Te Waihanga |
New Zealand Infrastructure Commission

Digital tool

Feedback on the draft National Infrastructure Plan Survey

Judges’ comments

The digital survey is a commendable effort to engage the public. It presents complex policy issues in a thoughtful way, successfully inviting feedback on the National Infrastructure Plan. The judges praised the tool for making it easy for a broad audience to participate.

The survey is well-structured and intuitive to navigate. Users are guided through the topics with helpful icons and a clear, logical sequence. The language is conversational and technical terms are often explained. This gives people enough background to respond without needing to read the full, detailed plan.

The tool’s design is clean, professional, and easy to read. The judges also noted that the tool was tested with users and improved based on their feedback. This shows a strong commitment to creating a user-focused and effective way to gather public input.

Media statement

Te Waihanga, the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, is delighted to win the award for Best Plain Language Digital Tool.

New Zealand’s infrastructure system — our roads, water networks, schools and more — is complex. Because of the long life and size of our infrastructure system, decisions made about it can have an impact for decades, even centuries, and involve millions or billions of dollars.

Asking for feedback from the public on infrastructure as a system can be a tough communication challenge. How do you translate technical problems into something that people not only understand, but understand how their choice will impact them now and in the future.

In developing this survey, we wanted to provide a way for members of the public to learn about the actions being proposed in the draft National Infrastructure Plan to address what’s not working within the infrastructure system, and to provide us with insights on how we can better plan for future generations.

We’re delighted to win this award and along with the exceptional response we received from the survey, take it as a sign that we achieved our goal. Thank you for the Plain Language Awards for championing clear communication, as we’ve seen — it makes all the difference.

Vanisa Dhiru
General Manager — Corporate
Te Waihanga | New Zealand Infrastructure Commission