Swipe right if you like, left if you don’t.
An app, which works the same way as popular match-making app Tinder, will aim to inform young people about politics and encourage them to vote.
The app will present users with policies and ask them to swipe left or right, depending on whether they agree or not with it. Based on swipes, the most suitable party will be generated.
The app is the brainchild of Hannah Duder, a 22 year-old Canterbury University student, who entered the idea in the Shoulder Tap Campaign.
Shoulder Tap, set up by entrepreneur Derek Handley, has given Duder $10,000 to create the app.
Duder said her friends “who don’t vote” had inspired the idea for the app, which would target 18 to 24-year-olds, more than 40 per cent of which do not vote.
The app was in the planning stage, but would be launched in time for the election in September.
Duder had created apps before and was aware of how difficult it could be, but was encouraged by Handley’s enthusiasm.
In preliminary designs an undecided voter creates a profile with information about age, home ownership and occupation. The app then generates policies that might affect the user.
”The app doesn’t tell you who the policy belongs to, and at the end it generates a suggestion of which party would be best suited to you,” Duder said.
Duder said the profile was vital, as it stopped the app from going through every policy of every party.
”I don’t want a student for example to be asked questions about policies on tax breaks for farmers.”
The app might also include a gaming aspect.
”I’m hoping to have games so you can compete against your friends – something like ‘Whose policy is it anyway’
Duder said the app would also automatically remind users to vote on election day and tell them where to find voting booths.
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– The Press
