BNG Bank has been the leading financier for the public sector in the Netherlands for 110 years. They are known for their personal touch and their significant social impact. They are a well-established name. But online, they hadn’t quite got there yet: a fragmented digital landscape, with multiple websites that were all outdated.

We helped them turn things around. From an organisation where the online presence was an afterthought, to one that fully understands the online world. From three sites to one BNG. From online fragmentation to a clear direction.

The question, of course, is: how do you get there? How does a company like BNG make such a major transformation?

It always starts with that little, big word: vision

You build an online vision from the outside in – not the other way round. We spoke to staff and customers. We let them explore the BNG website and observed how they used it. All these insights fuelled the process of shaping the vision together with senior management and the executive committee. We did this over two days, together at our farm. 

For the first time, the online presence was given a prominent place at a strategic level. The result – the vision – provided a shared language, enabling the whole of BNG to move in the same direction. Ultimately, it’s simple: without an online vision, you’ll lose your way online.

The new BNG online

For us, the design phase often begins with a ​‘concept car’: a clickable prototype of the key pages. It quickly brings the online vision to life and gives an initial impression of the direction we want to take. Ultimately, we develop the concept car into a detailed design. Every page, every pixel stems from the direction we have chosen.

These are our four favourite elements of the new BNG:

1. Three websites coming together

BNG had three different websites. It was a nerve-wracking prospect for them to let go of that. And that’s quite understandable. There were parts of the organisation that had their own section on the current site and would lose that. Would we still be easy to find? Would our target audience still be able to find the right content quickly enough? We took the time to discuss these concerns. We involved internal stakeholders in the decisions we made and the insights we’d gathered.

Ultimately, we opted for a ​‘doormat navigation’ system with various drop-down menus. This makes information easy to find, without being overwhelming. And what do you know? All target groups can now find their way around even more easily – which has more than allayed any concerns about findability.

2. Thinking in terms of systems, not pages

Right from the start of the project, we’ve thought in terms of systems. We didn’t design pages, but rather compositions of components. We designed these components to be as generic as possible, so that BNG can use them across multiple pages. 

This component-based approach was also carried through into the development of the CMS. As a result, BNG now has a large ​‘building block’ system with which they can assemble pages themselves. The marketing team can enhance the site, safe in the knowledge that their work will always be in line with BNG’s corporate identity.

3. BNG’s success stories

During our interviews with clients, we learnt that they are keen to see what added value BNG offers. They want to explore this in more depth. That is why we have chosen to give prominence to projects that BNG has financed. Not dry case studies, but rich stories that are easy to read – both in terms of form and content.

4. A small digital footprint 

One of the bold moves in the strategy was to minimise the site’s ecological footprint. For example, we looked at the site’s load time. We avoided autoplay and didn’t include videos in headers – these turned out to be MB-guzzling monsters that added little to the user experience. The result? Every page is lightweight and loads on your screen in a flash – which is also a major plus for the user experience.

This wasn’t just a project; it’s a foundation

To get the new BNG off the ground, we worked closely together for six months. From vision, to concept, to realisation. Our product designers were part of the BNG team and worked in sprints alongside the developers, content specialists and project managers. Along the way, we conducted research with the target audience to test what we were creating. In this way, we kept design, content and technology closely aligned and built reusable components step by step. In doing so, we also laid the foundations for BNG’s Design System.

It was never about completing a project. From the very beginning, the aim was to establish a foundation on which BNG could continue to build.

BNG now thinks differently – that’s the big change

The new design fits perfectly with the vision. It’s clear, it’s user-friendly, it has character. It isn’t spectacular. And perhaps that’s precisely its strength. Strangely enough, the real added value of this project doesn’t lie in the design. It perhaps lies most of all in the shift in mindset. BNG has started to think differently. Internally, there’s a clear understanding of the role of online. Of where they want to go. Of how they serve their various target groups on a single site. They’re committed to a digital customer journey with personal contact where necessary. And they’re constantly improving their services by listening, measuring and testing. 

That way of thinking is transforming everything within BNG. These are the first serious steps towards online maturity.