Strategic UX Redesign for Belgian Foreign Affairs: Communication Goals Meet User Needs
The problem
In 2020 the Belgian Foreign Affairs adopted a communication strategy centered on a “digital first” government approach. Their existing website was outdated, not mobile-friendly, and hindered users from finding essential information. My goal was to redesign the website, ensuring strategic alignment with the new communication goals and providing a superior user experience.
Role & Responsibilities
As UX Strategist at iO, I led the project’s UX direction. This included desk research, user research, analysis, information architecture, concept design, prototyping, testing, functional analysis, and stakeholder collaboration to continually advocate for user-centeredness.
Strategic Context
A previous external agency spearheaded the communication strategy, backed by data from stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and top task analysis. Their insights into goals, channels, and key messages served as a foundation for ensuring my UX designs closely supported strategic objectives.
Research & Analysis
To validate the initial problem hypothesis and identify user needs, I employed:
- In-depth interviews & Usability Testing: Revealed user goals, pain points, and task-related behaviors.
- Tree Testing: Quantified how effectively users could navigate existing information architecture.
- Competitive Reviews: Studied successful UX patterns applicable to our government-focused audience.
Raw data was analyzed using affinity mapping, leading to a customer journey map and tree test results presentation, which facilitated productive stakeholder discussions.
![A participant trying to complete one of the tasks during a usability test.](https://www.yakarivandessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/screenshot-participant-user-test-1024x633.png)
![A Customer Journey Map as an alignment diagram to map out the painful journey of a user in each phase when trying to navigate on the as-is Foreign Affairs website.](https://www.yakarivandessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/FOD-BuZa-Task-based-Journey-map-1024x956.png)
Information Architecture & Design
- Content Inventory: I cataloged the vast website content to understand its scope and inform structural decisions.
- Conceptual Information Architecture: Collaborated with stakeholders to draft an IA aligned with both communication goals and user needs.
- Ideal User Flows: Designed frictionless flows focused on the top ten user tasks, covering the majority of site traffic.
- Sketches & Wireframes: Explored layouts and hierarchy, ensuring content duplication across channels was eliminated.
- Medium-Fidelity Prototype: Created for iterative user testing.
![Screenshot of a Miro board. Here you can see an iterative process to align the existing content with the communication strategy and the approach to the top tasks.](https://www.yakarivandessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/screenshot-information-architecture-miro-1024x515.png)
![Screenshot of a Miro board. This shows one of the first drafts of wire flows and ideal user flows to determine architecture and the different page layouts to minimise cognitive effort.](https://www.yakarivandessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/screenshot-wire-flows-1024x761.png)
![A screenshot of the prototype concept’s home page.](https://www.yakarivandessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/screenshot-med-fidelity-prototype-homescreen-1024x638.png)
Testing & Outcomes
Evaluative usability testing confirmed our design solutions significantly improved the user experience:
- Before: Participants could only complete 3 top tasks within 60 minutes, showing high frustration levels.
- After: Participants completed 11 top tasks in the same timeframe, expressing satisfaction.
The redesign successfully implemented the communication strategy and optimized content structure for easier maintenance.
![A participants trying to complete a task on the new concept during one of the iterations.](https://www.yakarivandessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/screenshot-user-test-new-concept-1024x563.png)
Learnings & Next Steps
This project honed my UX strategy skills. To further enhance the website’s alignment with long-term digital objectives, I propose:
- UX Strategy Document: A comprehensive strategy to guide ongoing improvements and align with the overarching digital roadmap.
- Service Prioritization: A roadmap outlining which Foreign Affairs services to prioritize for optimal user experience, supporting the “digital first” mandate.