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Interaction Design for the entry to Denmark process

12 March 2019 - Published by Renske Stumpel
Settling in another country is never easy due to rules, regulations and many different contact points. Aalborg Municipality (DK) therefore has tried to analyze and discuss the entry process with stakeholders involved in the process aiming at a smoother and more digitized process for everybody.

This Like! project involved workshops with different groups of stakeholders: Employees from The Citizen Service Center, International House North Denmark, Aalborg University, University College North Jutland, Aalborg University Hospital and foreign employees working in a private company and at the university.

Simultaneously, a group of students at Interaction Design at Aalborg University analyzed the entry process and interviewed fellow students from abroad about their experiences with the entry process. The students then designed prototypes of digital solutions and presented them to Aalborg Municipality.

Entry to Denmark is a complex process and not every step can be digitalized immediately. The workshops with the stakeholders and the students research gave several ideas for digitalization that don’t demand changes of legislation. Aalborg Municipality will pursue the following ideas:

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Visualization of the process

The foreign employees and students would like to click on an interactive flow chart which provides necessary information customized to their situation. For example, arriving alone, bringing their spouse/children, coming as a student, looking for a job or already having a job in Denmark.

Check list

The interaction design session also showed that providing a checklist would be very helpful. In a simple form, foreigners can tick off the steps themselves on a checklist they can download to their phones. Ideally, the steps are ticked off automatically due to integration to different procedures in the entry process.

Better web experience

All stakeholders found that the many different webpages about entry to Denmark could cause confusion for people planning to work or study in Denmark. The stakeholders have started to work on standardization of the language used on the websites, and will implement a common structure and flow charts on the websites making it easier for foreigners to find the information they need.

Further collaboration

The workshops demonstrated that future collaboration would improve not only the experience for people coming to Denmark but could also make administration among stakeholders easier. In the future are annual meetings, digitalization of the entry form and sharing of documents.