Audience research and UX design for Te Wa and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
Client: Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori
In 2020 over 1 million New Zealanders participated in Te Wa Tuku Reo Māori during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Moment), the biggest Māori language event in history.
I worked on Te Wiki o te reo Māori digital campaign as part of the For Purpose team where I am currently the Design Lead. I undertook community research which helped shape the campaigns digital strategy and web design. Working closely with Strategic Digital Advisor at Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, developed the UX and UI for the campaigns website Reo Māori.
During the 2020 Te Wiki o te reo Māori, the website collected and shared stories of te reo. This repository has been deemed so nationally significant that it has been archived and collected in perpetuity by Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s national museum.
Role Community research, UX and UI design
People on the team Kiriana Eparaima-Hautapu Strategic Digital Advisor at Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māoril, Emma Blomkamp co-design coach, Anna Rawhiti-Connell communications strategist, Will Hunt Illustration, For Purpose team
Challenge
When COVID hit, Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission, had an immediate need to turn their largely on-the-ground Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori campaign into a digital one. They wanted to learn about their audiences; to understand their needs in this new online world and how they might want to be supported through their language journey.
Process
This project involved For Purpose and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori working closely in partnership for over two years. The campaign website started as an MVP and grew in iterations over this period. We researched, designed, tested in a non-linear way, and often ran processes simultaneously.
I conducted audience research involving quantitative approaches like website user surveys, which received 1868 responses, and analysed website traffic. We conducted 15 interviews with tangata whenua and tangata tiriti across different stages of their language journeys to help better understand their contexts and how the Commission might support their learning with digital tools.
I created audience segments, journey maps and provided insights and UX recommendations which fed into the digital strategy helped refine the website experience.
Results
In 2020 over 1 million New Zealanders participated in Te Wa Tuku Reo during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. The website delivered on the Commission’s overall strategy, collecting 40,000 registrations. The campaign was awarded a number of national and international accolades including 2021 Reed Awards Best International Campaign (National) and Best International Website, Polaris Awards Gold for Best Digital Campaign NGOs, Silver for Best Overall Campaign NGO’s as well as Best Website NGOs. The campaign also won Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori a The Grand Prix 2021 in the world’s most prestigious PR awards scheme, the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards for Excellence (GWA), and was awarded Silver in Marketing Communications at the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) Awards.
See a Herald write up about it here: Herald.co.nz/maori-language-week-over-1-million-celerbrating-maori-language-moment