That way, we don't assume that what is obvious to designers is also obvious to other people who have a different background and set of expectations. In addition, prototype ballot designs would be evaluated empirically. That way, we can find out which design alternatives really are easier for citizens to use. Cognitive engineers would also use proven design principles such as providing voters with immediate feedback that they can use to detect and recover from inevitable mistakes. Based on the experience of other industries where such design principles have been applied, we can predict a tremendous reduction in the numbers of mistaken and nullified ballots.
Democracy deserves better.
Perhaps, some day, all ballots will be designed from a cognitive engineering perspective, making voting errors of the type observed in Palm Beach County less likely. By doing so, we could help engineer a democratic process that functions as it was intended. Professor Kim Vicente is the founder and director of the cognitive engineering laboratory in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering. Contributing to this article were graduate students Ren e Chow, Pierre Duez, John Hajdukiewicz and Greg Jamieson.