Bethany Hunter | UX Portfolio - Work: VOTE411.org

Project Overview

The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) sought to revitalize VOTE411.org, their "one-stop-shop" for election-related information, to better serve voters at local, state, and federal levels. The project aimed to improve the voter experience by offering personalized, digital voter ballots and facilitating user interaction through forums and discussions.

I worked with the League and my teams at LookThink and Whereoware over the course of 5+ years in a few different capacities.

My Contributions

As UX Director (2019-2020), I supported business development efforts, developed prototypes for the White Label Voter Guide Tool, and mentored the UX team on the VOTE411.org Drupal website redesign. As Operations & Delivery Director (2020-2022), I oversaw the VOTE411 account, managed re-contracting, and ensured timely project delivery. As Strategic Engagement Lead (2023-2024), I created a two-year strategic roadmap, collaborated on data initiatives, and established a user testing and analytics cadence to drive product enhancements.

Super Tuesday 2024 Success

Ultimately the revamped VOTE411.org platform and VoterGuide application contributed to a significant increase in user engagement during the 2024 Super Tuesday elections (as compared to the last presidential election season):

Total Users up 67% and New Users up 75% from 2020

This data provides LWV with valuable insights for future platform improvements, both in front-end UX and back-end technical architecture & performance.

The Challenge

VOTE411.org's outdated website was not user-friendly, lacked mobile optimization, and was cumbersome for admins to update. A complete redesign, strategic vision, and website migration were required to enhance the experience for millions of users during election seasons while simplifying website management for volunteers and admins.

Solutions

VOTE411.org Ballot Redesign

Personalized Ballot Information to Educate and Inspire Voters

The new VOTE411.org website was rebranded, redesigned, mobile-optimized, and migrated.
Users can input their addresses to receive personalized voting information via a dynamic and intuitive voting ballot powered by a custom API.
Features include:
Viewing what's on their ballot.
Checking voter registration and polling place locations.
Discovering upcoming debates and community engagements.
Comparing candidate information side-by-side and contacting candidates directly.
Saving and accessing personal ballot information with ease.
Custom filters for language preferences and political party groupings.

Designing Robust User Experiences for Executives, Admins, and Volunteers

A user-friendly admin portal was developed, allowing volunteers to update ballot information efficiently.
Replacing the personalized voter ballot iframe with a custom API provided VOTE411 executives with improved analytics on website performance, email campaigns, visitor bounce rates, and usage.

GuideAdmin Redesign

My Contribution Details

UX Lead & Director (2019-2020):

Supported business development efforts to secure LWVEF as a client.
Developed prototypes for the white label version of the Voter Guide tool.
Mentored and oversaw the UX design team working on the VOTE411.org Drupal website and VoterGuide Application redesigns.

Operations & Delivery Director (2020-2022):

Mentored and oversaw the Project Strategist managing the VOTE411 account.
Managed re-contracting processes with the League.
Ensured on-time, on-budget project delivery, meeting all milestones.

Strategic Engagement Lead (2023-2024):

Created a two-year outcomes-based strategic roadmap, doubling the size of our largest contract with the League.
Refined the strategic roadmap into actionable work streams for the internal team and project manager.
Worked with the Data & Analytics team to create a LookerStudio Dashboard for LWV Media Partners, enabling them to understand the impact and value of their partnerships.
Collaborated with the Lead Developer to establish measurable application performance goals, ensuring system readiness for election season traffic.
Set up a cadence of User Testing and Analytics analysis with the UX Designer and Data Strategist to generate insights for product enhancements.

Roadmap for Democracy