THE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 

Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree 

MASTER OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

on

Monday, November 27, 2023

4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST

Hybrid-College of Design -West Architecture -Room 155

Join Zoom Meeting

https://gatech.zoom.us/j/3871127587?pwd=S1pyU3NDRllFSnZROG9rVVJEemduQT09                                                             Meeting ID: 387 112 7587                                                                           Passcode: 393107

Chaeeun Park

will present a thesis defense entitled,

"Designing an Interactive Experience for Local Elections Information to Increase Civic  Participation Amongst Young Adults"

Advisor:

Dr. EunSook Kwon – Chair and Professor, Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design

Committee:

Florian Vollmer, Lecturer – Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design

Eric Chiu – UX Researcher/Strategist

Faculty and students are invited to attend this presentation. 

Abstract

Americans are uniquely situated in that they have more opportunities than people in other countries to vote due to the combination of municipal, state, and national elections. However out of these elections, local elections suffer from the lowest voter turnout despite the fact that these elections hold major influence in the daily lives of local residents. Paired with this, young, voting-aged adults (aged 18-29) have different frameworks for understanding and engaging with politics from previous generations. This divergence is rooted in their reliance on trusted personal networks in a vast sea of political information as well as their interest in specific social causes as opposed to the mechanisms of traditional political institutions. This study examines how young, voting-aged adults (ages 18-29) are both motivated and demoralized from civic engagement. Through design intervention, it explores how interactive games can help motivate young adults to become more civically engaged in their local elections through demystifying the perceived complex hostility of politics by utilizing roleplaying and gamification, helping young adults learn more about what is happening in their local environment, and fostering a cooperative model of civic engagement based on guided discussion.