🗓️ 2025
VOTR
A mobile app that increases voter literacy for first and second-generation American citizens.
Summary
Using AI and simple interfaces, we designed Votr so that it breaks down candidates, ballot measures, and election processes into clear, accessible explanations—making voting easier to navigate for communities historically underrepresented in civic participation and empowering them to confidently participate in both national and local elections.
This concept was presented to Google's Head of UX Programs & Operations, Josh Auffret.
VOTR was created by a team of five after being challenged to design an app for a specific audience that leverages systems thinking and AI to encourage voting in national and local elections.
HOW DO WE INCREASE VOTER LITERACY?
Problem
Politics are overly complex and difficult to navigate — especially for individuals with lower political literacy, including many first and second-generation Americans.
Only 66% of eligible voters participated in the 2020 presidential election and just 45% in the 2022 midterms — indicating a persistent lack of civic participation (Pew Research).
U.S. voter turnout remains consistently lower than other established democracies (AP News).
First and second-generation Americans represent ~20% of eligible voters (U.S. Census) — yet are disproportionately impacted by barriers to understanding the voting process.
Role: Product Manager, Experience/Interface Design, User Research
Research
We began by interviewing voters to understand their experiences, frustrations, and barriers with the voting process. From these insights, we synthesized three key personas that guided our decision-making throughout development.
To ensure our solution genuinely addressed these user needs, we prioritized designing an experience that felt simple, intuitive, and effortless to use. Rather than overwhelming users with dense political information, our goal was to break content into tailored, personable, digestible chunks — making learning feel approachable instead of like a chore. We wanted users to feel guided, not lectured — and empowered to build confidence through gradual, easy-to-understand learning
Product
The final product was something simple, highlighting key features that created an intuitive and easy-to-use experience for our audience.
Key Features
Candidate Info: Relevant candidates changes based on the closest upcoming election and user’s area.
Education Modules: Learn about the voting process, how to participate, and its importance.
Localization: Globe icon allows users to change language settings.
Learn
Simplified Explanations: Political concepts simplified by AI in with key points in bold.
Knowledge Checks: Ensure user understands the info and helps AI learn areas of improvement.
Read
Stay Updated: Read about latest propositions and issues in user’s area that will personally affect them, cross-checked by AI for neutrality.
Personalization: AI generated news feed curates and prioritizes content that directly relates to user’s specified interests and demographic.
Articles
Simplified vs Detailed: Offers both quick and comprehensive reading options.
Comparisons: Similar policies in user’s homeland to help with understanding.
Train the AI System: Quick question allows AI to gain insight into user’s interests and causes.
User Profile
Nearby Ballot Boxes: Reduces voting barrier of not knowing where to cast ballot.
Daily Questionnaire: Helps AI provide more articles and info relevant to user’s preferences.
Profile: Edit personal info and interested topics.
Benefits
Make the voting process easier to understand and take the pain of research out of it.
Improve voter efficacy, enabling the user to truly believe their vote will make an impact.
Increase first and second generation citizens’ connection to politics by offering multilingual support on relevant policies and issues.
Reflection
This project really forced me to slow down and think strategy first. Instead of jumping straight into features or solutions, we had to truly understand who we were designing for — how they think, what they struggle with, and what would actually make voting feel less overwhelming and more approachable. Working in a team of five with only two weeks from idea to presenting to Google's Head of UX Programs & Operations, I helped keep us on track and aligned on what mattered most; we had a strict timeline and separated out task, making out time together more meaningful, prepared, and impactful. In the end, this project reminded me that great products don’t start with the tech — they start with people. At the end of the day, I learned that centering the user first will always lead to stronger, more meaningful outcomes.