August 7, 2014
Young voters to get off the fence with online tool
On the Fence is an online interactive tool that Massey’s Design and Democracy Project hope will encourage young New
Zealanders to get off the fence and join in the decision-making by casting a vote in the general election.
The Design and Democracy Project, led by School of Design lecturer Karl Kane, is a strategic research unit established
by the College of Creative Arts to increase awareness of election issues among young people.
Using the backdrop of sheep down on the farm – a play on the notion that people are sheep and follow their friends – the
web-based On the Fence asks users to indicate how much they agree with the two statements that relate to policy issues
of the day. A best match is then calculated to narrow down the options to present the parties most compatible to their
views.
The matches are generated via a specially-built back end database or web tool that compiles data from an independent
panel of specialists that includes political scientists, journalists and bloggers. The onthefence.co.nz site was
originally launched in 2011, just six days before the election and proved popular attracting more than 30,000 individual
visitors from all over the world.
A tutor at the School of Design and researcher for the Design and Democracy Project, Kieran Stowers, says the fun quirky
narrative emphasises that political jargon is often difficult for young people to understand and aims to demystify that
process. “It’s about making politics fun,” he says.
The web tool is built to guide the large number of inexperienced voters that feel peer pressured when voting, either
going along with what their friends and family think or making no decision at all.
“The tool doesn’t tell a user how to vote or specifically who to vote for, but it points them in the right direction to
find out for themselves what politics is all about. So it’s about putting trainer wheels on the future for young
people,” Mr Stowers says.
“Voting shouldn’t be seen as a chore, voting is a way of expressing yourself as an individual and we wanted to help
people find their voice.”
On the Fence goes live on Friday.
ENDS