The challenge

Over time, the QHRC website had grown increasingly complex. Content was shaped around legal structures, information pathways were hard to follow, and the user experience often assumed a level of legal knowledge many users did not have.

This created real barriers for the people QHRC exists to serve. Users included people with disabilities, people from multicultural communities, First Nations peoples, and individuals encountering discrimination or human rights issues for the first time. Many arrived feeling stressed, uncertain, or unsure where to start.

At the same time, the website also needed to support legal professionals, advocates and public entities, all while remaining stable, accessible and manageable for a small internal team. The opportunity was to rebalance the experience around people’s needs, without losing the rigour required of a statutory body.

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Starting with the people who use it

We began by building a shared understanding of who the website needed to work for, and in what contexts. Alongside desk research and analytics review, we spoke directly with people who use the site. Through one-on-one interviews, we heard from:

• people with disabilities
• First Nations community members
• people who speak English as a second language
• legal professionals and community intermediaries.

These conversations revealed how often the site was used during highly emotional and stressful moments and how easily legal language and complex structures could become barriers. Many users were first-time visitors trying to work out one simple thing: does this apply to me, and what do I do next?

These insights became the foundation for every design decision that followed.

Shifting from information to journeys

Rather than organising the experience around legislation or organisational structure, we focused on what people were trying to achieve. We mapped key user journeys and task flows, such as understanding whether an experience might be discrimination, learning about rights in Queensland, or making a complaint.

Working closely with QHRC’s web platform partner, Squiz, we aligned these journeys with the new information architecture, identifying opportunities to simplify pathways and reduce duplication. Wireframes prioritised plain language, clear decision points and supportive signposting between related content, helping users move forward with confidence rather than feeling overwhelmed.

This approach helped balance the needs of everyday users and professionals, without creating parallel experiences or fragmented content.

Design and governance for longevity (or protecting clarity over time)

Alongside the experience design, we worked with the QHRC team to support long-term sustainability. We developed personas grounded in real research, giving the team practical tools to guide future content decisions.

We also established a clear content strategy and set of content principles to shape the ongoing direction of the website. Together, these support consistent writing and structure, and help the team manage, review and evolve content over time in a way that continues to meet user needs.

Priority pages were rewritten to demonstrate how the new content structures and standards should work in practice.

All content template wireframes were delivered with detailed annotations and documentation, supporting Squiz’s development work and giving QHRC clear guidance for ongoing content management and iteration.

Outcomes and impact

The work delivered a strong, user-centred foundation for the new QHRC website. The future experience will make it easier for people to understand their rights, navigate discrimination, access human rights information, and take meaningful action.

Internally, the project has strengthened the QHRC team’s capability and confidence. They now have a clearer understanding of their users, a content strategy to support consistent content design, and a website structure that is easier to maintain and scale.

Together, the work supports a more inclusive, accessible and resilient digital presence - one that reflects QHRC’s unique role, responsibility and commitment to supporting human rights laws for the people of Queensland.