Recap: User Needs First International conference 2025

Inspiring, connecting, instructive, fun: these are words we often hear back from participants about the User Needs First International Conference 2025. This conference was at the Meervaart Theatre in Amsterdam, on April 10 and 11. With a pre-conference day for international participants, on April 9.
On this page, we look back on the conference in words and pictures (and soon also in audio). Go directly to:
- Pre-conference day
- Keynotes
- Wisdom of the Crowd and executives’ lunch
- Breakout sessions
- Conference extras
- Coming soon: Podcast
- Post-conference webinar
Pre-conference day
The morning programme on April 9, the pre-conference day, was at the Meervaart Theatre. In the afternoon, we visited a government organization. Each participant got to choose which one. Options were:
- City of Amsterdam
- Netherlands Police
- Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
- City of Rotterdam
- Novum, the Innovation Lab of the SVB
Click on the organization names to read more about each visit:
City of Amsterdam
We visited one of the city offices in Amsterdam where the UX department and team is located. The municipality is very much focused on a user-centered approach in everything they do. The variety of topics the UX team works on is huge and ranges from digital public service design to specific domain issues such as congestion in the city’s electricity grid.
The team in Amsterdam finds it important to simplify complex processes and turning them into something clear and understandable. To be able to do that, the team tries to involve users in the design, test and implementation phases.
Netherlands Police
The Netherlands Police has 65,000 employees: 51,000 police officers and 14,000 employees who fulfil other roles supporting police work. The UX department of the Netherlands Police has an innovation lab in Utrecht: HUB 50.
This expedition included a tour of the building and its various departments, followed by an in-depth session on UX within the Netherlands Police.
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations works on the foundations of the Netherlands and the Kingdom. Topics are for instance strengthening democracy, ensuring good governance and digitalization of government services.
At the Ministry, there were 5 different topics to choose from:
- AI, technology and public services
This specific expedition was about AI, new technologies and plain language. We explored how new technologies can help in rewriting documents in plain language. We also discussed current initiatives and how to scale up best practices in the Dutch field, and we identified examples of plain government language from other countries in and outside government. - Design and policy
We explored the concept of design-based policy development (policy design) through two specific cases: the development of the vision for government-wide online services and the vision for local in-person services. We discussed what design-based policy development entails, and the challenges and successes encountered in these cases. Showing that a design-based approach is possible in a political and traditionally hierarchical and bureaucratic environment. - Unified government services
Dealing with government services can be quite a challenge—especially when multiple government agencies are involved, such as after a divorce, job loss, or the passing of a loved one. And not everyone finds it easy to navigate government services. During this expedition, we’ve heard about key lessons learned over the past three years and experienced firsthand both the value and challenges of government-wide services. - Life events and proactive services
A life event can have a major impact on your life. During such moments, you often need to handle many things with the government. This expedition on proactive services covered inspiration from other countries on proactive services and life events, reflection and feedback on the life events approach, what life events and proactive services look like in practice, and real-world examples of proactive services and life event-driven solutions. - Customer experience and signal management
This expedition covered the use of signal management in improving the customer experience in your organization. We discussed methods and cases in signal management and customer experience.
City of Rotterdam
In this expedition we visited the City of Rotterdam, discussing challenges and opportunities in designing user centric government services in the 21st century. This expedition is also a live meetup for members from our UserCentriCities (UCC) Community.
There were 3 presentations from UCC members focused on a challenge in user centric service design and how to overcome it. These were the topics:
- How can we organize UX design within the organization as a standard way of working and show its value?
- How do you incorporate the user perspective in making design or policy decisions?
- How do you design usable digital services for users from increasingly different cultural backgrounds?
Novum, the Innovation Lab of the SVB
Everyone who has lived or worked in the Netherlands will almost certainly come into contact with the SVB. The SVB implements social insurance schemes, such as AOW pension, child benefit and the personal care budget. We visited the innovation lab of the SVB: Novum.
Novum experiments with new solutions to improve government services in the field of social security. One thing Novum has learned is: real change requires collaboration. That is why they collaborate with several other public and private organizations to design and develop new ideas and experiments. This expedition provided a lot of (practical) information on how to validate ideas and make prototypes that have a user-centered approach.
Pre-conference day in pictures
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Keynotes
There were keynotes on all conference days, in this order:
Protecting our practice: How to not let things get undone
Wednesday April 9, Keynote from Kara Kane and Martin Jordan
More about Kara, Martin and the keynote

Kara Kane
Head of Design, Public Sector Reform, Test and Learn
Cabinet Office (UK Government)

Martin Jordan
Head of Design & User Research
German Government’s Digital Service)
The keynote
Over the past few years, we’ve seen government organizations increase their user-centred maturity – and then lose it again. More recently, we witnessed role-modelling organizations be dismantled. Denmark lost its groundbreaking innovation unit, Mindlab. In Canada, the Ontario Digital Service was shut down. Now, in the US, mass firings of digital specialists and the 18F team happened over night. We have been faced with the reality that government organizations do not mature and progress as we imagined them to. So, what does that mean for our work, practices and values? How do we navigate these times of disruptive change and rolling back from accessible, effective and better quality services? Any change of government or senior leadership can endanger our work and practices. In this talk, Martin and Kara highlighted the stories of people who are still trying to make change from the inside of institutions who no longer advocate for digital and design specialists. Including some tips for how to brace for change or move through the change already here.
We Need You (all hands on deck)
Thursday April 10, Keynote from Marianne van den Anker
More about Marianne

Marianne van den Anker
Ombudsman
Region of Rotterdam
Marianne van den Anker is the Ombudsman for Rotterdam and its adjoining districts. She is the voice for residents and entrepreneurs who encounter obstacles when dealing with the municipality. As a critical watchdog, she fights against systemic injustice and bureaucratic complexity. For her, putting people at the center of policies is a given. However, achieving these issues is no easy task. Strengthening trust in the government is a major driving force for Marianne and the common thread throughout her career.
Marianne has served as an alderman and city council member in Rotterdam. She started her career as a public administration and criminology expert in academia. In addition to writing books, she has developed into a powerful leader with a strong social consience. Her mission is to bring real-life experiences into the system. She embraces confrontation with compassion to make the world a better place.
Marianne hosted programs for the Dutch public broadcasters NTR and NPO Radio 1. As an ambassador for the Dutch the One Against Loneliness initiative, a national initiative dedicated to reducing loneliness, especially among older adults, she traveled across the country. She has worked for Erasmus University, the police, and Platform 31, a Dutch institute focused on urban and regional development, housing, and social challenges. Through her own company, Ankerpunt, Marianne worked for years as a moderator, speaker, and presenter. Naturally optimistic, she has become highly versatile due to the diversity and intensity of her various roles.
From standards to service: Designing digital government for real user needs
Thursday April 10, Keynote from Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen
More about Morten and the keynote

Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen
EGOV Adviser and expert in public sector digital transformation
United Nations University, Operational Unit for Policy-Driven Electronic Governance
The keynote
The creative use of technology can enhance productivity, cost-efficiency, and service quality. Digital government services must go beyond transactions to be accessible, intuitive, and user-centric. The 4P’s—preventive, predictive, proactive, and personalised services—are achievable, but service design standards and governance models shape their form, function and delivery.
This keynote compared several service design standards and guides, from the UK’s centralised GDS to Australia and Canada’s federal models and Denmark’s decentralised system. Some countries enforce design consistency through portals and standardised UI, while others struggle with fragmented, usability-challenged services. Ignoring accessibility and continuous improvement leads to costly retrofitting rather than proactive design.
Poor UX frustrates users and increases costs for all! A disconnect often remains between users, designers, and decision-makers. Bridging this gap ensures policymakers prioritise good design and user-experiences. By learning in multiple countries, this presentation offered insights on governance, design standards, and embedding user needs in service delivery.
Change Through Delivery: A Strategy for Transformation in the Complex German System
Thursday April 10, Keynote from Stephanie Kaiser
More about Stephanie and the keynote

Stephanie Kaiser
Chief Product Officer
German Government’s Digital Service
The keynote
The German government faces the ongoing challenge of delivering user-centric digital services in a complex, decentralized landscape. How can innovation thrive and policy evolve when there’s no single, overarching digital authority?
In this talk, Stephanie shared how DigitalService leverages ‘change through delivery’ to bridge the gap between execution and policy, demonstrating how real-world implementation informs standards and legislation. Discover DigitalService’s strategies for fostering user-centricity within government, gaining buy-in from stakeholders, and measuring the impact of digital transformation.
Building resilient digital cities
Friday April 11, Keynote from Oleg Polovynko
More about Oleg and the keynote

Oleg Polovynko
Adviser to the Mayor of Kyiv City on Digitalization
The keynote
Cities are evolving into complex, data-fueled ecosystems. But how do we ensure these ecosystems are resilient and trustworthy? This keynote addressed the critical role of digital infrastructure in navigating the challenges of the future. We’ve examined how smart technologies combat misinformation, enhance citizen participation, and convert data into strategic solutions. We learned how to build digital cities that are not just connected, but that are prepared to withstand and thrive in an increasingly challenging world.
Beyond user needs: a new design philosophy for the digital public sector
Friday April 11, Keynote from Richard Pope
More about Richard

Richard Pope
Part of founding team of UK Government Digital Service (GDS)
Richard Pope was part of the founding team of the UK Government Digital Service and the first product manager for GOV.UK. He created many of the initial design concepts for both GOV.UK and the digital account for Universal Credit (the UK’s social security service). He was a senior fellow at Harvard in 2018/2019, researching and lecturing on ‘Government as a Platform’.
He is the author of Platformland – an anatomy of next-generation public services, which describes the types of interaction we should expect from the next generation of public services, the digital platforms and infrastructure they will be built with, and the public sector design values needed to make them a reality.
Keynotes in pictures
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Wisdom of the Crowd and executives’ lunch
For what challenge in your work do you need help from the decision or policy maker? We asked the audience. Through the conference app, they could send in their own question or discussion topic.
From all the submissions, we extracted the 3 most frequently asked questions (to decision and policy makers):
- What leadership approaches can effectively break down departmental silos to create truly user-centered government services?
- How can we fundamentally shift organizational culture to prioritize accessibility and user needs in all decision-making processes?
- What resource allocation challenges do we face in prioritizing user needs, and what strategic approaches might address them effectively?
We then asked the audience which of these questions decision and policy makers should discuss during their executives’ lunch at the conference. The question that got the most votes:
How can we fundamentally shift organizational culture to prioritize accessibility and user needs in all decision-making processes?
We will soon share the highlights of what was discussed at the lunch and what follow-up actions will come out of it.
Breakout sessions
You could choose from over 40 breakout sessions from nearly 80 experts during the conference. From informative sessions to interactive workshops, hosted by experts from countries all over the world, including India and Thailand.
The sessions covered a wide range of topics. From green and sustainable web design to European policy design. And from an escape room on user-friendly services to redesigning an entire government.
Some breakout session impressions
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Conference extras
Besides inspiring keynotes and interactive breakout sessions, there were also loads of other things to do at the conference. From a Booth for Unsolicited Advice and a Mini Library, to User Needs Tarot a Knowledge Exchange Wall. By the way, did you know there was even a pub quiz in the evening?
Conference extras in pictures
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Coming soon: Podcast
During the conference, several speakers and session leaders were interviewed for our podcast. As soon as the episodes are online, we will of course share the links here.

Post-conference webinar
The conference was packed with insightful talks, engaging breakout sessions, and thought-provoking panel discussions. We would like to continue the discussion! Join us for an exclusive Follow Up & Forward webinar, where we will reflect on the key takeaways, identify emerging themes, and explore what’s next in user-centered digital services.