Dutch Pension Reform Webpages

Overview

Challenge

Design and optimize webpages regarding the Dutch pension reform for 7 pension funds, where we:

Effectively inform participants about the upcoming changes, addressing their specific information needs.
Ensure full compliance with the communication requirements of each of the 7 pension funds.

Constraints

No development capacity, therefore only using existing components
Consistency with the layout of other contentpages.
Both mobile and desktop

Project details

Role
Lead UX designer (incl. project management, research, and stakeholder management)

Team:
2 additional UX designers
4 copywriters
1 corporate communication director,
1 online strategist,
1 online marketeer

Duration
Phase 1: 10 weeks - April to July
Phase 2: 8 weeks - August to October

Stakeholders

ABP, bpfBOUW, SPMS, SPW, Pensioenfonds Schoonmaak, PFAB, PPF APG.
And their estimated 4,5 million participants

TL;DR Summary

- Participants across the 7 pension funds need clear and concise information on how the Dutch pension reform impacts them personally.
- Currently, the overwhelming amount of generic information makes it hard for them to grasp the changes, leaving them feeling uninformed and uncertain about what it means for their future.
- We created concept designs based on the priority of the users, but early in the process, we identified that the copywriting did not align with our research insights and, as a result, failed to meet users' needs. We prioritized addressing this core issue collaboratively.
- Once we clarified the problem, we intensified our collaboration, leading to concept designs that better addressed users' needs, though there remained opportunities for more concise writing and improved progressive disclosure.
- The usability test results showed that while the usability was generally good and the information mostly understandable, the biggest issue was the overwhelming amount of content and the challenge participants faced in finding personal relevance.
- Optimized information architecture based on personal relevance
  We organized information around participants’ needs, making content more accessible while still meeting the communication goals of the pension funds.
- Enhanced relevance, readability, and clarity
  We prioritized progressive disclosure, ensuring essential information is presented first in a personally relevant and understandable way, with more detailed content available in supportive elements like glossaries and accordions.
- Improved usability across all devices
  With a mobile-first approach, we ensured the webpages are easy to use on both mobile and desktop. We incorporated mobile-friendly components, such as compact cards, and refined progressive disclosure for a seamless mobile experience.
- Increased use of (audio)visual media to aid understanding
  We added more illustrations, infographics, and videos to make the information even clearer and more engaging for participants.

Research to problem statement

Research

To uncover participants' informational needs, we teamed up with copywriters and decided to start by reviewing existing research, and then dig deeper with user interviews.

Secondary research

We’ll start by gathering insights from all existing research, reports, and analytics we have on the users' information needs regarding the Dutch pension reform. This includes both internal research and publicly available sources.

User interviews

Equipped with this foundational knowledge, we’ll move on to user interviews. Here, we’ll focus on the questions that still need deeper answers. Specifically, we want to understand:

What specific information do users need, and what challenges do they encounter when trying to find answers? (interview)
How participants would prioritize the content based on their needs (qualitative card sorting).
Their first impressions of the current webpages (20-second test)

Analysis

Subsequently, we analyzed and synthesized all our research observations using thematic analysis and affinity diagramming. (Unfortunately, I had to blur the affinity diagram above).

If we had to summarize all insights to their core, these are the top 5 problems:

Strong need for personal relevant information

Certainty and clarity
regarding their pension

Clear, concrete, and understandable wepages

Preference to be informed by the pension fund or employer

Little knowledge regarding the Dutch pension reform

Problem statement
Participants across the 7 pension funds need clear and concise information on how the Dutch pension reform impacts them personally. Currently, the overwhelming amount of generic information makes it hard for them to grasp the changes, leaving them feeling uninformed and uncertain about what it means for their future.

Concepting, content issues and testing

Ideating and concept designs

We began brainstorming within the technical possibilities to explore ways to address these challenges for participants. From this, we developed concepts aimed at tackling these issues:

A landing page with content organized by user preference
Clear navigation to supporting pages
Interactive elements for supplementary information
More visuals and videos to enhance understanding

But to make a real difference in the user experience, good copywriting is crucial. We need content that’s clear, concise, and speaks directly to the user, so even those unfamiliar with the Dutch pension reform can understand what it means for them.

However…

Project problem

copywriting didn’t align with research insights of our users.

The text arrived later than expected, and when we reviewed it, we found it didn’t address users' challenges—if anything, it made things worse. Despite involving copywriters into our research, the pages were overloaded with text, all using the same heading level (H2), lacking logical flow, and had titles that were hard to scan.

- Too much text
  Participants are put off by lengthy blocks of text and want concise, organized information. Current pages don’t meet this need, presenting everything with the same emphasis, leading to information overload.
- Complexity and repetition
  Participants find the language overly complex, with repetitive points that add confusion.
- Headings don’t support scanning
  Participants look to headings to find relevant information quickly. Currently, these headings don’t make scanning easy, hindering users from locating key information.
- Lack of emphasis on their options
  Participants feel limited in their pension choices and want to understand their options. While these are mentioned, they’re not highlighted enough to be recognized easily.
- No clear summaries
  Participants need a layered, prioritized flow of information. Currently, the content lacks structure, offering neither a clear hierarchy nor a logical story.
- Lack of personal relevance in updates
  Participants want updates that feel directly relevant to them. The current structure doesn’t allow them to find personal information quickly, missing this key need.

How we solved this

To address content challenges, I met with the copywriters to have an open, solution-focused conversation where we could genuinely listen and understand each other’s perspectives. The issue was that the current workflow left them little time to refine content for user-friendliness, as they were consumed with gathering and detailing information.

Here’s what we adjusted:

Delayed research by a week to refine our concepts.
Increased collaboration to ensure content was better aligned with participants' needs, preventing repetitive research findings.
Shifted testing to focus on how well the content meets participants’ and funds’ needs, recommending usability refinements for a later stage.

Testing

We conducted a usability test to determine whether our design solutions align with both user and business needs. To keep both perspectives in focus, we incorporated these goals into our primary research question:

“Are the Dutch pension reform webpages user-friendly, understandable, and informative for our users?”

Core insights:

- Negatives

Information still lacks personal relevance.
Long blocks of text make information hard to read.
Titles are vague or missing, making content hard to scan.
Conflicting information creates confusion for participants.
Information about "How much pension will I get?" is difficult to find but crucial to users.

+ Positives

Participants found navigation fairly easy, though some struggled with returning to previous pages.
Page layouts, including summaries and tables of contents, were appreciated, easily understood, and expected across pages.
Content order mostly aligns well with participant needs.
Progressive disclosure on the landing page is helpful for participants.
Visual media, like illustrations and videos, enhance understanding and could be used more widely.

Results and next steps

Results

We improved our designs based on these valuable insights. It would be a lot to name all the improvements, so we summarized it to a top 4.

Top 4 UX improvements:

1. Optimized information architecture based on personal relevance

We organized information around participants’ needs, making content more accessible while still meeting the communication goals of the pension funds.

2. Enhanced relevance, readability, and clarity

We prioritized progressive disclosure, ensuring essential information is presented first in a personally relevant and understandable way, with more detailed content available in supportive elements like glossaries and accordions.

3. Improved usability across all devices

With a mobile-first approach, we ensured the webpages are easy to use on both mobile and desktop. We incorporated mobile-friendly components, such as compact cards, and refined progressive disclosure for a seamless mobile experience.

4. Increased use of (audio)visual media to aid understanding

We added more illustrations, infographics, and videos to make the information even clearer and more engaging for participants.

Disclaimer: The text in all designs might be different due to constant optimization.

We’re committed to ensuring that the research insights and design solutions are implemented effectively, so participants receive the best possible user experience. To achieve this, we support copywriters and visual designers wherever needed. This collaboration became essential when other stakeholders—despite good intentions—suggested restructuring the pages based on their assumptions of user needs. Thankfully, constructive dialogue helped us align on what was truly best for the user, allowing us to maintain the design’s intended structure.
I presented our project and outcomes to stakeholders from the pension funds, and I was the first UX designer on our team of 11 to do so. I believe maintaining an open dialogue with both the pension funds and other stakeholders is crucial. Listening to their insights and sharing our approach ensures we’re all working toward the best outcomes for our participants.
We collaborated with online marketers and strategists to create a dashboard in Adobe Analytics, allowing them to monitor and refine the user experience through future optimizations. Our research findings, along with the communication goals of the pension funds, served as the foundation for establishing KPIs, which are now tracked in this dashboard.
Many of our website pages contain large blocks of text with minimal progressive disclosure, an issue we've seen negatively impact user experience in this project. Since content plays such a crucial role in user experience, it's essential to address these challenges within both our team and the broader organization.

Next steps

Takeaways

Lessons learned

Make roles, responsibilities and expectations clear from the start
Zooming in and out at every design phase to align expectations
Leaving more wiggle room in the planning for unexpected events

Personally

In addition to honing my UX skills and knowledge, this project taught me valuable lessons in

project management
planning
fostering productive dialogue
managing stakeholders
collaborating effectively
being adaptable