During my internship at NU.nl, the largest news platform in the Netherlands, I worked within the product and development team to improve the user experience across the NU.nl website and apps. My role focused on user-centered research, concept development, and validating design decisions using real user insights from millions of daily visitors. They called me a UX Design & Reseacher.
First, I supported the UX designer and researcher by assisting with designs, user tests, CSAT scores, and other research activities. I also led my own research projects and contributed to other ongoing studies.
To develop a clear personal focus alongside the main team objectives and achieve my learning goals, I was assigned an individual project at NU.nl. I was responsible for giving the NU.nl Puzzles & Games section 'extra care; by improving discoverability, fostering a sense of community, and increasing logins and overall engagement.
My goal was to grow the already stable visitor numbers and give the games a more prominent and recognizable place within the NU.nl platform. All research, user needs, concepts, and improvements I explored and developed were therefore directly related to the puzzles and games on NU.nl.
This project allowed me to apply my learning goals in practice while efficiently managing my regular tasks. With approximately 100,000 active daily players, the focus was not primarily on quantitative growth but on qualitative improvements to the user experience, resulting in concrete enhancements informed by multiple research methods.
During my internship, I collaborated closely with product owners, UX researchers, CRO specialists, data analysts, and UX designers. I conducted my own research while coordinating with the team to ensure feasibility.
To investigate the current state of the NU.nl games, I used several research methods.
From start to finish, the number of game players per week and per day remained stable. Despite the extra attention, the number of daily and weekly players did not grow significantly. We also now know what should not be implemented. However, we gained more insight into opportunities to improve visibility and add new games based on the findings from all our research.
Although time, priorities, and budget limited what could be implemented, I gained valuable experience in balancing constraints, adapting to changing circumstances, and understanding how to design within real-world limitations.
Over the past six months, I have greatly enjoyed working with Nikki. As part of the Product team at NU.nl and DPG, we benefited a lot from her energy, enthusiasm, and strong research and design skills. Nikki shows a great deal of initiative and is not afraid to take on new challenges. She is a strong communicator and actively seeks feedback. She collaborates effectively with colleagues from a wide range of departments, including the newsroom, IT, marketing, and CRO. During the past six months, she conducted extensive research into how we can improve the games and puzzles on NU.nl. She applied a broad range of research methods and maintained close contact with our users throughout the process. In addition to her design and research skills as a UX professional, Nikki is also a talented writer. She published several articles about the games community on the NU.nl homepage. These articles were read more than 100,000 times in total and were well received by the NU.nl community. I can wholeheartedly recommend Nikki for any future role. - Arie Bart, UX Lead at NU.nl
Two projects that were interesting to highlight, which I contributed to, are usability testing the AI chatbot at NU.nl and a NU.nl timeline. Together with NU.nl users, we tested the ideas through user research and used the findings to inform the outcomes.
AI chatbot
For the AI chatbot, we conducted an experiment to understand what people think of it, how often they would like to use it, which topics they would like it for, whether they think it fits a news platform, and whether they find it trustworthy.
Social media
Since NUjij significantly contributes to the NU.nl news platform by sharing user stories and feedback, we explored whether a social media timeline could fit NU.nl, engage younger audiences, and test the appeal of different social media posts. NU.nl also aimed to give more visibility to their editors while offering both in-depth stories and shorter, faster updates, similar to X.
