Two Countries | Two Votes
— USER ENGAGEMENT
— PROTOTYPING
— PRINT DESIGN
This project relates to voting in New York City. We were tasked with finding and tackling a “How Might We” question. I remember struggling to find a good question and it wasn’t until I decided to add my own voice to the topic that I managed to find an issue that I could relate to and really learn from. I chose to look into the issue of people with dual citizenship, more specifically, Lebanese-Americans residing in New York City.
Through a series of interviews, I learned that there is a general sense of apathy towards voting in NYC among Lebanese-Americans residing here. Many among them have no issue with voting when it comes to Lebanese elections, but fail to vote in US elections. Many were also not aware that they were allowed to vote in both countries. My question therefore became “How might we encourage people with dual citizenship (specifically Lebanese-American people) to overcome their apathy and vote in the NY elections?”
The problem is that there is a lack of Arabic advertising in general in NYC, and even less so when it comes to voting. Arab-Americans aren’t targeted in advertisements, and even though they can (usually) speak both English and Arabic, the interviewees admitted that it would be meaningful to see some ads in Arabic as it would make them feel more included.
Therefore, I created a campaign that combines multiple outlets in order to better target the Lebanese-American population in NYC.
The posters are altering existing AIGA posters so as to include the Arabic language and the Lebanese culture. The first alteration replaces the characters with Arabic ones. The second alteration adds a second check mark using the Lebanese flag. The third alteration adds a second hand holding up an “I Voted” sticker and also includes the Arabic language. These posters aim to encourage Lebanese-Americans who only participate in the Lebanese elections to be more engaged in the US elections.
The T-shirts serve as another potential engagement strategy, while the flyers encourage people to vote in order to receive a discount on their meal (available at a select number of Lebanese restaurants in the city).
For this first round of testing, I aimed to put my prototypes in action. A few days before the NYC General Election, I contacted 15 restaurants and the Lebanese American University to see if they would be willing to help. Out of those 15 restaurants, 4 let me put up posters, and only one was open to the discount idea.The Lebanese American University was also unable to participate.
Therefore, for the second iteration, I created a website called “Two Countries Two Votes” in order to have an online presence. The website includes information on the campaign and the issue I am trying to tackle, but most importantly, it allows users to sign up in order to receive voter alerts. I also created more branded promotional items such as tote bags, buttons, coasters, and wristbands.
In the end, 26 people had signed up to receive voter alerts through the website. They were also encouraged to share this within their professional and/or social networks to expand the reach even further. An ambassador for SEAL (Social & Economic Action for Lebanon) was interested in the idea and is considering it for the near future. People also seemed to enjoy the promotional items and have asked me for more.
This process had many struggles. I did not expect to be turned down so much by Lebanese restaurants or even the Lebanese American University. I believe that if these managers were approached by an official organization and if they were given more advance notice, they would have potentially agreed to be more involved.