key pain points

America has become frighteningly polarized. We see people on the other side of the political aisle as policies above human beings.

Current social media is built to promote social bubbles and echo chambers, the idea of a positive interaction with someone on the other side is incomprehensible, and the act of engaging with said people is daunting.

To reach across the aisle requires emotional energy and patience that is not easy to cultivate in our fast-paced, quick-to-judge world.

target audience

Individuals age 16 to 35 who are active politically and on social media.

methodologies

I read articles from either side of the political aisle to understand the ideologies and language regarding polarization from both perspectives.

I studied literature on how the algorithms social media was built on promote social bubbles and echochambers, as well as on the structure of conversation and argument-development, based in communication and philosophy studies.

I conducted an in-depth survey to learn about how people view those on the other side of the political aisle and the act of engaging with them, and what their motivations and hindrances are. I collected 60+ responses, and the results were very informative.

I spoke with people who both, grew up in social bubbles and in diverse populations, to expand upon learnings from the survey.

I traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, and Phoenix, Arizona to immerse myself in environments, communities, and cultures that are very different than what I have grown up around. I became friends with people who have grown up exposed to ideas very different than my own and whose lifestyles contrast mine drastically, including Mormons and students who grew up in the deep south. My goal was to interact socially with people on the other side of the political aisle. After developing social relationships, I was able to push to deeper conversations about beliefs and values.

To test the usability of the basic features of the app, I put it in front of 15 potential users and received feedback.

I applied that feedback and iterated upon the mockups and then fleshed out the rest of the UI. I then dove into branding and graphics.

My Dev III team developed our initial proof of concept using PHP and SQL. The basic function of our product is fully functional in this prototype.

View site at:
tinyurl.com/ConversationsAcrosstheAisle

We tested our proof of concept with potential users and received feedback for the next iteration.

Based on feedback from the first prototype and additional research, I pivoted the focus of this solution and rebuilt the structure to be a social media app.

I found that before even tackling the lack of productivity of conversations between people of opposing viewpoints, I must tackle the lack of energy people are willing to put into engaging with others in the first place.

I broke down engagement into:

/ exposure
/ social interaction
/ conversation

I conducted further research to learn about what it takes for a person to engage in exposure and social interaction with the other side.

I am currently working on developing the UI for my second prototype.