Harnessing behavioural insights to drive engagement on online tools

To unlock the full potential of the NSW Boards and Committees register, we made simple improvements to its accessibility and functionality, while promoting use amongst practitioners and members.

Key information

  • The challenge: The NSW Boards and Committees register is a tool to connect people with diverse skills and backgrounds with government board and committee roles and thereby improving representation. However, its use was inconsistent, possibly due to low awareness of its purpose, benefits, and poor functionality.
  • What we did: The NSW Behavioural Insights Unit (BIU) partnered with Women NSW and The Cabinet Office to better understand the barriers and enablers to using the register.
  • What we found: Simple behavioural optimisations to the register and promoting its use led to a 77 per cent increase in the number of boards vacancies posted and a 45 per cent increase in users. 
Close-Up Shot of a Person Filling out a Form Using a Laptop

The challenge

The NSW Boards and Committees register is a platform that allows individuals with diverse skills and backgrounds to express interest in being considered for state government board and committee positions. However, we found that the appointment practitioners and general members of the public were not using the register. This was primarily due to a lack of clarity about its purpose, unawareness of its existence, poor functionality, and unclear benefits of using it. 

What we did

The BIU partnered with NSW Government appointment practitioners across all agencies to understand their use of the register and identify barriers and enablers.

Key activities included:

  • Surveying 42 appointment practitioners
  • Conducting user-testing of the register
  • Redesigning the register platform and website copy to improve navigation and clarify purpose
  • Running a series of media campaigns promoting the register
  • Promoting the register and its benefits at agency meetings

What we found

Our research identified five key barriers to using the register:

  • Lack of clarity around the purpose of the register
  • Clunky search function that made it difficult to identify candidates
  • Confusing language and terminology on website
  • Members struggled to find and join the register
  • Unclear benefits for candidates joining the register

We recommended three ways to increase engagement with the register:

  1. Clarify and communicate the register’s purpose by:
    • Increasing the salience of the register and its broader purpose
    • Highlighting the benefits of diverse candidates
    • Emphasising evidence about the value of diversity on boards
    • Simplifying website content – reducing comprehension level from university to high school
  2. Improve the register’s functionality by:
    • Redesigning register webpages and registration process
    • Creating distinct landing pages for candidates and practitioners
    • Changing the search function to prioritise candidates based on objective skills rather than qualities
  3. Encourage practitioner use and member registrations by:
    • Prompting use of the register at timely moments (e.g., when board member positions are up for renewal)
    • Promoting the register on LinkedIn to attract people with more diverse skills and backgrounds

After these recommendations were implemented, from 2022 to 2023 the number of practitioners posting ads increased by 77 per cent and number of members who joined the register increased by 45 per cent.

What’s next

Our research identified four ways behavioural science can help you improve engagement with an online tool:

  1. Make it easy for users to navigate the register and emphasise important information
  2. Showcase the benefits of using the tool, like receiving notifications for relevant board vacancies
  3. Simplify the language, break chunks of text into simple steps, and avoid technical jargon
  4. Internally promote the register to practitioners and externally to the community.

Visit the NSW Government Boards and Committees Register at https://boards.nsw.gov.au/

Want to know more about our work or partner with us? Contact us to learn more 

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