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Massey University's Design & Democracy
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User Research
Web Development
Product Design
Umbraco CMS
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When New Zealand had an upcoming referendum on the cannabis law reform, we were engaged by Massey University’s Design & Democracy team to develop an interactive tool to get the conversation started.
There are a range of issues voters needed to consider before deciding how they would vote in the referendum, such as: How should we address cannabis use in young people? How will we ensure the safety of cannabis products?
Alongside Design & Democracy and SHORE & Whariki, we built an online education tool which asks users what they think would be the best way to address eight of the issues surrounding drug reform.
The digital tool, powered by Umbraco Content Management System, provides a platform for users to weigh-up these issues, helping them identify the approach that most aligns with their values, as well as consider how other people feel about cannabis reform.
Working in collaboration with Design & Democracy, we took a mobile-first approach and used front end js framework Vue.js to keep the pages lightweight. We also applied techniques common to online gaming to improve user interaction, meaning the final product appeared less like a survey and more conversational, breaking down barriers and making it more accessible to the target demographic.
Users are posed a series of questions asking them how important particular issues are to them and how they believe these issues are best addressed. With each question, the user is provided with an information panel prompting them to consider the issues and implications.
As the conversation continues users are prompted to think widely about the range of issues involved in drug reform and how these may may be reflected in the law reform.
Users can also drill-down into their results and visually see where their views sit in comparison to other participants.
When it’s our mission statement to Craft Technology that Matters, it’s pretty rewarding to be part of a project which not only gets people to consider their own values but also helps you understand other people’s perspectives.
On the Fence was built with the support of the SHORE & Whariki Research Centre.