News

“Change through delivery”: How Germany is rebuilding government services from the inside out

At the User Needs First International Conference 2025, Stephanie Kaiser, Chief Product Officer at Digital Service, gave an honest, funny, and hopeful keynote about what it really takes to put user needs at the heart of government in Germany. The short version? It’s hard. The long version? Keep reading.

Author

Datum

21 May 2025

‘A good digital government isn’t a sprint – it’s a conversation’

What does a truly inclusive digital government look like? That was the central question driving one of the breakout sessions at the User Needs First International Conference 2025.

Author

Datum

21 May 2025

3 things you should know about the ISO standard for Plain Language  

An ISO standard is an international standard that has been agreed on by international experts. In 2023, the Plain Language standard was published: Part 1: Governing principles and guidelines. As a former board member of the International Plain Language Federation, Christopher Balmford was one of the initiators of this standard.  

Author

Francis Meijners

Datum

21 May 2025

Beyond seamlessness: Richard Pope on rethinking user needs in public services

At the User Needs First International Conference, digital government pioneer Richard Pope challenged the crowd to reimagine the foundations of user-centered design in public services.

Author

Gebruiker Centraal

Datum

16 May 2025

From silos to service: 15 lessons for better government cooperation

At the User Needs First International Conference 2025 in Amsterdam, the panel discussion ‘Cooperation across Government: How to Escape the Silos?’ brought together diverse voices and powerful personal stories to explore one of the public sector’s most pressing challenges: breaking through organizational silos.

Author

Datum

16 May 2025

People are not satisfied: Why governments need to refocus their practice in the Digital Age

This article contains highlights of the panel discussion ‘How to be a mature human-centered government?’ at the User Needs First International Conference 2025.

Author

Tamara de Haas

Datum

30 April 2025

Key takeaways from Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen’s keynote on user-centric public sector digital transformation

Dr. Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen, a global expert in digital transformation of government, delivered an insightful keynote at the User Needs First International Conference in Amsterdam. These are the key takeaways.

Author

Tamara de Haas

Datum

28 April 2025

The Digital Agenda of Espoo: promoting the human centric and sustainable digital services of the future

Digital services are having an increasingly larger impact on cities worldwide. The city of Espoo, Finland is no exception in that regard. Their digital agenda and how it puts user needs at the centre of these services, is something we can all learn from.

Author

Eoin Hennekam

Datum

7 January 2025

Communi­city: technological solutions for marginzalized groups

CommuniCity is a transformative citizen-centred EU funded project. It contains around 100 innovative Tech Pilots in Europe in urban and peri-urban areas to empower marginalised communities. Project manager Adeeb Sidani tells us more.

Author

Eoin Hennekam

Datum

16 September 2024

Involving users in policy making, the story of Talk London

Talk London made an impression during the UserCentriCities summit in Brussels in 2023. The digital engagement platform was listed in the top 3 of most user-centric services in Europe. Greater London Authority’s Kate Lindemans and Selina Holliday tell us more about the platform and its development over the years.

Author

Eoin Hennekam

Datum

8 July 2024