Person

Whitney Quesenbery

Nationality:

American

Organization:

Center for Civic Design

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 Whitney Quesenbery is the co-founder and co-director of the Center for Civic Design and a user experience (UX) professional. She has advocated for reforming American voting systems to improve UX design and improve accessibility, particularly for less-educated voters.

Career

After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature from a liberal arts college, Whitney Quesenbery began her career as a lighting designer for off-Broadway theater productions. Quesenbery first used a computer while working at the Apollo Theater in New York City. She switched career tracks to work in hypertext as a “usability engineering” where she wrote technical manuals and developed an interest in user experience. Her clients included HP 1 2 3 and AT&T. 4

In 2000, Quesenbery was appointed president of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UXPA) and to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, where she wrote the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) and worked on the Section 508 accessibility requirements refresh for the U.S. Access Board. Quesenbery called the controversial “butterfly ballots” used in Florida during the 2000 election a “UX tragedy.” 5 6

Soon after, the Future of California Elections, a project of the James Irvine Foundation, called for proposals to reform the California voting system. Quesenbery and numerous associates inquired about submitting a proposal but were told they needed to be part of an organization. This prompted the formation of the Center for Civic Design (CCD) in 2013. Quesenbery has worked as co-director of the group since its founding. 7

Under Quesenbery, the CCD has consulted public election bodies and government agencies in designing voting systems. Her most prominent work has included helping New York City educate the public on its new ranked-choice voting system in 2021, and working with the League of Women Voters on creating a simpler voter registration process in California. 8 9

Quesenbery taught theater lighting design for a few years at Bard College. 10

Quesenbery is the coordinator for the Accessible Voting Technology Initiative. 11

Quesenbery helped design the Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent funded by the MacArthur Foundation. 12

Quesenbery sits on the boards of the Center for Tech and Civic Life, Los Angeles County’s Voting Systems for All People, Voting Works, the Center for Plain Language, and the Participatory Budgeting Project. 13 14

Quesenbery is a fellow at the Society for Technical Communication. 15

Criticisms of Voting Systems

Whitney Quesenbery co-founded the Center for Civic Design to improve the user experiencedesign of the election system. She claims that the current system is designed for the “highly educated, highly literate, able population of frequent voters.” Allegedly, 20 to 50 percent of the population faces problems deciphering the voting system due to “failing eyesight,” disabilities, and racism. One of the largest issues facing voters is complex language on ballots, particularly for voters with “low literacy.” 16 17

Quesenbery is the co-author of Better Ballots and Better Design: Better Elections for the William J. Brennan Center for Justice. The reports claimed that low-income voters often selected the wrong candidate and ballot measure due to confusing design issues. These poor layouts are blamed for sometimes determining critical elections. 18 19

Quesenbery supports making Election Day on Saturday to promote easier voting access. 20

Political Donations

Whitney Quesenbery donated $200 to President Barack Obama’s (D) reelection campaign and $250 to the unsuccessful Congressional campaign of Laura Fjeld (D-NC) in 2013. 21

References

  1. “Whitney Quesenbery on Voter Experience and Civic Design.” Experience Design. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.experiencexdesign.com/archives/whitney-quesenbery-on-voter-experience-and-civic-design.
  2. “Whitney Quesenbery.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneyq.
  3. “About Whitney.” WQusability. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.wqusability.com/biography.html.
  4. “Whitney Quesenery.” Columbian Myths and Legends. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://colombianmythsandlegends.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/8/3/12838633/3-s2.0-b9780125662512500101-main.pdf.
  5. “Whitney Quesenbery.” ITIF. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://itif.org/person/whitney-quesenbery/.
  6. “Whitney Quesenbery on Voter Experience and Civic Design.” Experience Design. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.experiencexdesign.com/archives/whitney-quesenbery-on-voter-experience-and-civic-design.
  7. “Whitney Quesenbery on Voter Experience and Civic Design.” Experience Design. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.experiencexdesign.com/archives/whitney-quesenbery-on-voter-experience-and-civic-design.
  8. “Creating an Accessible Voter Experience.” Electo Analytics. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://electoanalytics.com/resources-nuance/ballot-design-whitney-quesenbery/.
  9. “Secretary of State Alex Padilla Releases Redesigned Voter Registration Card.” California Secretary of State. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/news-releases-and-advisories/2018-news-releases-and-advisories/secretary-state-alex-padilla-releases-redesigned-voter-registration-card.
  10. [1] “About Whitney.” WQusability. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.wqusability.com/biography.html.
  11. “Better Design, Better Elections.” Usability In Civic Life. Accessed January 11, 2023. http://www.usabilityinciviclife.org/bibliography/better-design-better-elections/.
  12. “Whitney Quesenbery.” ITIF. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://itif.org/person/whitney-quesenbery/.
  13. “Whitney Quesenbery.” Center for Civic Design. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://civicdesign.org/about/our-team/whitney-quesenbery/.
  14. “About Whitney.” WQusability. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.wqusability.com/biography.html.
  15. “About Whitney.” WQusability. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.wqusability.com/biography.html
  16. “Creating an Accessible Voter Experience.” Electo Analytics. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://electoanalytics.com/resources-nuance/ballot-design-whitney-quesenbery/.
  17. “Accessible Elections, with Whitney Quesenbery & the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition.” University of Colorado Boulder. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.colorado.edu/center/demtech/accessible-elections-whitney-quesenbery-colorado-cross-disability-coalition-0.
  18. “Better Design, Better Elections.” Usability In Civic Life. Accessed January 11, 2023. http://www.usabilityinciviclife.org/bibliography/better-design-better-elections/.
  19. “Whitney Quesenbery.” ITIF. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://itif.org/person/whitney-quesenbery/.
  20. “Universal Voting: Your questions, our answers.” Brookings Institute. August 6, 2020. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/08/06/universal-voting-your-questions-our-answers/.
  21. “Search Open Secrets: Whitney Quesenbery.” Open Secrets. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=Whitney+Quesenbery&type=donors.
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