Digital damage recovery for toeslagenouders
- Product Owner
- Service Design
- UX Research
- UX Design
- Agile / Scrum
- Stakeholder Management
Translating a legally complex damage framework into an application that parents can actually use.
A legal damage framework, built around the toeslagenschandaal, had to be translated into a digital application that toeslagenouders can navigate themselves — where files can be supplemented, processed, and reported back. Over nearly two years, with falling cabinets, shifting policy, and new state secretaries, I helped build the entire trajectory.
Since this project is still largely in progress, it is not yet possible to show the complete interface.
🗺️ Designing the process from scratch
At the beginning of the project, much of the policy still had to be translated into how it could even fit into an online portal. Along the way, a lot changed as well, driven by new insights. That's why I worked out many processes throughout the project. Within the portal, but also between systems. I did this by:
- Sitting down with parents and validating ideas to understand their situation and needs
- Aligning with other technical teams on possibilities and requirements
- Defining the technical implementation of legal frameworks together with legal experts
Based on this, I created customer flows that served as the foundation for the design. Later in the trajectory, these steps returned whenever new requirements came from the political side.
✏️ Design in a complex context
I designed the full first version of the portal in Figma, including prototyping and a component library. Using UX research & usability testing, I validated the solution with toeslagenouders and other stakeholders.
Iterative design was not a choice but a necessity: every testing moment brought new insights, and the political landscape kept shifting. As the project progressed, and new requirements emerged from the political side, my design formed the basis for the new direction of the recovery operation: MijnHerstel. During this transition I guided a team of four UX designers in designing a new version of MijnHerstel, where I largely laid the foundation myself and worked out the complex logic, based on earlier insights and feedback.
🤝 Navigating a broad web of stakeholders
This project required stakeholder management on multiple levels at the same time. I coordinated with development teams, legal experts, the Ministerie van Financiën, communication specialists, and external consultancy parties.
Within that broad web of multidisciplinary teams, it was my role to safeguard a consistent user experience that took into account the time pressure and the limitations of technical implementation. Working Agile was a must: continuously translating new requirements into workable features, planning, building, and testing.
✅ Outcome
MijnHerstel was launched on 2 December 2025 and is accessible to toeslagenouders. Through the portal, parents can report their additional damages, receive an assessment, and resubmit when needed. Parents can go through the process at their own pace, supported both personally and digitally. User feedback has been positive — a remarkable result for an application that carries so much legal and emotional complexity.
Interested? Leave a message!
Joris Laenen
Product Owner & UX designer · Eindhoven
+31 6 454 529 56