Dana Chisnell

Dana is adjunct professor at the Kennedy School of Government, a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and former consultant to the United States Digital Service, doing user research and civic design across agencies

Dana brings deep experience in civic design, starting with research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) into the use of language in instructions on ballots (with Ginny Redish), and work on standards and testing for poll worker documentation for the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG). She is also an expert in plain language and usability for older adults, including ground-breaking work at AARP that was the basis for several requirements in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

She teaches design in government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and served a 2-year stint as “generalist problem solver” and founding member of the United States Digital Service, doing user research and civic design across agencies. With Whitney, she teaches the first course on Election Design for the University of Minnesota Certificate in Election Administration.

As the editor of the Field Guides To Ensuring Voter Intent, she has taught thousands of election officials how to improve ballots, web sites and other election materials to ensure voter intent. She worked on the Anywhere Ballot, a ballot marking interface tested for accessibility by people with cognitive disabilities and low literacy.

Dana and Jeff Rubin wrote the Handbook of Usability Testing Second Edition (Wiley 2008), the seminal book on the topic.