APG
ABP MijnFonds
APG is a big pension brand in The Netherlands – which has many daughter companies. APG requested an online environment where clients could see everything related to their pension with APG or one of its subsidaries. They also wanted the environment to be actual and factual – always working with real, actual data.
My Role
On this project I was one of many team members. Because the request was quite big (create an ABP version and whitelabel version) the team was also bigger. We worked at the client and UX researchers created module cards and prepared user test. So my task on this one was really all about UI Design of both the ABP and whitelabel brand.
My work included:
- Supporting the user tests
- Work out Module Cards
- Visual Design ABP
- Visual Design whitelabel
Why it was so special
We worked at the client’s office – which is located in the South of the province of Limburg, The Netherlands. That environment is awesome as it is not as flat as the rest of the country. So getting there and seeing the landscape change was awesome.
This was probably the first project where I got to be part of the user test. We walked the streets to ask questions and get input. I would later be involved in many more user tests through the years.
Often I deliver the design to developers, who then build the website and the project is done. In this project we also delivered a mini styleguide for the designers at APG. Up until this project the styleguide would mostly be in my head – now also on paper.
What I’ve learned
User testing will always give you unexpected results. You have to find the right balance in using feedback that makes the product better and feedback that gives insight, but doesn’t necessarily lead to a better product.
The UX researcher in this project created Module Cards and Service Blueprint – which were new to me. At that time Service Design was starting to gain ground, so it was amazing to see it happen real-time, because my colleague was already aware. Used it often in the years after.
At first I was a little stuck in this project. Things would not happen the way I liked it. Talking to my peers and getting different perspectives made all the difference. When you’re stuck or not moving fast enough – reach out to your peers!
