Suomi.fi is officially the world's best public digital service

What is the GovTech Prize?

The GovTech Prize is a prestigious international award recognizing the most innovative and impactful digital services in government. Organized annually, it celebrates solutions that improve public services, increase efficiency, and make life easier for citizens and organizations. Competing against digital services from around the world, Suomi.fi stood out as a benchmark for how governments can use technology to simplify and improve people’s interactions with the public sector.

Digitalist made sure the service is designed for real users

We were fortunate to be part of this journey for years. Our team of experts worked on the development of Suomi.fi, focusing on customer understanding, user research, and usability testing. The goal was to ensure that Suomi.fi wasn’t just functional but truly useful, intuitive, and inclusive for all user groups. We didn’t just test the service; we built deep insights by gathering early-stage customer understanding, conducting extensive research, and mapping out how different users interact with public services.

We created user profiles, empathy maps, and experience journeys to ensure the service would work for individuals and businesses alike. Understanding the needs of different user groups helped shape a service that makes handling official matters, accessing information, and handling authorizations as seamless as possible. Instead of forcing users to navigate multiple platforms, Suomi.fi centralizes key services in one place, making it easier and more efficient for everyone.

A new global benchmark for public digital services

Winning this award is not just a recognition of great design or technology. It highlights the importance of building digital services around the people who use them. The success of Suomi.fi reinforces that public digital services must be practical, inclusive, and aligned with the real needs of users rather than just focusing on technical capabilities.

A big congratulations to Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) and everyone who has contributed to making Suomi.fi what it is today. This recognition is well deserved, and we are proud to have played a role in shaping a service that has set a new benchmark for public digital services worldwide.

Read the official Ministry of Finance article here.

If you want to learn more about how user research and customer insights can improve digital services, take a look at our Research & Insights and Customer Experience services.