Newswise — A North Carolina State University training and document design researcher says the 2003 California recall election invites comparisons to a previously controversial Palm Beach County, Fla., presidential election ballot debate dating back to 2000.
Dr. Brad Mehlenbacher, NC State associate professor of training and development and adjunct/associate professor of ergonomics and experimental psychology, drawing on cognitive research on human and visual information processing, suggests that the usability issues plaguing the upcoming Oct. 7 California recall election are almost too difficult to summarize:
*Some California voters will be using punch cards " the very system that undermined the Florida 2000 election results. *The recall ballot will contain approximately 135 names, and the punch-card technology only works with 50 names per ballot page. *The recall ballot consists of two parts: voters first cast a vote for or against the recall, then may cast their vote for a replacement candidate. *Similar to the Florida election scenario, Mehlenbacher says, there's no sign that ballot specialists are following the well-established guidelines of usability researchers. Those guidelines call for user tests of early versions of the California recall ballot; integration of user tests' results into subsequent designs; and then integrating user feedback on initial designs, allowing the feedback to influence design efforts.
Mehlenbacher, who has a doctoral degree in rhetoric and document design from Carnegie Mellon University, has published numerous articles on usability design processes and product design. He is currently working on a book that's focused on the politics of usability design and evaluation, having learned " after many years as a usability consultant and researcher " that usability is generally resisted at the organizational and political level rather than being integrated as a principle for effective design and development for users and consumers
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