Realising the aspirations of rangatahi through access to services
Giving an old website some love to better connect with young people
Youth Service Ratonga Taiohi, a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) team, aims to realise the dreams and aspirations of youth across Aotearoa by helping them access services they’re entitled to. The Youth Service website needed some love to make sure it would be found and used by young people.
Being creative with our approach to get the mahi done
We’d just had our kick-off with the awesome and inspirational Youth Service team when Covid-19 came along to attempt to spoil the party. Like any project affected by the 2020 lockdown, we needed to be creative with our approach to get the mahi done.
Training Youth Services coaches, gaining valuable insights
Springload’s visual designer created a refreshed brand direction, which needed to be tested with young people. Many of these young people were vulnerable and experiencing a particularly stressful time during the lockdown. I trained Youth Services coaches who work directly with rangatahi, and were trusted by them, to carry out user testing across Aotearoa. They did an astonishing job, bringing us insights and recommendations that informed the brand direction and content.
Clear, informal content to connect with our audience
User testing showed young people wanted concise, informal, to-the-point language. We provided content advice to reduce copy, and make the tone clear and friendly. Content needed to connect with the audience, and make it clear that the website is for them. We supported the Youth Service team to create content that’s findable, readable and usable, making sure people get the help and services they’re entitled to. The Youth Services team deservedly won a Plain English award 2021 for their writing mahi.
Team members (Springload)
Chris Barneau, Cora Dale, Dan Newman, Emlyn Hughes, Gisela de la Villa, Juliet Brown, Stephanie Kan, Zak Brown
More information
Do your team have a content or UX challenge you’d like support with?
My role
Experience Director
Client
Youth Service, Ministry of Social Development
Agency
Springload