001 Design / Case Study
Modernizing Critical Justice Infrastructure for Dutch Probation Services
Client: Reclassering Nederland
Role: UX Designer (Lead)
Deliverables: Legacy-to-Modern Transition Strategy, Strategic Proof-of-Concept, In-house core product improvements
As the sole UX designer on a 16-person team, I spearheaded the UX strategy for a critical proof-of-concept that successfully won a major national probation service tender, modernizing tools for 3,300+ professionals dealing with 300,000+ cases.
The Challenge
The three organizations Reclassering Nederland, Leger des Heils, and Stichting Verslavingsreclassering GGZ (SVG) together from 3RO. They had an extremely rigid list of core legacy requirements that was heavily outdated but deeply embedded in the daily workflows of 3,300+ active probation professionals managing 300,000+ sensitive client dossiers. The challenge was to untangle and map these into a new modular architecture, and transform this legacy system into a transparent tool that actively supports caseworkers in the field.
The Approach
As the sole designer within a 16-person multidisciplinary team, I mapped legacy requirements one-by-one to ensure zero loss of functionality. I bridged the gap between the client’s business demands and technical execution, championing contextual research to solve for fragmented data and mobility gaps. I also enforced strict WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards by default across all new modules.
The Outcome
The flawless, interactive Proof-of-Concept demo that was delivered successfully secured the strategic multi-year development contract for Netcompany. By translating convoluted legacy workflows into a modern, mobile-first interface, we demonstrated drastically reduced operational friction and significantly faster task completion times for probation workers.
Lessons Learned
Legacy modernization is a delicate balancing act. It requires deeply respecting the users' existing mental models and deeply entrenched workflows, while still having the conviction to aggressively prune redundant steps and introduce modern paradigms.