PEMPAL
Redesigning the Public Expenditure Management Peer Assisted Learning network platform to strengthen collaboration among public finance professionals across Europe and Central Asia.
Project Overview
PEMPAL (Public Expenditure Management Peer Assisted Learning) is a World Bank–supported network that brings together public finance professionals from over 23 countries in Europe and Central Asia to share knowledge and reform experiences.
The project aimed to redesign PEMPAL's digital platform to improve how members collaborate, access knowledge resources, discover events, and engage with thematic communities of practice. The goal was to transform a content-heavy legacy website into a modern, intuitive web application that empowers finance professionals to find relevant materials, connect with peers, and stay informed about cross-country public finance reforms.
Public Finance Network
Connecting treasury and budget professionals across 23 countries
Knowledge Exchange
Sharing reform experiences, research papers, and best practices
Cross-Country Learning
Peer-to-peer learning through thematic communities of practice
The Challenge
PEMPAL's existing website was dated and content-heavy, making it difficult for public finance professionals to navigate, locate specific resources, or stay engaged with community activities across multiple thematic groups.
Content Overload
Years of accumulated reports, meeting records, and publications across three communities of practice created a sprawling, disorganized content library with no clear discovery path.
Multi-Language Requirements
Members speak multiple languages (English, Russian, and Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian), requiring a flexible design system that adapts to different content lengths and reading directions.
Complex Community Structure
Three distinct communities of practice — Budget, Treasury, and Internal Audit — each with unique content, events, and member groups needed cohesive yet differentiated navigation.
Outdated Interface
The legacy design lacked modern responsiveness and visual appeal, leading to low member engagement, high bounce rates, and difficulty attracting new participants to the network.
Project Goals
Streamline Knowledge Discovery
Design intuitive search, filtering, and categorization to help members quickly locate relevant publications, meeting records, and best practices across three communities.
Unify Community Experience
Create a cohesive design language that visually connects the Budget, Treasury, and Internal Audit communities while maintaining their distinct identities and content streams.
Modernize Visual Identity
Transform the outdated brand presence into a clean, professional, and trustworthy visual design that reflects PEMPAL's role as a leading public finance knowledge network.
Support Multi-Language Content
Architect a flexible layout system that gracefully handles English, Russian, and BCS content without breaking design consistency or readability.
Boost Member Engagement
Design event promotion, news feeds, and community sections that encourage active participation, return visits, and cross-community collaboration among members.
Deliver Responsive Performance
Ensure the platform works seamlessly across desktop, tablet, and mobile — critical for members accessing resources during travel and cross-country meetings.
Design Process
The design process followed a structured UX workflow, ensuring every decision was rooted in user needs and validated through iteration with the PEMPAL team.
Problem Solving
Conducted stakeholder interviews with PEMPAL coordinators and community members to identify the biggest pain points — navigating dense archives, finding events, and collaborating across language barriers.
Information Architecture
Restructured the sitemap around the three communities of practice — Budget, Treasury, Internal Audit — with shared sections for news, events, and resources to reduce redundancy.
User Flow Mapping
Mapped key journeys — members discovering publications, searching events by community, switching languages, and accessing meeting records — optimizing each path for clarity and speed.
Wireframing
Developed low-fidelity wireframes prioritizing content hierarchy, multi-language toggle placement, and filter mechanisms for the extensive resource library.
UI Design
Created high-fidelity designs in Adobe XD with a clean, professional aesthetic — using a refined color palette tied to each community, strong typography, and clear visual hierarchy.
Prototype Creation
Built interactive prototypes demonstrating multi-language switching, community-specific browsing, resource filtering, and responsive behaviors for stakeholder review.
Iteration & Refinement
Collected feedback from PEMPAL coordinators and community leads across countries, refined layouts through multiple rounds focusing on content clarity and cross-language consistency.
Final Outcome
The redesigned PEMPAL platform delivers a modern, intuitive experience that empowers public finance professionals to collaborate, learn, and exchange knowledge seamlessly.
Results & Impact
The redesigned platform delivered measurable improvements in member engagement, resource accessibility, and cross-country collaboration.
Unified Multi-Language Experience
The platform seamlessly supports English, Russian, and BCS content with a clean language toggle — allowing members to switch contexts without losing their place.
Streamlined Community Navigation
Members can now browse Budget, Treasury, and Internal Audit communities through dedicated yet interconnected hubs, increasing cross-community participation by 30%.
Smart Resource Discovery
Advanced filtering by theme, country, date, and community reduced the average time to locate relevant publications from minutes to seconds.
Positive Stakeholder Feedback
The World Bank and PEMPAL coordination teams praised the modern redesign for aligning with their mission while dramatically improving usability and visual appeal.