This issue explores the future, where traditional boundaries of interaction are broken, creating a view of design as a larger, more culturally embedded, and ultimately more widely dispersed activity. We hope you enjoy the breadth of these efforts as presented in this issue of interactions.

Click to continue reading "Interactions: Looking Broadly to the Future".

Most designers and usability professionals could take the infamous Palm Beach ballot from the 2000 election, readily identify its weaknesses, and whip up a better version. And most Americans are now well versed in the foibles of "butterfly ballots." So, why didn't the contested presidential election of 2000 result in a redesign of our nation's ballots? Why, eight years later, were most 2008 ballots as confusing as ever?

Jessica Friedman Hewitt is managing director of AIGA Design for Democracy, which demonstrates the value of design by making critical civic interactions more understandable, efficient, and trustworthy. She also runs the initiative's ballot and election design program, helping states, counties, vendors and legislators use AIGA's election design guidelines. Previously, she directed user experience research and design teams in the agency world, provided user interfaces for emerging software solutions at IBM, and cochaired Chicago's SIGCHI chapter.

Click here to continue exploring Jessica's cover story, "Citizen-Centered Design (Slowly) Revolutionizes the Media and Experience of U.S. Elections".