Center for Civic Design

1/ What is usability testing? Usability testing is a tool for learning where people interacting with a design – such as a ballot – encounter frustration, and translating what you see and hear to make a better design that will eliminate those frustrations.

2/ Testing helps ensure that voters can vote the way they intend. Why should you test? When it is easy for voters to use a ballot, they are more likely to vote as they intend. That means fewer lost votes

3/ Put together a ballot, pick an interviewer, find voters, and find a place to watch them use the ballot. What do you need? Take notes. A clipboard can be handy. You probably want an envelope or a folder to hold the ballots (or other materials) from the test sessions.

4/ Test when you know what is going to be on the ballot or when something has changed. (Or when you know there are a lot of candidates in a specific contest.)

5/ Usability testing answers questions about how and why voters will use the ballot. Know why you are conducting a usability test. Usability tests can answer questions like: How easily and successfully do voters mark the ballot? What mistakes do voters make in marking the ballot?

6/ Start testing early with a few voters trying out the first versions of the ballot, one at a time.

7/ Test with what you have available. Test again when you have the final version.

8/ Voters for your usability tests are everywhere. Go to them.