Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen (UWV) is a Dutch government organisation that assists Dutch citizens who are unemployed or unable to work by finding employment and by providing benefits.

For various reasons, it can happen that a client is overpaid and needs to repay the excess amount to UWV. If the excess amount cannot reasonably be deducted from the client's monthly benefit, UWV's internal department, Verwerking Financiële Verplichtingen (VFV), handles the repayment process and assists clients in finding suitable payment options.

In addition to being unemployed, some of UWV's clients have financial debt that affects their ability to take action and be in control of their finances. These clients, in particular, face great difficulties during the repayment process with VFV. UWV would like to better serve these clients by giving them more control over their financial situation. While UWV has already conducted research on how clients experience the repayment process and is already developing digital services to support them, further insights were needed on how to address these clients' needs, how to develop solutions that serve these clients in a supportive and inclusive manner, and how to address their underlying needs.

In this design project, I used a User-Centered Design approach to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying needs of clients with financial debt and the difficulties they encounter during the repayment process. I discovered that clients with financial debt can perceive the initial notice about the repayment as a great and unexpected shock. These clients have an unmet need for more personal and proactive support from UWV. They do not feel seen and heard during their interactions with VFV and UWV's general helpdesk, and they lack perspective throughout the lengthy repayment process.

Through various design activities, including a co-creation session with clients from UWV, I designed a service concept tailored to the needs of VFV's clients with financial debt. This concept offers clients a kinder, softer introduction to the repayment process from VFV and provides personalized and proactive support through face-to-face or online service meetings with a designated employee from VFV. For this service concept, I designed four service touchpoints: an invitation card to kindly and personally invite the client to the meeting, a checklist for clients to prepare for the meeting in manageable steps, a note-taking sheet for clients to record expectations and agreements made during the service meeting, and several card designs to provide clients with a monthly overview of their payments to UWV.

Once UWV further develops and implements this service concept, I expect that clients with financial debt will feel more supported, seen, and heard by employees of VFV. Furthermore, I expect clients to be more inclined to get in contact with VFV due to the kind invitation beforehand and the personal relationship built with their designated contact at VFV after the service meeting. Consequently, this service is also expected to work preventively to avoid bigger financial problems in the future as a result of clients staying in contact with VFV.