Experience NFP 77: Digital Transformation on a Microsite
Five years of research, 46 teams, 30 million Swiss francs: The findings of the National Research Program «Digital Transformation» (NRP 77) are now presented in a concise and accessible format on a microsite by mutoco and advocacy—including an AI chatbot to help users navigate the site.
For five years, 46 teams conducted research on Switzerland’s digital transformation as part of the National Research Program «Digital Transformation» (NRP 77). Commissioned by the Federal Council, a total of 46 projects with a combined budget of 30 million Swiss francs were carried out between 2020 and 2025, coordinated by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). To ensure the findings remain accessible in the long term, a microsite was created in close collaboration with the Bern-based digital agency mutoco and the communications agency advocacy. It presents the key findings as twelve scientifically grounded insights for politics, business, and society.
Complex topics from NFP 77: Digital Transformation explained in a concise manner
A key challenge was to present complex research content in an accessible way and, despite limited visual material, create a microsite that is visually and substantively engaging and encourages visitors to linger. To make it easier to navigate the extensive content, the team integrated an AI chat into the development process. Subtle animation elements further sharpen the focus on the textual content.
ParetoLabs' AI chat makes navigation easier
An AI chatbot from ParetoLabs complements the search function and makes it easier to navigate the microsite. The AI has been trained on all of NFP 77’s research results and is thus intended to be a more powerful tool than the traditional search function. It lists all sources, and users can provide direct feedback on the quality of the AI’s responses to the system via a rating feature.
Design That Makes Room for Science
The clean, easy-to-read layout leaves plenty of space for references and other contextual elements. A custom-developed shader gives the images a digital look. This makes the key visuals come alive and invites visitors to explore. All visuals are interactive and offer a playful approach; they give the website a distinctive character and, through simple, abstracted natural elements, reinforce the messages conveyed by the syntheses.
The color palette has been deliberately chosen to be understated. Three high-contrast accent colors for the modules help users navigate the site and give it structure. The bright yellow highlights key text passages and also serves as an accent color for links. In this way, the color scheme underscores the scientific nature of the content.
The result is an easy-to-navigate and easy-to-understand microsite that summarizes the research findings of NFP 77 and preserves them for the future. The project case study is documented on the mutoco website: https://mutoco.ch/de/projects/nfp77
Go to the microsite: https://nfp-digitale-transformation.ch/de
Responsible at mutoco: Larissa Hintermann, Digital Direction. Person in charge at advocacy: Mathis Brauchbar.
