The launch of the new ‘R-series’ passport in 2022 marked the successful pairing of culturally expressive design and advanced technologies, making the Australian passport one of the world’s most secure and attractive travel documents.
While its design and security are recognised internationally, granting holders entry to almost 200 countries without a visa, it is also one of the world’s most expensive passports to own. Further, research identified unexpectedly long processing times for passport applications as a particular pain point for travellers.
Fenton Communications worked with the Australian Passport Office to create an online estimator tool and a suite of new digital resources to support greater community understanding of passport application and renewal processes for adults and children and build on the sense of pride attached to owning an Australian passport.
The first stage focused on creating an online tool that would help set customer expectations around application processing timeframes. The Passport processing timeframe estimator was developed as Wizard form using filter questions to provide information about how long a person’s passport application could take based on their circumstances. Deliverables included UX writing and design, market testing, and backend development in collaboration with a digital solutions partner. Evaluation of the tool based on user feedback showed a positive impact for visitors to the Australian Passport Office website.
A suite of long and short-form videos were created in tandem with the online tool. The longer-form videos used animated characters to explain different processes from the customer perspective, showing how a person’s circumstances relate to each step in their passport application. Complex applications, such as first-time and child passports, are communicated in progressive steps that give the viewer an overview of the documents they will need, the actions they need to take and how to get started.
A series of three short-form videos were created to accompany social posts explaining different aspects of how the passport is designed and created, including a flythrough of security features, Australian landmarks and the hidden native flora and fauna that inhabit the pages of each passport.