How do you redesign an energy regulator's website so citizens can find their way effortlessly?

VNR x iO: clear energy information for every Flemish citizen

The Flemish Utilities Regulator (VNR), formerly VREG, is the independent supervisor of electricity, natural gas, heat, cooling, water and CO₂ networks in Flanders. The regulator safeguards transparency and fair competition in the energy market, and informs citizens about their rights and options.

Together with iO, the VNR built an accessible, user-friendly website where answers can be found quickly and intuitively. Through a clear information architecture and smart digital tools, we support Flemish citizens in making better energy choices.

Starting at the source: a comprehensive content audit

Every successful government website redesign begins with understanding what exists and what is missing. We audited the entire VNR website, identifying structural faults, content gaps and duplicate pages.

A content audit for a public sector website is more than a technical exercise. It is about understanding which questions citizens actually ask, and whether the current content answers them. We mapped every page against real search behaviour and user intent.

Citizen first: building the right information architecture

What answers do citizens look for? How do they navigate? What language do they use? Our UX and UI experts designed an information architecture entirely from the citizen's perspective.

Rather than organising content by internal department structure (a common trap for public sector websites), we structured pages around tasks and questions: "How do I compare energy suppliers?", "What are my rights as a consumer?" and "How does the capacity tariff work?"

The result: a clear, logical navigation that matches how real people think about energy, not how a regulator organises its internal processes.

Intuitive tools that put citizens in control

A website with clear information is a start. But for a regulator like VNR, citizens need more: they need interactive tools that help them make personal energy decisions.

Together, we built self-service tools that allow users to explore their own energy situation. The most prominent example is the V-test: an independent energy comparison tool that lets citizens compare electricity and gas contracts based on their actual consumption.

These tools were designed with one principle in mind: if a citizen needs help to use a tool, the tool has failed. Every interaction was tested, refined and simplified until it worked intuitively for every user.

Continuous evolution: responding to a changing energy market

A website for an energy regulator is never finished. The energy market changes constantly: new regulations, new tariff structures, new questions from citizens. That is why we built the platform for continuous evolution from the start.

When Belgium introduced capacity charges, citizens had urgent questions. Together with VNR, we created dedicated information pages using keyword research and content strategy to match the exact terms citizens were searching for.

This approach turns a static government website into a living platform that evolves with citizen needs and market developments.

From search intent to content strategy

Every page on the redesigned VNR website serves a purpose rooted in real user behaviour. We used keyword research and search intent analysis to ensure content matches what citizens actually look for, not what the organisation assumes they want.

This means the website does not just inform; it is findable. Citizens searching for "energy supplier comparison Flanders" or "what are capacity charges" land on pages built specifically to answer those questions.