Glassbox

Glassbox is a legislation tracking app that provides information and status of legislation moving through Congress. A detailed view of the legislation is also provided if the user wants to read specific parts of the document. In order to keep Bills relevant to users an interest filter provides a quick and easy way to sift out all of the unwanted legislation. In addition social media tools provide a way for users to share information with friends or to reach out to representatives to voice opinions.

Process

Project development began with the gathering and analysis of pre-existing applications that provide the same or similar functionality as Glassbox. Observations about features, shortcomings and interactions were made during brief usage periods for several web applications revolving around legislation tracking, campaign finance and representative voting history. This preliminary observational research in addition to developing a working hypothesis, target user groups and personas laid the groundwork for building a solid informational architecture for the app. This led to creating wireframes and early testing with InVision in order to fine tune user flows and further develop app interaction, interface elements and features. Currently the app is going through a cycle of user feedback using the InVision prototyping tool and focus groups from the target user population.

Analysis

At the start of the project, basic mobile design patterns were implemented in order to add to user knowledge about the product and specific features intended for implementation. The first was an onboarding process starting directly after the user signs up or signs in. Its goal was to inform the user about the features of the app and give an overview of how it can be used. This was eventually replaced with a simple form which prompts the user to enter their hobbies and interests that relate to them. From here the app then catalogs and tracks legislation based on the interests entered and presents only relevant legislation to the user. This complicates the system programming but allows a more straightforward and direct means for users to get value out of the app. Visually the approach from wireframes to the current version has always kept a clean and clear hierarchy of interface elements in order to maximize readability and minimize confusion. Basic blue, white, grey and red colors were added in order to further differentiate elements but unify the design and brand as whole. These colors were chosen because of their symbolism and political importance in the United States while trying to be as politically neutral as possible. The legislation detail page which allows users to read bills is proving to be the most difficult feature to implement given the constraints of a mobile environment. Currently it is under review for elimination or pivoting based on the results of further user testing.

Responsibilities

• Information architecture
• Personas
• Product map
• User flows
• Page layout
• Icon design
• Logo design