“I wish this service had existed when i applied for a residence permit”

The Finnish Immigration Service will launch its redesigned e-service next spring. During the autumn and in early spring, a series of articles will be published about the process of redesigning the e-service.

The second part of the series focuses on the design of the new service.

The experts from Fjord, a digital service design agency, examine the world through customers’ eyes. It means often exploring a new subject area, for example, getting to know a technical device and how it operates. Visual Designer Alexander Budde and Interaction Designer Yonatan Kelib were, however, not completely unfamiliar with the subject when they started working with the Finnish Immigration Service.

Budde has moved to Finland from Germany, Kelib from the United States.

Therefore, both designers have some experience of Finland’s immigration system. Kelib, who arrived from a non-EU country, applied for his residence permit through the Finnish Immigration Service. Budde, who is German, has handled his EU registration matter with the police.

Different users had to be taken into account in the design

When the project started, the Fjord team quickly realised that they had only seen the surface of the Finnish Immigration Service’s activities.

“We read customer survey feedback and found out that the old service was considered confusing by many, and too much information was given at once. We focused on how the information is presented and in which stage it is shown,” Kelib says.

During the design process, they had to keep in mind that not all applicants are digital natives accustomed to using e-services.

Therefore, the new e-service has a step-by-step structure, which guides the user in the right direction. If the applicant fills in a certain field, the service proposes to follow the next logical step. Based on the test-user feedback, the user is now always aware of at which stage of the application they currently are. The application cannot be sent until all fields have been filled in.

“We wanted to make the application process as simple and smooth as possible, so that the customer does not need to interrupt completing the application and search for additional information. Everything can be done in one session,” Budde adds.

Yonatan Kelib and Alexander Budde.

Designing the e-service is an opportunity to help build Finland’s image

The work started in the spring of 2014 and Fjord’s part of the project was completed in the autumn.

“We both focused full-time on designing the new e-service,” Budde says.

The customer perspective was the leading principle throughout the process.

“We created a user persona at the start of the project – a Peruvian exchange student. I have had this person constantly in mind throughout the design process. For example, what if he has a spouse or a child? How should that be taken into account in the design?” Kelib says.

For the two designers, this was their first project for a public sector client.

“This brought a new dimension to our work. Designing a public service which is funded by tax money is a socially meaningful project,” Budde says.

“We have also been able to influence people’s first impression of Finland. As everything works so well here, for example trams arrive on time and you can get the tram ticket easily via SMS, why shouldn’t applying for a residence permit be as smooth?” Kelib asks.

The designers are happy with the results.

“We have achieved something great, and I wish it had existed when I applied for my residence permit,” Kelib says.

Next time we will get to know the technical side of the service

The team responsible for creating the new e-service has been very diverse and international. The Fjord team in Helsinki focused on how the service looks and works.

“Success has required close cooperation with the Finnish Immigration Service as well as with the Accenture Riga team, which is responsible for the final implementation of our design, that is the actual construction of the service,” Kelib says.

The next article will look at the technical side of the service in more detail. What kinds of challenges residence permits for students and citizenship declarations have brought to the software developers?