics…
User feedback and data revealed that politics was perceived as dry, complex, and overwhelming, highlighting a clear need for a more approachable political platform. The Flux party's mission was to give voters a voice and demystify politics. The challenge was to transform the often confusing world of politics into an engaging, user-friendly experience that illuminates the issues that resonate with Australian citizens beyond the confines of the election cycle, while also encouraging them to actively participate in the process.
The road to victory
To counter these preconceptions, I designed an intuitive app that simplified political participation. The design included aspirational onboarding slides, clear and concise information, gamification elements, and personalised content filtering and tagging, making the political process more accessible and appealing. The app was envisioned to bridge the gap between citizens and government, enabling users to understand, engage, and vote on bills and issues of their interest through a secure and private process.
A deeper understanding
I navigated through extensive research papers and data on Australian voters' frustrations and motivations. This exploration allowed me a deeper understanding of the current mindset of Australian voters. I also conducted a survey with 15 individuals, which revealed a palpable disillusionment with politics, but also a readiness to get involved if their activities felt impactful. These insights guided the design approach, emphasising the need for a simple and engaging app that gave feedback through a user’s political action and growth.
Key user insights
Voters disengaged from politics because they didn’t feel they could make an impact
Even when voters did engage, the language, complexity, and bureaucracy surrounding parliamentary processes made it very difficult
If voters felt they could make an impact, they would be more engaged
Criteria for success
To design an engaging user interface, understanding the content is paramount. I examined the bills and legislation that would form the core of the DigiPol app. The complexity of this information posed a challenge - how could we present it in an easy-to-understand format? This examination underscored the need for our design to focus on information distillation and filtering, assessing issues like information categorisation, information density, screen real estate, and user engagement.
Develop categorising and sorting systems so users can filter out content of interest
Create a bill hub so users can track the progress of content that interests them
Bill cards need to be quickly scannable, so as to reduce the cognitive load on the user
The app will need an onboarding system to inform and encourage users
App Architecture
Configuring the base app architecture to plot out all necessary pages and elements, and how the user moves through the screens to achieve their goals.
Testing Assumptions
At this stage, I transitioned from theory to practice. I started with lean prototyping, sketching early wireframes, and building preliminary prototypes. This approach allowed us to involve users early in the design process, ensuring the design was aligned with their needs and expectations. This iterative and user-centric design strategy provided us with valuable insights and feedback from users, clients, and developers alike.
Wireframes
Design & Branding
HI-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Onboarding
The onboarding screens were designed to be informative, engaging and inspirational, introducing users to Digipol's innovative concept, while empowering them to participate in a process usually unavailable to them. The onboarding screens blend creativity and functionality seamlessly. The design decisions, from the color palette to the custom illustrations and user-controlled navigation, were all made with a clear understanding of the target audience and the app's brand identity to create an experience that is visually stunning as well as user-centric, informative, and memorable.
Sign in / sign up
The Digipol app prioritises security, while also ensuring that the login process is quick and easy for users. The login screen is designed to be convenient, with a sleek and minimalistic aesthetic. The input fields for the username and password are intuitive, guiding the user's attention. The signup screen maintains visual consistency with the login screen, while themed colours let users know exactly where they are.
Bill hub & bill information
The Bill Hub was designed to assist the user in finding the issues that matter to them the most. Careful consideration was given to which elements to surface to enable quick scanning of topics, updates, and progress through the political houses. The bill details offer key information and opportunities to learn more, and the all-important opportunity for users to voice their opinion through voting on current bills.
Voting on a bill
Voting is a simple and fast process. After casting a vote, users can view the responses of other members of the public. By expressing their opinion, users can initiate a conversation with parliamentarians who might otherwise be unaware of public opinion. This feedback can be used not only for specific bills but also to inform their overall political strategy.