University of Helsinki

User-centered design produces better services

A holistic approach to design places user needs at the core of digital service development at the University of Helsinki.

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Objective

From isolated efforts to holistic design

The University of Helsinki’s digital services support applicants, students, teachers, researchers, and other staff at every stage of their academic careers. The overall ecosystem includes a range of services, from the public website to the Studies service, the Flamma intranet, the E-thesis dissertation service, the HelsinkiUni Help AI assistant, and the MyResearch portal for researchers.

“For a long time, design efforts within our service development focused on one project at a time. As a result, the lessons learned and insights gained remained limited to individual services,” explains Antero Aunesluoma, Head of Digital Services at the University of Helsinki.

Forming an overall view of the user experience and accessibility of services was challenging when service design, UX and UI design, and accessibility work were carried out separately from one another. The University of Helsinki needed a partner to help develop design toward a more user-centered and holistic direction. After a competitive tendering process, Gofore and the University of Helsinki signed their first framework agreement for design in 2021.

Solution

Unified practices and tools for developing design

The collaboration began with the reconceptualisation and UX design of the helsinki.fi website homepage and news section. As work on concrete development projects started, Gofore and the University of Helsinki gradually began developing and systematizing design practices.

In Gofore’s design thinking, all areas support one another: service design, UX and UI design, content design, and accessibility work are part of a broader framework in which services are developed through a user-centered approach. The working model is a partnership aimed at increasing the client’s design expertise and understanding, while individual digital services become more usable and accessible.

“The University of Helsinki has had the courage to try new approaches. For example, they were interested in understanding what impact it would have to make an accessibility specialist a permanent part of the team’s daily work,” says Essi Juntunen, Principal Service Designer at Gofore.

During the collaboration, Gofore and the University of Helsinki have together identified and defined key design touchpoints within service development processes. Observations and solutions made in individual projects have been incorporated into broader workflows.

A key element in developing design practices has been the University of Helsinki’s design system, which has evolved in collaboration since 2023. It is an important shared tool that ensures consistent and efficient service development while serving as a common point of contact for design among designers, developers, product owners, and other stakeholders.

Tested, validated, and accessible standard components ensure that services move to production with significantly fewer errors. In addition, the design system enables the adoption of artificial intelligence: systematized components make AI-assisted design and service development easier.

“The design system has created broader awareness at the university of the importance of a consistent user experience. It helps allocate resources more effectively, improves accessibility, and reduces duplicate work. It is also expected to generate long-term cost savings,” says Maarit Eskola, Product Owner at the University of Helsinki.

The design system has created broader awareness at the university of the importance of a consistent user experience. It helps allocate resources more effectively, improves accessibility, and reduces duplicate work. It is also expected to generate long-term cost savings.

Maarit Eskola, Product Owner, University of Helsinki

Result

Faster development and more consistent services

The holistic approach to design has brought efficiency, speed, and consistency to digital service development. Design opportunities are identified better and earlier when the user perspective is included from the very beginning of the planning process.

The university’s team appreciates a partner who can examine their processes and services from multiple perspectives. Over years of collaboration, Gofore has developed a strong understanding of the university’s needs, enabling proactive solution proposals.

“Over the past two years, we have reached a point where digital services are designed as a whole, and the user journey is considered throughout the entire experience when moving from one service to another. Design-driven thinking has spread all the way to top management,” says Antero Aunesluoma.

“Previously, services were designed separately in different environments. With systematisation, design work has been consolidated into the University of Helsinki’s own centralised Figma environment, where designers, developers, and product owners collaborate closely across service boundaries,” illustrates Aleksi Sillanmäki, Senior Designer at Gofore.

User research has become a standard operating model, and testing is carried out very agilely when there is a need to validate, for example, a solution proposed by a software developer or a new feature. Product owners have also added user testing to their own toolkit.

Currently, around ten Gofore designers and specialists are working on University of Helsinki projects. The collaboration continues to evolve and expand, and under the recently signed new framework agreement, content design has also become a central part of the overall design approach.

“True partnership means that we work with Gofore as one team and continuously improve. In the second framework agreement period, the goals have been set even higher, and I look forward to the kinds of challenges we will solve, for example through content design and artificial intelligence,” concludes Antero Aunesluoma.

Over the past two years, we have reached a point where digital services are designed as a whole, and the user journey is considered throughout the entire experience when moving from one service to another. Design-driven thinking has spread all the way to top management.

Antero Aunesluoma, Head of DigitalServices, University of Helsinki

Project highlights

Object

Previously, the design of the University of Helsinki’s digital services focused on one project at a time, and service design, UX and UI design, as well as accessibility work, were carried out separately from one another. The University of Helsinki was looking for a partner with whom design could be developed in a more user-centered and comprehensive direction.

Solution

Since 2021, Gofore and the University of Helsinki have jointly developed and systematised design practices. Different areas of design have been brought together as part of a broader framework in which services are developed consistently to be more user-centered and usable. The design system created for the University of Helsinki ensures efficient service development and serves as a shared touchpoint for different stakeholders.

Result

A holistic approach to design has brought efficiency, speed, and consistency to the development of digital services. Opportunities for design are identified better and earlier when the user perspective is incorporated into the planning process from the very beginning. The University of Helsinki values a partner who can examine their processes and services from multiple perspectives.