Ministry for Women: Empowering Leadership through Digital Governance
The Client
The New Zealand Ministry for Women (Manatū Wāhine) is the government’s principal advisor on improving the lives of women in New Zealand. A vital part of their mandate is the nominations service, a pipeline designed to increase female representation on state sector boards and in governance roles. For this service to be effective, it requires a seamless way for highly qualified candidates to submit and maintain their professional profiles. Brink partnered with Magnetism Solutions to overhaul this digital gateway, ensuring that the technology finally matched the importance of the Ministry's mission.
The Challenge
The existing nomination system had become a significant point of friction. It was a complex, multi-stage form that lacked transparency; users struggled to review their entered data, and cryptic error messages made it difficult to identify missing information. This "digital wall" led to a high drop-off rate, forcing many candidates to abandon the form entirely and manually email their CVs to the Ministry. This created a massive administrative burden for the staff and a frustrating experience for the users.
Our mandate was clear - transform a confusing, one-way data entry process into an intuitive, self-service portal that empowered women to own and manage their governance journey.
Strategic Deliverables & Execution
Through a collaborative process of discovery and engineering, Brink and Magnetism redefined the digital experience for New Zealand’s future leaders:
UX Rescue & Wireframing: We initiated the project with deep-dive workshops to deconstruct the existing form's pain points. By wireframing a new, transparent user journey, we ensured that users could easily track their progress, review their inputs, and understand exactly what information was required and why.
UI Refinement & Brand Alignment: We updated the entire visual interface to align with the Ministry’s modern brand identity. The goal was to create a digital environment that felt professional, secure, and authoritative—a space fitting for high-level governance candidates.
Front-End Modernization (React): To ensure a fluid, app-like experience, we built the front-end using React. This choice wasn't just about performance; it was about future-proofing the portal for easy updates and providing a robust framework that Magnetism could seamlessly integrate into their CRM and backend systems.
From "Form" to "Profile": We shifted the logic of the system from a static one-time submission to a dynamic profile. Users can now log in, update their details, and manage their CVs on an ongoing basis, ensuring the Ministry’s database remains current and actionable without manual intervention.
Partnership & Impact
The resulting portal has fundamentally changed how the Ministry interacts with its candidates. By solving the UX "bottleneck," we helped eliminate the influx of manual emails and phone calls, allowing Ministry staff to focus on advocacy and placement rather than data entry. The new React-based front-end provides a frictionless, high-fidelity experience that respects the user's time and professional standing. We are proud to have helped build a tool that removes barriers to leadership and supports the growth of diverse governance in New Zealand.
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