Tahatū
Helping New Zealanders navigate their careers
Contents
Background
Careers.govt.nz had been New Zealand's primary careers website for over 20 years. With around four million visits per year, it was widely used – but hard to maintain, difficult to navigate and no longer fit for purpose for the young people who needed it most.
My role
I worked with the Tertiary Education Commission through Springload – a digital design agency. I led research and service design during discovery and UX/UI design across two key product features during delivery. I also helped set the design direction and built the design system used across the programme. I played a key role in building trust with clients to unblock key decisions needed to progress design delivery.
Research
Taking a learner-centred and culturally affirming approach
An existing research review helped prioritise our primary audience: Māori and Pasifika 10–19 year olds – the young people most underserved by the existing platform and most in need of a resource that reflected their world.
To improve outcomes for this audience, I took a culturally affirming approach working alongside IDIA (Indigenous Design & Innovation Aotearoa) and applied the Decolonised Research Framework throughout the research process. This wasn't just an ethical commitment – it shaped every design decision that followed.
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Using play-based research methods to understand what rangatahi need
I facilitated interviews and workshops with young people their families to understand what they needed, when they needed it and why. A key activity called 'Build your world' helped us understand how young people envisioned their futures and where a careers platform could genuinely support them – rather than narrow their thinking too early.
The new design needed to open possibilities up, not close them down.
UX
Rapidly testing ideas with real users
To move quickly from research to testable concepts, I sketched low-fidelity wireframes that could be put in front of users early. These weren't polished – they were tools for learning, helping us test assumptions, take stakeholders on the journey and plan what we needed to build.
Going from complex to intuitive
With a large content database covering subjects, qualifications and careers, the information architecture was one of the biggest design challenges on the programme.
I used Object Orientated User Experience (OOUX) and wireframes to explore how a large amount of content could be structured to meet different user needs – whether a student exploring broadly or a careers advisor looking up a specific qualification pathway.
Design system
Accelerating delivery through a robust design system
Alongside another Experience Designer, I built a robust, accessible design system that aligned the team, reduced rework and sped up delivery across five parallel workstreams.
The system was built with WCAG accessibility standards central to every decision – reflecting the commitment to designing for the young people who needed the platform most, including those with disabilities.
Result
Tahatū – a platform to help Aotearoa New Zealanders broaden their horizons and navigate their careers
Tahatū launched publicly in December 2025 following a successful secondary school pilot. It profiles almost 100 school subjects, over 4,000 qualifications and more than 800 career ideas – and is now being embedded into school curriculums across New Zealand.
Teachers and career advisors involved in the pilot reported that students were engaging with their futures in new ways.
"Young people are loving that because they can see themselves on Tahatū in ways they haven't been able to articulate"
– Nina Ive, Deputy Chief Executive, Tertiary Education Commission
