MIT/ CALTECH/Carnegie : voting is worth technology

Ted Selker

MIT Media Laboratory

• Analysis and Engineering?

• Computers designed for tabulation and interaction– Paper interfaces better and easier?

– not solve the problem with computers and networks?

• Reference Platform?

• Public Policy in a Digital age:

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Perceptual • Graphical

– View ability

• Color, contrast, size,

– Readability (this is)

• Distinctions, lack of distracters, experience

– Distinguishably (this is not that)

• Precognitive, cognitive,

• Feedback

– Proprioceptive feedback 50ms

– Social feedback 3 seconds

– Emotional feedback 30 + seconds

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Cognitive Interface

• Short term memory 7 +- 2 ( in 2 d)

• Depth of information 2 or three

• The book that I bought with the other books proceeds…

• Recognition is better than Recall (except when the stimulus

is confusing “red” written in blue

• syntactic, semantic

• Cognitive load, bored … overloaded

• Precognitive recognition issues

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Cognitive Styles

• Verbal/ Visual

• Procedural/Conceptual

• Myers Briggs

• Physical, perceptual, psychological, neurological

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Obvious Design problems..• Distinguish ability

– Ambiguity, mislabel– Alignment– Viewable height– Poor audio, labeling on audio (1 …. To select gore 2…. to select Bush )

• Effects– Button association – Button not viewable

• Feedback and Side effects – Action– Undo … action symmetry?– Visual (x not counted)– Completion

• Validation– counted

• Mechanical– Difficult to pull, push, turn grab or reach– Parallax, – Dexterity, accuracy, – Button pressure

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

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Sec.Graphical interface mappings

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Selction Performance: Masked (top) and Unmasked (bottom)

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Seeing it all: visualization

• Perspective and focus

• View ability-vs- procedure that is easy to follow

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

marked

Office: select one with cursor or with touch

Candidate

Candidate

Candidate

Candidate

Perspective:Orient and focus

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Principled voting

• No one is trustworthy

• We make mistakes with unfamiliar things

• Transcription is prone to error

• Transportation is prone to error

• Hard to make decisions without informationTed Selker © 2001, MIT

Eliminate people

• Immediate feedback

• No one person, organization,  or mechanism in charge

• Personal Intentions matter:

• Consider , review and change their vote without coercion

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Reference Platform: Brazil• Electronic voting; 96, 98, 2000

– 96 Unisys 7% failure– 98 Procomp – 2000 Procomp .02% failure 106,000,000 votes

• Trusted Scientific organization – Create requirements

• Trusted Technical organization – Create reference platform

• Companies (5)– Create demonstratable products for bid

• Government election officials – Create open viewing and decision of vendor

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

Public Policy in a Digital age:

• Computational Platforms: Simulations, the rhetoric of the future?

• “Mosaic” of opinion and decision; – Government,

– community,

– school,

– job,

– family,

– recreation,

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

IntentionsLearning by watching

• Typing • Hand motion• Voiceprint• I look around

– Interest Tracker, Invision• Eye aRe Personal gaze

– Looking for a sign?

- Robot seeks work as fuel tank inspector

Ballots:?

done

Orient and Focus

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT

• Mistakes– computer bugs, – electrical,– mechanical, – transcription, – transportation

Behavioral Interface issues

• Goals

• Constraints

• Confidence

• Motivation

• Incentives

Ted Selker © 2001, MIT