• Client: New Zealand Electoral Commission
  • Date: Aug 2018 - present
  • Roles: User Insight, Design, Front & Back-end Build
  • Product suite: Silverstripe

Making complex simpler

Our clients at the Electoral Commission are passionate about promoting participation in the New Zealand democratic process. They wanted to better leverage their website channel to enable quick and effective access to information that engaged voters and promoted understanding of the electoral system. The old Electoral Commission website had problems with duplicate information, corporate-focused jargon and an inflexible structure. Buried content needed to be surfaced in an accessible and engaging manner. A significant component was the need to incorporate a new online enrolment tool into the site.

A shrewd digital strategy

We designed the parent site (elections.nz) to promote knowledge and understanding of the electoral system by providing an accessible gateway layer for audiences such as school-age children. For candidates and parties, media and researchers it gradually reveals a wealth of specialised content. In contrast the child site (vote.nz) enables participation through a user-friendly online enrolment tool and plain English instructional help for enrolling and voting.

The key success factors

  • Multi-lingual content

    A core aspect of our digital strategy was making vote.nz concise and focused on core voter tasks. This allowed for both English and Te Reo Māori text to exist with a minimum of content governance. The on-page toggle also means users can access videos in New Zealand Sign Language where available.

  • Two sites on a shared platform

    Both sites are hosted on the same platform resulting in an integrated user experience; information can be maintained in one place but surfaced in multiple areas across both sites.

  • Enhanced functionality & performance retained

    The rebuild included an optimised map experience for helping users find electorates and voting places. Across the board, functionality and usability have been enhanced while high performance of core applications like online enrolment have been retained.

  • User-centred design

    Pikselin conducted multiple user testing activities in developing both websites and online and paper enrolment. Participants reflected a representative sample of New Zealanders and included people aged 17-24, over 65, of Māori or Pacific Island descent, multi-lingual and those with low literacy or learning disabilities.

A robust relationship

Pikselin quickly built a close and effective relationship with the Commission and have become a trusted provider. We worked closely with senior level business stakeholders to extract and evolve the business vision, website strategy and new brand direction. We continue to contribute to a number of diverse streams of work for the Commission.

Our Work