VoteWise

Inspiration

Voting can often feel overwhelming, especially with long ballots and minimal information on the candidates. As new voters, we realized that the experience of voting needs to be more user-friendly. VoteWise was born out of this need, aiming to make the voting process clearer and more engaging. With VoteWise, you simply scan your ballot, and the app provides clear, easy-to-understand details on each candidate, helping you vote confidently and feel connected to your representatives.

What it does

VoteWise is designed to make the voting experience more informed and user-friendly. Often, voters make rushed decisions without fully understanding the candidates on their ballot. This app bridges that gap by allowing users to scan their physical ballots, instantly bringing up a detailed profile for each candidate, including their key policies, endorsements, and voting history. Additionally, users can save candidates for later review, making it easy to revisit decisions at a more convenient time. VoteWise turns black-and-white ballot lists into an interactive, informative experience that leaves voters feeling empowered.

How we built it

We used Figma for designing the app interface, ensuring a clean, intuitive user experience that feels modern and accessible. This tool helped us visualize how VoteWise could transform the traditional voting process.

Challenges we ran into

We initially tried to create VoteWise using HTML and Webflow for both the front-end and back-end development. However, we encountered difficulties integrating JSON code and the Google Cloud API for Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which we needed to scan and extract information from the voting forms. When we explored Wix, we attempted to use Velo by Wix to handle the backend functionality, but many of the options we required for API integration were only available in the premium version. Due to these limitations, we decided to shift our focus to the design and prototype phase, ultimately building our visual presentation using Figma. This allowed us to effectively communicate our concept, even though we couldn't fully implement the technical functionality we envisioned.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of creating an intuitive app design that brings a fresh approach to the voting process. Our ability to streamline the candidate research experience into one simple scan is something we’re particularly excited about. This app is a step toward making voting not only more accessible but also more engaging for users.

What we learned

Throughout this process, we learned a lot about user experience design, specifically when it comes to handling complex information in a simplified way. We first researched the downfalls in the current user experience of voters. We learned that many first-time voters don’t feel connected and aren’t well-educated on their local, state, and government candidates. Additionally, we gained insights into the challenges involved in integrating various data sources (such as candidate profiles and policy information) into one user-friendly platform. This project also deepened our understanding of the technical and design requirements needed to build apps aimed at improving civic engagement.

What's next for VoteWise

We plan to implement AI features to enhance the app’s capabilities. With AI-driven candidate recommendations based on users’ preferences and priorities, the app will help voters make decisions that align with their values. Additionally, we want to engage with users through more personalized features—like candidate match quizzes and interactive polling updates—to further enhance the voting experience.

Built With

• figma