Overview
A platform that brings together government-supported institutes that assist SMEs in understanding and initiating their digitalization journey. These institutes can publish project ideas and showcase implemented projects in collaboration with partners. SMEs can explore these ideas and apply to collaborate on bringing them to life.
Roles
Usability Analyst UX Researcher Information Architect Interaction Designer UX Designer
The Challenge
With a partially built platform, the user experience needed to match its mission—connecting government-supported institutes and SMEs through intuitive project discovery. But unclear navigation, fragmented content, and a confusing application flow held users back. A redesign was key to creating a seamless, engaging experience.
The Solution
We approached the platform redesign with two core mindsets to shape the user experience. “Clarity”—focused on simplicity, transparency, and ease of navigation. And “Empowerment”—ensuring both SMEs and institutes could confidently interact with the platform through intuitive flows, accessible design, and purposeful functionality.
Uncovering Key Usability Improvements
The UX audit revealed significant navigation and content issues, which made the users unable to easily interact. The results of the audit from a usability perspective served as the basis for a more user-centric and intuitive redesign of the site.
Shedding light on User Needs
Through extensive UX research, we learned the special needs of SMEs, government stakeholders, and institutes. Based on these, the redesign was informed so that the platform operates well for each user group and facilitates easier collaboration.
UI Bringing Clarity, Consistency, and Accessibility
A cohesive design system was developed to unite fonts, color, and components throughout the platform. The new UI enhances visual clarity and is made available to every designer & developer.
Final Design Delivers Clarity
The re-architected web site features clean navigation, consistent UI patterns, and linear user flows. It allows all user groups to consume content in a linear manner, enhancing usability and engagement.
Responsive Design Enhances Access on the Go
The interface is fully responsive and delivers the same high-quality experience across all devices with mobile and tablet responsiveness. From browsing projects to uploading new ones, institutes and SMEs can now easily interact and engage with the platform anywhere, anytime—without compromise.
Improved Usability Drives Engagement
Following the redesign, users experienced improved navigation, quicker access to relevant content, and increased confidence in using the platform. These enhancements have fostered stronger engagement between SMEs and institutes, encouraging more institutes to adopt and actively use the platform.
Faced: Designing Within Constraints
One key challenge was improving a flawed existing platform without starting over. By refining the structure and flows while preserving familiar elements, we learned the power of user-centered iteration and the importance of evolving a system without losing its core intent.