We partnered with a national judicial organisation to evaluate and improve their website aimed at young people aged 12 to 18. The goal was to gain deep qualitative insights into how this group experiences the platform. Our client needed actionable advice for transforming their platform into a more accessible, educational, and user-friendly resource for all youth in the Netherlands on speaking justice.
Co-creating with the target audience
To truly understand the user experience, we conducted a series of online qualitative research study sessions with 24 teenagers from diverse backgrounds. Our methodology was split into three distinct phases. First, we hosted online focus groups using digital whiteboards to gauge initial impressions of the website’s branding and content. Second, we conducted one-on-one in-depth interviews where participants navigated the mobile site using realistic scenarios, allowing us to observe their search behaviors and identify specific pain points. Finally, we held co-creative sessions with users to collaboratively build a mental model of the site. Using interactive virtual boards, the teenagers helped us completely reimagine and redesign the homepage. This allowed us to structure the information hierarchy in a way that naturally aligns with how young people actually search and consume complex information.
Bridging the knowledge gap
The core challenge during the research was that the subject matter is inherently complex and alien for teenagers. Most of them lack a basic mental model or prior knowledge of key concepts in the justice system. Our research participants did indeed not understand specific judicial terminology. Since the current website assumed some basic knowledge, it was difficult for them to navigate the website, assess whether the content applied to their situations, or find relevant information effectively. Young people are demanding when it comes to quickly finding the right information.
Actionable Insights for a better user experience
We delivered a comprehensive set of strategic recommendations to optimise the website for its young users. While the target audience found the website’s initial look appealing and reliable, it became clear that the platform’s overall information architecture needed refinement to better suit their specific search habits. We identified several short-term “quick wins” to immediately improve general usability, content clarity, and navigation without requiring massive technical overhauls. One was to show a search bar on the homepage. Another was to choose photos that tell a story, rather than just depicting smiling teenagers. For the longer term, we advised a structural redesign of how information is layered and presented across the site. Key for the longer term changes is to provide the basic knowledge upfront, and then build other information on top of that. By guiding users more intuitively through complex topics the organisation can adequately support young people with this website on a subject that they find both important and difficult. The research showed clearly this can be done, but you do need to know your audience very well.