This document discusses civic design and how to make interactions with government more positive and understandable for citizens. It argues that civic design experiences should be a civil right and involve extreme user experience design considering context, audiences, and policies. The document provides examples of how to design civic experiences through collaboration, writing in plain language, meeting people where they are, and using technology appropriately to support citizens' entire journeys and anticipate barriers. The overall goal is to make interactions with government more clear, meaningful, and even delightful.

1. | 1
Designing our civic life
Can paying taxes be delightful?
Whitney Quesenbery
Center for Civic Design
@whitneyq | @civicdesign
MCE Positive Tech 2017 Warsaw, Poland

2. | 2
What was your last
interaction with
government?

3. | 3
What the experience like?
Did you understand the process?
Did you have a choice?
Was it convenient?
Were you successful?
Was it delightful?

4. | 4
A good civic design experience
(should be) a civil right

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Civic design is extreme UX
Context
Audience
Policy

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The experiences we design for are often
Bureaucratic
Unfamiliar
Rights-oriented
Critical
Finding Empathy for Users: A Plain Language Model – Russ Willerton
http://uxpamagazine.org/finding-empathy-for-users/
Stressful
Context

7. | 7Everyone
Personas from rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/

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Policy
ConstraintsPhoto:

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Elements of civic design
Information
Reach
Experience

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Designing for delight
begins with a balance of
small pleasures and
consideration.
http://www.thedelightfulexperience.com/

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What we expect
Low
High
Whatweget
BadGood
Bad expectations
met
Pleasant surprise
Uh-Oh
High expectations
met

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What can civic designers do?

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Design
with
not for
Bring people into the design process
Engage all kinds of expertise
Invite collaboration
http://elections.itif.org/

14. | 14
Los Angeles and the interactive sample ballot
lavote.net/vsap and elections.itif.org

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Ask different
questions
Be innovative and inclusive
Be responsive to people as well as
devices
Challenge current thinking

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The Anywhere Ballot

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Meet people
where they are
Recruit for behaviors
(the demographics take care of
themselves)
Go into the community
Keep it low key
http://electiontools.org/tool/usability-testing-kit/

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Write for humans
Make information clear
Use presentation to support meaning
Help people avoid errors
Write for action
Make the results of actions clear
Close the civic literacy gaps
Proficient
13% - 28 million
Intermediate
44% - 95 million
Basic
29% - 63 million
Below Basic
14% - 30 million
U.S. National Assessment of Adult

19. | 19
A voter bill of rights in plain language
http://civicdesign.org/showcase/a-voter-bill-of-rights-in-plain-language/

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Information about being a voter

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Information about ballot questions

22. | 22
About paying
those taxes
Can we make it delightful?
Maybe not…but we can
make the interaction and
process better!
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/ATO-app/

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What can civic design do?
• Design with and not for
• Make it clear and meaningful
• Use technology appropriately
• Support the entire journey
• Anticipate and remove barriers
Make the official apps delightful

24. | 24
Democracy
is a
design problem

25. | 25
Whitney Quesenbery
whitneyq@civicdesign.org
@whitneyq
Center for Civic Design
civicdesign.org
@civicdesign
A Web for Everyone
rosenfeldmedia.com/books
@awebforeveryone