This was presented by John Webb from the Google Civic Innovation Team at the Impacts of Civic Technology Conference (TICTeC2016) in Barcelona on 28th April. You can find out more information about the conference here: https://www.mysociety.org/research/tictec-2016/

1. ENGAGING THE UNENGAGED
Election Tools to Empower Citizens
John Webb, User Experience Researcher
The Impacts of Civic Technology Conference • Barcelona 2016

2. First, what do we mean by civic engagement?
Photo: Teri Tynes, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

3. First, what do we mean by civic engagement?
Photo: Teri Tynes, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

4. • Voting and participation in elections
• Volunteering & associational life
• Signing petitions
• Reporting public problems
• Attending public meetings
• And much more...
First, what do we mean by civic engagement?
Photo: Teri Tynes, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

5. • Voting and participation in elections
First, what do we mean by civic engagement?
Photo: Teri Tynes, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

6. How can elections
drive broader civic
engagement?

7. US citizens aren’t satisfied with democracy
Source: Gallup

8. Trust in Congress is falling
Source: Gallup

9. We are drowning
in information about
our democracy

10. Source: CNN
Personal Attacks

11. The Drama
Source: The Washington Times Source: The Huffington Post

12. The Horse Race
Source: FiveThirtyEight

13. Why is Google involved in Civic Engagement?
Source: Google Trends

14. Civic Information needs are substantial
Source: Google Trends

15. But… what should
Google build and
for whom?

16. Foundational Research: Understanding
Interested Bystanders
http://googlepolitics.blogspot.com/2015/06/
understanding-americas-interested.html
These interviews focused on two broad questions:
● What motivates Americans to do things that are civic?
● How do we engage the unengaged?
IN-PERSON INTERVIEWS
Findings from the interviews drove the creation of a survey
that received over 2000 responses
DIGITAL SURVEYS

17. Interested Bystanders make up nearly half of the
population
Chapman, Krontiris, and Webb (2015), “Profile CBC:
Using Conjoint Analysis for Consumer Profiles”
INTERESTED BYSTANDERS
IN THE UNITED STATES
48.9%

18. Who are Interested Bystanders?
● They are civically aware but not civically active: “I’m not top-level,
but I’m not a zero.”
● They often vote in national elections but not local: “I’m not that bad,
but I’m not a dude who’s going to vote in every election.”
● They are often involved in their local community: “With church, we
went to a women’s homeless shelter and we cooked food.”
● They have low expectations of their own impact: “Even if I do
something, will anything actually change?”
File Pudblically Available: https://goo.gl/jQd1p0

19. Photo: Richard Hooker
Photo: Richard Hooker

20. Common barriers to Civic participation for
Interested Bystanders
TOO BUSY,
NO TIME
DON’T KNOW
WHAT TO DO
I WON’T HAVE
AN IMPACT

21. So what have we learned?
● The biggest product opportunities do not focus on
activists or the apathetic
● We are not the user (if you're reading this, you're not
an Interested Bystander)
● We need to connect to people’s self-interests

22. Primary motivations for Civic participation
PRIOR
EXPERIENCE TO
DRAW UPON
CLEAR
INTERESTS
AT STAKE
SEEKING
EMOTIONAL
FULFILLMENT

23. Putting it all together: Google Civics Team Mission
To increase informed engagement in democracy
among Interested Bystanders
OUR MISSION

24. Putting it all together: Google Civics Team Mission
To increase informed engagement in democracy
among Interested Bystanders
OUR MISSION

25. Putting it all together: Google Civics Team Mission
To increase informed engagement in democracy
among Interested Bystanders
OUR MISSION

26. Key election use cases
● How do I register to vote?
● Who and what is on my ballot?
● What do they stand for?
● When and where do I go to vote?
● Who won the election and how does that affect me?

27. Search features
we have built
to date

28. Common barriers point to product opportunities
We can have an impact by:
● Reducing the activation energy required to participate / helping
people understand the basics of how to participate
● Helping people learn about the candidates, process & issues
● Showing the outcomes and impact of elections

29. Reducing the activation energy
Voter registration Voting reminder

30. Personalized ballot Polling place lookup
Helping people understand how to participate

31. Helping people learn about the candidates & issues
Enhanced candidate info Candidate’s issue stances

32. Helping people learn about the candidates & issues
Candidate stances on issues

33. Helping people learn about campaign fundraising
Campaign finance info Campaign finance info
Data source: OpenSecrets (a project of The Center for Responsive Politics)

34. Showing the outcomes & impact of elections
Interactive results map District level results Real-time UK results

35. Showing the outcomes & impact of elections
Primary results Now cards
Primary results
notification
Caucus results Now cards

36. Showing the outcomes & impact of elections
Democratic results
showing delegate count
National primary results
on Google search
State primary results on
Google search

37. High engagement of civic content on search
Primary election resultsEnhanced candidate info Candidates issue stances

38. Increasing informed
engagement in broader
civic life among
interested bystanders

39. Opportunities
Ahead

40. • Volunteering & associational life
• Signing petitions
• Reporting public problems
• Attending public meetings
• And much more...
Civic engagement is much more than voting & elections
Photo: Teri Tynes, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

41. There are a lot more civic journeys to explore
HOW DO I GET
INVOLVED
IN ISSUES I CARE
ABOUT?
WHAT
IMPACT
DO I HAVE
BY PARTICIPATING?
HOW DO I
FOLLOW
WHAT THE WINNING
CANDIDATES
DO NEXT?

42. www.googlepolitics.blogspot.com
Thank You!
jwebb@google.com