IDEA 2010 Discount Code

You could go to the IDEA 2010 conference web site and key in the Konami Code (up up down down left right left right b a) to find out the phrase to enter when you register to get a 10% discount. Or, you could just type in FuzzyBunny in the promo code field.

(By the way, keying in the Konami Code on the web site seems to work in Safari but not in Firefox.) 

See you in Philly! There I'll be doing a break out session with Yoni Knoll about one of the oldest design problems around, voting:


Design Studio for World Peace: Designers affecting change in elections

Did you know our 43rd president was chosen because of a decision made about font size? Yep, in 2000, thousands of voters did not vote as they intended because of the way their ballot was designed.

If you're interested in the voting experience, service design, and world peace, come to our breakout. There, you'll get a chance to redesign a ballot used in a real election, discuss the design constraints, and learn how you can get involved in election design where you live.

Voting: The 233-year-old design problem

Whenever I talk about my involvement in voting and elections, whoever I'm chatting with invariably asks:

1. Why is it so hard to design a good looking ballot that prevents voters from making mistakes?
   
2. Why doesn't the whole country use the same voting system?
   
3. Don't they have UX people working on elections?

Design in elections is a wicked problem. And I think designers will be fascinated with learning what the constraints really are. So, I decided to take it to big audience - South by Southwest Interactive 2011. I need your help to get on the program. Please go to the 'panel picker' and vote for my session.

Just to give you a head start, here's the description:

Do you think the "butterfly ballot" was an isolated problem? How did the hanging chad become a world-class design problem? Did you know our 43rd president was chosen because of a decision made about font size? By someone who was not a trained designer? Did you know that the presidential election in 2000 was not the first - or last - time that design problems affected the outcome of an election? If you're trained in design, interested in fair elections, or looking for a way to affect world peace, come to this panel. This is probably the most important panel in the Free World. And we're not kidding.

Please vote Yes, This rocks! before August 27, 2010. 

[Yes, this is cross-posted to my blog about ballot design and accessibility. Sorry if that was confusing.]