Informative website, survey and data visualizationCommissioned by: The Undersecretary of Regional Development (Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile)A platform to engage Chilean citizens in discussions about the decentralization process.
Give back to the citizens and make their voice heard
The government often opens participation opportunities, but rarely ever informs the citizens of the results of these instances of participation.
The team had to work in a two part project, first an informative website aiming to engage the citizens in participating in a survey on decentralization topics, and second a data visualization for the results of the survey and qualitative data gathered in the in-person participation instances.
I led the design process of the website and survey experience between April 2023 and July 2023 as the only product designer in the team. The data visualization part of the project is still work in progress.
Along side the dev team, I collaborated with a team of sociologists, public administrators and political scientists who provided content, insight and the requirement details. The marketing graphics were provided by the communications team in the undersecretary, as well as the UI kit in use belongs to digital.gob.cl (no longer available).
Frontend: Rosario Amunátegui, Veronica Caro
Backend: Jaime Hernández
Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
Frontend: J.I, Paul Eaton
Backend: J.I
Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
Most citizens are unaware of how this process shapes their lives or influences the way regional authorities fulfill their responsibilities.
How can we make them complete a survey?
Given the topic and the level of interest expected from our future users, the design had to follow a few principles:
- Ensure that the platform’s message was accessible to a diverse audience.
- Balance informational content with user-friendly design.
- Encourage participation in the survey by making it central to the site.
How these principles reflected on the websiteTransforming awareness
Recognizing that the survey was the primary interaction, we made it the focal point of the homepage. The call-to-action was prominent, with clear instructions and minimal distractions, encouraging users to participate.
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A secondary CTA was added on the more content-heavy parts of the website to encourage users who chose a different path.
The undersecretary team was very excited to put information out there to inform citizens about the process. I took that content and put it in a more legible way, not only to fit devices with smaller screens but to make it more appealing and easier to digest.
I employed a strong visual hierarchy that emphasized the most important details. Key messages were presented upfront, supported by secondary content that users could explore at their own pace.
This approach maintained the richness of information while allowing users to engage with the content on their terms.
How these principles reflected on the surveyGuiding the journey to completion
I focused on creating an experience that felt approachable and manageable for users. The onboarding played a crucial role in setting expectations, explaining the nature of the questions they would encounter and easing any potential apprehension.
After the onboarding, every "next step" was described before the user jumped to it. By offering clarity upfront, I reduced dropout rates and ensured that users felt prepared and confident as they progressed through the survey.
We designed the survey with a clear, structured flow, ensuring that users could easily navigate through the four required questions.
When we needed a long-form answer or asking for their email to send them their answers, I suggested to make these inquiries optional for the user, this flexibility made the survey feel less demanding while maintaining the integrity of the data collected from the required questions.
The impactFrom onboarding to completion
Despite the challenges of engaging users in a complex topic like decentralization, the survey achieved remarkable engagement once users committed.
The onboarding pre-questionnaire effectively set the stage, guiding users through what to expect and establishing trust. This approach ensured that those who continued were highly engaged, leading to near-perfect completion rates in subsequent questions.
97.5%
average completion rate
through the survey.
- People from 14 to over 75 years old were able to complete the survey.
- Every region of the country was represented in the answers covering almost 90% of communes.
- All indigenous peoples and other minorities were represented in the answers.
One very important detail despite the near-perfect engagement throughout the survey, was the fact that users needed their personal digital ID to authenticate, and not everybody has it at hand while using their phones, or devices at work for example. Which made the website lose potential conversions significantly.
This point could have been improved communicationally, since we can't divert from using the official authentication method.
