Residents’ views on the usability of the multilingual HelloEspoo.fi website
Espoo is collecting feedback from residents on the contents of the HelloEspoo.fi website and its translation tool. The first resident workshop produced important insights about the usefulness, clarity and reliability of the site. Development work will continue until summer 2026, when we will assess the results of the trial and the continued use of the translation tool.
HelloEspoo.fi is meant for people who have moved to Espoo recently. It aims to offer information on the city’s services and everyday matters. The website is testing an AI translation tool that translates content into 12 languages. The application will also read the text aloud in the different languages. The technical implementation of the translation tool is by Voice Intuitive Oy.
Active discussion and concrete ideas in the workshop
In November, we organised the first workshop where residents could test the website and its translation tool. The participants tested translations into Albanian, Spanish, Mandarin, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Residents had the opportunity to test the tool in practical situations at the workshop. We also gathered insights on how useful, clear and reliable the tool is.
At the workshop, the residents also assessed matters like the discoverability of information and the structure and headings of the website. Testers’ views on the quality of translations and the functionality of the voice reader function were collected as well. The workshop sparked active discussion, and the participants raised many concrete development proposals.
Appreciation and suggestions for further development
The users especially appreciated the “clear architecture” of the website, meaning that the general structure worked well. Content or tips targeted at different target groups for certain life situations were considered to be functional solutions. These included a designated page for families with children and a section that focuses on job seeking and entrepreneurship. One suggestion was to have content targeted for students as well in the future.
Another test group suggestion was a search function on the HelloEspoo.fi website. “This observation has come up before as well, and even though it’s not currently technically possible, we are working to make it happen”, says Niina Kuusisto, who coordinated the workshop.
In terms of headings and content, the residents called for plain language throughout, which would benefit both language learners and AI translations. There were also particular issues with the different languages. For example, “job seeking” as a term was not translated into Ukrainian correctly for the context, and the Spanish for “housing and community” was considered ambiguous. The testers also generally thought that the texts should be shorter.
Some of the workshop participants were critical of the quality of the translations. On the other hand, others were strongly of the opinion that even partial information or a comical translation is better than no information at all. One participant summed it up: “Despite the errors, the tool can help people find information in their own language.”
Collecting experiences until the summer
We will continue to systematically collect feedback from both residents and professionals from the different language groups until June. You can give feedback both directly on the HelloEspoo.fi website and in future workshops. We hope to receive user experiences and development proposals from other stakeholders and partners as well. We also recommend that you keep encouraging multilingual Espoo residents to use the site.
Based on the feedback received and website analytics, the City of Espoo will assess the benefits of AI translations and their continued use.
Additional information
Service Coordinator Niina Kuusisto, niina.kuusisto(at)espoo.fi
Project Manager Astrid Puumala-Thévenet, astrid.puumala(at)espoo.fi