IssueVoter’s Redesign: Meet the Team!
In this 4-part series, we’ve asked the individuals who joined forces to create the new IssueVoter logo and website to share their experience. We’re so grateful for their help and excited to highlight their stories here.
The new site will launch right before the 4th of July in 2022! Stay tuned.
Meet Julia James, IssueVoter’s Volunteer Product Designer
It’s thanks to Julia that we have a new website style that’s on-brand, modern, and intuitive!
Age: 28
Current Location: Brooklyn, NY
1: Tell us about your prior experiences in product design:
I studied Marketing at Indiana University with a minor in Human-Centered Computing (aka UX Design). After graduation I started my career as an Assistant Brand Manager at Whirlpool working on cooking and laundry appliance product launches. Then I transitioned to their eCommerce team where I worked as a UX Designer across several websites including KitchenAir, Whirlpool, Maytag, and JennAir. Although I minored in UX Design, a lot of my technical skills and understanding of design principles came from the time I spent teaching myself during that role.
After three years of working for Whirlpool in Michigan, I moved to New York and got a job at M.M.LaFleur, a women’s workwear startup, where I was working as an Associate Product Manager. In that role I learned a lot about the development process and working with engineers. Unfortunately, I was one of the many people laid off during the pandemic in 2020, but I used this as an opportunity to get back into design. While I was job searching, I worked on several contract website design projects for small businesses. Then in 2021 I found a job as a full-time Product Designer at InfluxData where I currently design developer interfaces.
2: What was your creative process like during this project?
Before reaching out to Maria (IssueVoter’s Founder), I did an initial exploration of the website, looking for areas of opportunity in the user experience. With those things in mind, I talked to Maria and asked her for more information about IssueVoter and any previous user insights to get more familiar with IssueVoter’s needs and users.
Early on, I went through an exercise with the UX design intern, Maria, and Heather, to map out high-level user journeys for different profiles (new users, volunteers, donors, congress people, partners, press, staffers). We answered questions about what the users are doing, thinking, and feeling during different stages of their experience with IssueVoter. This helped us empathize with our wide variety of users and see if there were any gaps in content on the website.
With a better understanding of our users and website content needs, I created an initial site map to determine how we would organize the website and created wireframes for each page. In our weekly meetings, I got feedback from the rest of the team and began to iterate on the designs. I also partnered with Heather on a new design system including new fonts, colors, and website components. Finally, I created high-fidelity mocks for the website.
Overall, it was a very iterative process and I know we’ll continue to make the website experience better as we gather more user feedback.
3: What challenges did you face during this project?
One of the main challenges I faced during this project was balancing work with volunteer time. Since I’m a full-time product designer, it was sometimes difficult to find the energy and time to focus on design work outside of working hours. What helped the most was having a supportive team that kept me accountable. We had a weekly cadence of meetings to review what we had worked on. Also, Maria and I would sometimes have longer co-working sessions where we’d jump on Zoom and work on our own tasks.
4: What was your favorite part?
My favorite part about working on this project was the opportunity to use my design skills for a great cause. I became more aware of and involved with social justice initiatives and civic engagement in 2020. After the election season, I tried to figure out the best way to use my design skills for a greater cause and on a more consistent basis. I knew civic engagement and representative accountability was at the core of a lot of the issues I was passionate about, so when I stumbled upon IssueVoter while doing more research, I knew I wanted to get involved. I’m so glad I reached out to Maria to help out with the website. Working with her, Heather, and Emogene has been great! I really believe our work on the website and brand redesign will help IssueVoter further connect people with the issues they care about most.
What issues do you care about?
Civil Rights, Health, Science and Technology
How do you balance life and civic engagement to live a civically engaged life?
Since getting involved with IssueVoter as a volunteer product designer, I’ve been meeting with the team weekly to work on updates to the website. Setting aside time to meet with the team and work on the designs has allowed me to balance both work and contributions to civic engagement.
Life moves fast, so does the news. How do you stay up to date and engaged with politics? (Besides IssueVoter of course!)
I follow several accounts like ACLU, Vox, political leaders, and social and environmental activists on Instagram and YouTube. I also frequently read The New York Times.
Why did you start using IssueVoter?
During the pandemic and social movements in 2020, I became more invested in learning about issues that I cared about the most. I also saw the opportunity to use my design skills for a great cause.
What is your favorite part of using IssueVoter?
I love that IssueVoter allows people to stay informed and engaged with politics outside of election season.
What is your go-to podcast or newsletter?
Up First by NPR
What is your favorite song about America?
America by Simon and Garfunkel
What is your favorite quote?
“May you always be the one
who notices the little things
that make the light pour
through, and may they always
remind you: There is more to
life and there is more to you.”
— Morgan Harper Nichols
Complete this sentence… “A healthy democracy is…”
inclusive, innovative, and collaborative.
Rapid Fire Questions!
How do you get your news?: Online News or Twitter
Online News
What do you enjoy more: Blogs or Podcasts
Podcasts
Morning News or Nightly News
Morning News
How do you vote?: Absentee/Early or Election Day
Early
IssueVoter Bill Alert or IssueVoter Score Card
Bill Alert
IssueVoter is a non-partisan platform making civic engagement accessible, efficient, and impactful. Stay up to date with legislation and make your voice heard! Sign up for IssueVoter to keep track of Congress from your inbox!
