Make Your Mark

Design Project III, 10 Weeks

Strategies For A Visual Communication System

MAXIMISING VOTER TURNOUT IN URBAN AREAS Project Guide: Tarun Deep Girdher Student Details: Pallavi Jain

M.Des ‘15, Graphic Design Semester 4 National Institute of Design JURY ----

MAY 2 017

CONTENTS Proposal Design Brief Preliminary Research Design Brief Update Primary & Secondary Research Design Brief Update Design Solution - Communication Strategy 1. Conceptualization 2. Prototyping Conclusion

PROJECT PROPOSAL PROJECT PROPOSAL

INTRODUCTION Voting in a democratic country is a right, and also a privelege that is relatively young. It gives citizens the opportunity to vote on important issues and elect their politicy makers and representatives. However, it has been observed that voter turnout remains to be quite low and a lot of it is because of voters’ apathy. Voter apathy has been compared with a sort of political depression, where one feels helpless and unable to influence important events. In India, urban areas witness lower turnout than rural areas, reinforcing the thought that it is voters’ apathy that is responsible for low participation of citizens in the democratic process.

NEED FOR DESIGN INTERVENTION When such low numbers of people vote, only a small percentage of the population participates in deciding on issues that represent the country in its entirety. It is therefore a serious issue and calls for immediate attention. Despite efforts to educate and aware the citizens about the need and significance of their participation in this democratic process, very little has changed. Hence, a crucial but similar need aises, time and again, to motivate the people to exercise their right for every election.

OBJECTIVE To identify the various factors that influence urban Indian citizens to vote and more importantly, to not vote. To find causes low voter turnout and voters’ apathy, and devise effective communication strategies that motivate them to vote.

week 1

2

3

4

STAGE I Problem Identification

P reliminar y Research & Defining of P roject Brief

STAGE II

Research, Data Collection & Data Analysis; Refining of P roject Brief

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6

STAGE III Study the Target Group, Explorations + Validation

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8 STAGE IV

Validation & refinement

SCOPE OF WORK The project will focus on the urban population of a few cities that usually have low voter turnout. It will involve exploration, experimentation and validation of various visual methods to arrive at a method that will be more effective than the existing attempts, to increase voter turnout.

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10

STAGE V

Compilation & Documentation

PROJECT PROPOSAL PROJECT PROPOSAL

INTRODUCTION Voting in a democratic country is a right, and also a privelege that is Voting is a right and a privilege relatively young. It gives citizens the opportunity to vote on important issues and elect their politicy makers and representatives. However, it has been observed that voter turnout remains to be quite low and a lot Low participation, especially in urban areas of it is because of voters’ apathy. Voter apathy has been compared with a sort of political depression, where one feels helpless and unable to influence important events. In India, urban areas witness lower turnout than ruralimportant areas, reinforcing the thought that it is voters’ apathy that is Most cause : VOTER APATHY responsible for low participation of citizens in the democratic process.

NEED FOR DESIGN INTERVENTION When such low numbers of people vote, only a small percentage of the Low participation = inadequate representation population participates in deciding on issues that represent the country in its entirety. It is therefore a serious issue and calls for immediate

Attempts to educate/aware proven insufficient attention. Despite efforts to educate and aware the citizens about the

week

1

2

3

4 4

P reliminar y Research & Defining of P roject Brief

STAGE II

Research, Data Collection & Data Analysis; Refining of P roject Brief

5

need and significance of their participation in this democratic process, Crucial need to Hence, motivate allaises, cities very little has changed. a crucialcitizens but similarin need time and again, to motivate the people to exercise their right for every election.

6

OBJECTIVE

7

To identify the various factors that influence urban Indian citizens to vote and more importantly, not vote.

To find causes low voter turnout Identifying factors tothat cause voters’ apathy & and voters’ apathy, and devise effective communication strategies that devise strategies for motivating urban citizens motivate them to vote.

STAGE I Problem Identification

STAGE III Study the Target Group, Explorations + Validation

8 STAGE IV

Validation & refinement

SCOPE OF WORK

9

The project will focus on the urban population of a few cities that usually Focus on a couple of cities have low voter turnout. It will involve exploration, experimentation and validation of various visual methods to arrive at a method that will be Exploration, experimentation & validation of more effective than the existing attempts, to increase voter turnout. various strategies

10

STAGE V

Compilation & Documentation

DESIGN BRIEF

Make the Urban Voters Realise the importance of their Vote It is time to realise the true potential of the power of voting by every section of the society - the rich and poor, literate and illiterate, young and old

Preliminary Research

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

VOTER TURNOUT 2014 Lok Sabha Elections

Source: indiavotes.com

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

THE PROBLEM ▸ ~2/3rd of people living in urban cities don’t vote ▸ Not casting your vote does not seem to cause any immediate or visible harm, its long-term latent consequences are casually ignored ▸ A large number of people do not vote because they've become apathetic towards the democratic process ▸ Low voter turnout means incorrect/unfair representation of the people

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH EXCERPT SOURCES: DNAINDIA.COM, DECCANCHRONICLE.COM

WHY LOW VOTER TURN OUT IN CITIES? ▸ Very poor turnout amongst the poorer (and not middle class) section of voters is the primary reason; because of • Non-possession of identity proof amongst large sections • their inability to obtain paid leave on voting day ▸ Apathy of the urban middle class & upper middle class • Think their vote will not make any difference in their life • Name missing from the voting list

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH SOURCE: STUDY.COM

VOTER APATHY ▸ A sort of political depression, where one feels helpless and unable to influence important events ▸ Abundant availability of information online, provided by the government and also other sources ▸ People don't care - disenchanted, inactive ▸ general lack of agency - sense of control

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH SURVEY : RAMBHAU MHALGI PRABODHINI, A MUMBAI-BASED ORGANISATION

WHY DON’T PEOPLE VOTE ?

1

Other

other 16 reasons viz. laziness, heat, personal work, etc

mismanagement of the electoral rolls

3-18

2

LACK OF MOTIVATION

lost faith in the political parties

GENERAL OPINION voting system should be made more voter-friendly

(most aged >55 yrs)

Apathy

Sample size: Total 5000 (Mumbai, Thane - 3000, Pune - 2000)

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

REASONS FOR LOW VOTER TURNOUT

People who CAN’T vote

Logistical issues

Procedures not so voter friendly

People who DON’T vote

Lack of political awareness

Lack of motivation to vote

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

DEMOGRAPHICS ▸ Around 50% of India’s population is under 25 (census 2011), making the youth vote a formidable force in the future ‣ Changing Patterns of Women’s Turnout in Indian Elections - Sanjay Kumar, Pranav Gupta : studies how greater interest in politics and relatively higher participation in campaign activities by women in recent elections are possibly related to the increased turnout.

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

ANALYSIS OF EXISTING INITIATIVES ▸ OBD (operation black dot) is being considered as a very successful initiative GAP: but they only focused on the youth, visuals were outsourced to an ad agency by the SEC. They hadn't developed content for the posters themselves. ▸ Free a billion asked people to vote NOTA GAP: NOTA is a game changer and it is not the aim of this project to motivate by influencing people in any manner ▸ Many websites/articles contain data that is incomplete or biased ▸ There is extensive work done to make it convenient for people to educate themselves. But people lack motivation to take initiative to access it.

DESIGN BRIEF UPDATE

To create a cost effective communication strategy to motivate (by engaging and inciting to participate in democratic process) the young urban middle class population to vote, and trigger a sustainable increase voter turnout.

Research + Analysis

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

WHY SHOULD PEOPLE VOTE?

Bring Accountability

+

Trigger Change

= Healthier Democracy

+

Better Representation

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

WHY PEOPLE DON’T VOTE

Apathy

Lack Of Political Education Or Awareness

Communities Becoming More Anti Social People Becoming More Self Interested

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

WHY PEOPLE VOTE Influencing Factors

Guilt Civic Duty

Behaviour

Altruism

Level Change

Social Pressure / Behaviour Pride Egocentrism Aspirational Value - based on numerous research papers from USA and India

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

WHEN? Analysis of Most Effective

TIME

for Implementation

ELECTIONS

1m

4m

1y

Gap

2-3y

General Awareness • GOTV campaigns • numerous initiatives • lesser impact*

• TO ELIGIBLE VOTERS (ages 18+) allows time to take action, eg. keep voter ID ready before voting • TO SCHOOL STUDENTS (ages 12-17)

* - Swaraj Shetty, CIO, Operation Black Dot

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

WHO? Analysis of Most Effective

AGE

for Implementation

<15 years

15-18 years

build a strong civic sense

18-24 years

• engage • educate • facilitate • motivate

25-35 years

35+ years

+ target women voters

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

At School Level WHY? <15 years

15-18 years

• mock polling

• student union elections

• school elections (for head

• debates / discussions of

• civics education - to include

• social movements

boy/girl positions)

importance of voting

• games/activities

regional & national politics

• 1 vote would really matter • build faith in the democratic system • engage the future voters

RISK • Apathy would creep in once the system becomes more complicated

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

For First Time Voters WHY? 18-24 years

24-35 years

• Can execute their vote • Benefit of other campaigns • Guilt, Social Pressure, etc

• make voting easy using tech tools facilitation and education

• make voting “cool” - exploiting

social behaviour and guilt factor

• Whatsapp reached more people than facebook

- Interviews of people behind Operation Black Dot

• Haven’t become cynical about the system yet RISK • More difficulte to develop a habit of voting

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

Key Points

• Implementation at the general level (2-3 years) • Targeting young voters • Lack of education seems to be the root cause of apathy • Simplification of information processing might be very helpful • Make it more social • Use personalised communication methods

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

HOW? (studying existing initiatives) EXISTING Analysis of Most Effective INITIATIVES WAYS

for Implementation

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

Impact

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

Study of ‘Get Out The Vote’ Campaigns The more personal the interaction between campaign and potential voter, the more it raises a person’s chances of voting.

But, the more personal the interaction, the harder it is to reproduce on a large scale.

GOTV is often most effective when potential voters are told to do so “because others will ask”

- based on research excerpts from “Why Voter Mobilization Matters”, www.brookings.edu, studied in the USA; “Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout”, Donald Green

• Voting is habit-forming • Impact of GOTV campaigns more effective when communication more personal • Social pressure/guilt most effective

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

Top 13 AIGA Get Out The Vote Campaign Posters

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

Opportunity Mapping

GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN BIG CHANGES WILL HAPPEN not because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re normal and they are right They will happen when the politicians in office realise that there is vested interest in such change and incidentally, there will be BENEFIT TO THE NATION

Jay Prakash Narayan

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS - Opportunity Mapping

1. Align groups of people with similar interests and make group specific solutions • Converting one vote into a group of votes. Then their votes would have power to change • Giving the people a “purpose” and their concerns get addressed • Communication will be focused on a new kind of “vote bank” - one that promotes nation building and is development oriented • Providing a platform for healthy political discussions and education • Promoting formation of special interest groups that meet/discuss (maybe even virtually).

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS - Opportunity Mapping

‘Special Interest Groups’ • family units • units of educated professionals • industrial bodies • NGOs

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS - Opportunity Mapping

2. A campaign that points at issues the public faces on a daily basis and highlighting their own responsibilty for not voting, or nudging them to vote next time.

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS - Opportunity Mapping

3. A mandatory vote related question in selected government and organisational forms.

• A well designed and placed “did you vote? yes/no“ question in say a bank account opening form or a job application form.

• Triggering thought/discussion/fear/guilt about not voting.

• Targeting people when you already have their attention.

But, how can we bring real change in the society?

Can we change peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deep rooted mindset?

How can this change be sustainable?

How can our efforts be most effective?

What is the core problem?

How can we nip the problem in the bud?

By getting small children accustomed to spiritedly copying the teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; words, teachers undermine the democratic ideal of individual freedom and equality...

Prof. Krishna Kumar Delhi University; Former Director of NCERT

Need for Design Brief Update

Revising the Target Age Group

<15 years

build a strong civic sense

15-18 years

Results Slow but Sure Addresses Root Cause Behavioural Changes Sustainable Solution

18-24 years

25-35 years

35+ years

Design Brief Update

Building a mini ecosystem in schools that triggers behavioral changes in children for making them better citizens, by reinforcing democratic ideals at different levels, focusing on the act of voting.

Design Solution Communication Strategy

Communication Strategy

1. Conceptualising Retaining their PERSONAL IDENTITY during the teaching-learning process and in classroom relationships matters to children Inculcate SKILLS, PRINCIPLES and VALUES of good citizenship School children can become champions who will help percolation of communication to their immediate society Hands on learning in Civics by building a mini ecosystem that fosters ‘civics temper’ • Reforms in Civics Education • Democratic and Civic Values in other Subjects • Reforms in School Culture - both teaching and non teaching

Communication Strategy - Conceptualising

Defining Strategy & Key Touch Points 5

Class/Grade

6

7

8

School Elections Cartoons Newspaper Comics Mock Parliament Novels School Debates Competitions TV serials Social Media Civics Education Movie Screening

9

10

Communication Strategy - Conceptualising

Creating Visuals

Communication Strategy

2. Prototyping

Communication Strategy - Prototyping

Communication Strategy - Prototyping

Communication Strategy - Prototyping

Thank You