Description:

Pasifika whānau face significant challenges due to the cost-of-living pressures in Aotearoa.
The Fono’s Whānau Ora service walks alongside whānau, supporting not just immediate crisis needs, but helping them build long-term resilience and independence.
Until recently, the service relied on paper-based systems that caused long delays, duplicated effort, and had gaps in communication. Urgent requests for financial support could take over a month to process, leaving whānau at risk of eviction, power disconnections, or being unable to afford necessities. Staff were burdened with heavy admin workloads, often working late into the night, instead of spending valuable time with whānau.
This challenge set out to transform how The Fono supports whānau more efficiently. At the heart of our process with The Fono was the integration of Pasifika cultural protocols woven together with human-centred design principles, creating a reciprocal approach grounded in lived experience and cultural respect.

Together, we co-designed a digital system that enables navigators to make real-time requests while sitting with whānau, automates approvals, and keeps everyone informed at every step. This ensured the solution was inclusive and fit for purpose.

As a result of our shared design experience, urgent needs are now met in days rather than weeks. Staff are empowered. Families feel seen. And the service can support significantly more whānau in their journey from crisis to stability.

Tangible outcomes achieved include:
• 65% increase in families supported
• Nearly 7-fold increase in referrals from other Fono services
• 66% increase in financial assistance requests to cover essential expenses
• 136% rise in payments made for helping families reduce debt and gain stable employment
• 97% reduction in per-request admin time, saving 665 staff hours
• Wait times for urgent financial assistance cut from 4-6 weeks to 3-5 days

This is the value of design: transforming systems to serve people better—with speed, dignity, and greater care.