We.Integrate | A government tool
We.Integrate is a project that helps expats in The Netherlands, and eventually Dutch citizens, follow the step-by-step legal process required of them when they move or live in the country.
We.Integrate will aid these expats to fulfil their purpose of stay in The Netherlands with no stress or worry, hence leading to an easier and smoother integration process.
The Context
Expats in The Netherlands come from all over the world, from within the EU and outside of it. The map above shows from which countries the biggest amount of expats or newcomers come from.
There is an interesting project conducted by Rusell Shorto that is a collection of stories about people from different cultures that come to The Netherlands; stories about struggles, purpose of moving and feelings during their stay. It showcases the diversity and openness that the city of Amsterdam welcomes. Check it out here !
People move here for many reasons, mainly for work, study, seek asylum or to stay with a partner. For no matter what reason, and whether the expat is from an EU or Non-EU country, he/she must pass through a legal process in order to fulfil his/her purpose of stay.
There is also a legal process that all the expats need to pass through (whether from the EU or not) in order to fulfill their purpose of stay, and this sometimes is difficult to follow !
Research & Analysis
For this challenge, I had one week to conduct sufficient research to understand the problems that expats face in The Netherlands. I conducted 8 interviews with people from different backgrounds. I also sent out a survey and received 54 responses. I was able to collect a lot of insights on the pain points and needs of the expats.
The most important findings:
67 % of my respondents appear to have difficulties in the legal process when moving to The Netherlands and most of them are from outside the EU.
Out of these expats, 84% come from an Arab country and at their moment of arrival in The Netherlands, most of them have no knowledge of Dutch and more than half are less than fluent in English.
Biggest frustrations of Expats is that Dutch resources are not very accessible and clear when it comes to legal issues.
The User
I will be designing for Leen Ezzedine, 28 years old. She is originally from Egypt and moved to The Netherlands to study Economic Research and was later hired by a company in Den Haag.
What Leen really wants is to be able to finish her legal papers as soon as possible so she can live her life properly and without worry. She also wants to be able to manage on her own without having to always ask people around her for help. In addition, she would like to understand the Dutch Tax System so she can avoid trouble.
→ What happened with Leen is that after being hired for a year in a Dutch company, she got a promotion. She is super happy and grateful for that!
→ A few months later, Leen receives a blue envelope from the Dutch Tax Service (Belastingdienst).
→ She opens the letter and does not understand what she needs to do! She. sees an invoice but is confused: does she owe money or will she receive money from the Tax Service?
→ Leen decides to ask her Dutch colleagues the next day for clarification.
→ She learns that she owes the Tax Service money because she did not inform them of her income status change.
→ Leen is super frustrated that she had to pay alot of money for something she was not aware of !
The Concept
To help Leen, I brainstormed on ideas to develop a product that could facilitate her stay in The Netherlands.
What I concluded is to have a product that:
- Combines all of Leen’s legal information from visa application, taxes, banking, insurance, etc.
- Has a secure login with DigiD which is an existing identity management platform that Dutch residents and citizens use to access their information on legal websites.
- Provides a timeline that keeps Leen on track and inform her about her legal obligations or next steps.
- Is a multilingual product that caters for all the cultures that are gonna access it.
Visual Analysis
Since the product I am designing is a product by the government to its citizens and residents, I started by analysing the visual style of the Dutch Central Government (Rijksoverheid) to get a sense of what elements and colors they use for their platforms.
What I found is that the Dutch Central Government style (Rijkshuisstijl) has a defined number of colors that are associated to different topics or different sub organisations of the government. They also developed their own typeface and their own set of icons that are consistent on all the governmental platforms.
Having this in mind, I decided to keep the style but twist it into a more friendly atmosphere, keeping the color selection but blending them together to represent the diversity and inclusion that the product is designed for.
Because Leen is a native Arabic speaker, it is evident to design the application in both Arabic and English. Eventually, the product will include more language availabilities.
So first, I looked for an Arabic typeface that could match with the existing Rijksoverheid typeface and after a long time of searching and trying, I finally found one that is similar, Almarai. With the typeface and colors selected, I continued on designing all the cards and UI elements for my prototype. In addition, I worked on a new set of symbols and icons.
The Design
Here are some final screens from the design of the English and Arabic flow.
Challenges & Learnings
The hardest thing I faced when designing a bilingual app is having the design work for both languages. At the beginning, I thought of designing the English flow and the start with the Arabic one. I soon realized that languages have different lengths for the same sentences so I changed my process.
I decided to design both flows in parallel to make sure the design fits both.
Eventually, it worked out perfectly !
Want to learn more?
If you’d like to become an expert in UX Design, Design Thinking, UI Design, or another related design topic, then consider to take an online UX course from the Interaction Design Foundation. For example, Design Thinking, Become a UX Designer from Scratch, Conducting Usability Testing or User Research — Methods and Best Practices. Good luck on your learning journey!
For the full design please check my website here.
