EUIPO: from paper to digital services
Moving from a paper-driven system to a digital platform that users trust and adopt, for the European Union trademark and design IP agency.
The brief · everis Madrid, for the EUIPO
Redesign the agency’s website to move from a static, information-based platform to a fully functional digital space supporting trademark and design workflows across the European Union.
The objective was to make digital the primary way users interact with the agency, enabling them to search, apply and manage the full lifecycle of their IP in a more accessible and structured way.
- Started
- 2010
- Duration
- Two years
- Team
- 54 UX designers, 1 UX researcher
- Lifecycle
- Fullsearch, apply and manage IP
My roleLed the UX capability
I led the UX capability for the project, guiding the team and aligning business, development and subject matter experts to shape and deliver a user-centred shift to digital services.
I helped connect research, design and implementation, so the solution could respond to user needs while working in a complex institutional environment.
What the team did5 people
4 UX designers and 1 UX researcher, working with business, development and subject matter experts.
- 4 UX designers
- 1 UX researcher
Outcome
Digital became the primary way many users engaged with the agency.
The challenge of moving users to digital
This project was not simply about redesigning a website. It was about changing how users interacted with a well-established public institution.
For years, many users had relied on paper-based processes and familiar offline ways of working. Moving them to digital channels meant more than introducing new tools. It required building trust, reducing friction and creating an experience that felt clear, reliable and worth adopting.
Users managed their IP through paper-based processes.
Through research and close collaboration with users and stakeholders, we built a detailed understanding of behaviours, expectations and working contexts. This helped us define a solution that responded to real needs rather than technical assumptions, creating the foundation for long-term digital adoption.
Designing for trust, control and adoption
One of the strongest insights from the user conversations was the need to feel in control before they were willing to change how they worked.
The solution was shaped around clarity, ownership and confidence. We focused on helping users understand their options, manage their information and move through complex tasks with a stronger sense of control over decisions and data.
Users were involved throughout the process, and their input directly shaped how the platform worked. Rather than forcing a digital model onto existing behaviours, we designed an experience that made the benefits of digital interaction tangible and easier to embrace.
This sense of control became a key driver of trust, and trust became a key driver of adoption.
A balanced agile project
The success of the project depended not only on strong UX in the conceptualisation phase, but on how that work was led and translated into delivery.
The work was run in an agile and iterative way, which allowed the team to respond to constraints, refine decisions as the project evolved and keep design and development moving together.
- Research
- Close collaboration with users
- Agile and iterative
- Design and development together
This cross-functional alignment was essential in a complex institutional environment, where digital transformation required both organisational confidence and delivery discipline.
Results of a good UX process
New website and digital services, with integrated systems for accessing IP databases and managing applications.
The platform introduced self-guided flows for both professional and individual users, supporting the full lifecycle of trademark and design management.
Digital interaction became the primary way many users engaged with the agency. The project showed how a structured UX approach, grounded in research and supported by cross-functional collaboration with all the other disciplines, can help transform complex public services into digital experiences that people trust and use.
The decisions
Three decisions, across two chapters.
Select a decision to read what I chose and why.
Chapter 02Trust and control
Chapter 03Agile delivery
Decision 1 of 3 · Chapter 02 · Trust and control
Design for control first
WhyUsers needed to feel in control before they would change how they worked, so the solution was shaped around clarity, ownership and confidence. That sense of control built trust, and trust drove adoption.
A strong example of e‑government built around real user needs rather than technical possibilities, enabling adoption and long-term engagement.
Contact
Open to design leadership roles.
I’m based in Singapore and can work in Singapore and the EU without sponsorship. Available now.