Designing a Trustworthy Digital Voting Wallet

14/01/2026

The team created a design for an user-friendly digital wallet focused on local digital voting. They emphasised accessibility for users with language and motor skill challenges. They highlighted the importance of trust and simplicity in the voting process, incorporating user feedback to improve clarity and confirmation steps.

About the project

The project aims to create an accessible digital voting wallet catering to users with limited Dutch proficiency and motor disabilities, ensuring inclusivity .

Trust is a core focus, addressed by simplifying language to B1 level, minimizing complex terms, and providing clear, repeated confirmations during voting .

The app design includes multiple login options, but avoids confusing multi-step logins to reduce user frustration .

Visual aids and minimal text were considered to assist users with language difficulties, though fully language-free interaction remains challenging due to the need for trust-building information .

Feedback from usability tests led to removing unnecessary diagrams and percentages that confused users, enhancing overall clarity and confidence in the voting results .

Lessons Learned

Trust is layered and contextual.

The project showed that trust is not only about correct app behavior. It also depends on transparency about data use, a recognizable sender such as the municipality, and consistent communication around the app. When institutional context is missing, users may doubt the system, even if the interface itself is clear.

Simplicity increases accessibility, but has limits.

Lowering the language level to B1 and removing complex diagrams improved understanding and calm. At the same time, it proved difficult to remove text completely. In a sensitive process like voting, explanation remains necessary to build trust.

Confirmation and feedback are crucial in critical interactions.

Multiple confirmation moments, clear feedback, and visual confirmation after voting strongly supported user trust and sense of control.

Freedom versus guidance requires conscious choices.

Offering multiple routes and login moments increases autonomy, but can also create confusion. Test feedback showed that too much freedom can conflict with the need for structure, especially for vulnerable users.

Designing for inclusion goes beyond language choice.

In addition to multilingual support and simple language, questions arose about visual, auditory, and non text based interaction. This shows that inclusion is broader than text alone and requires multimodal design strategies.

The app does not stand alone.

It is easy to loose yourself in the app design only. Whereas, implementation, onboarding outside the app, physical or social context such as events or guidance, and a clear connection to existing structures are essential for trust and adoption to emerge. These should be taken into account too.