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The project: From the analog Berufswahlpass to the digital berufswahlapp
The path we choose after finishing school is undoubtedly one of life’s most significant decisions. To support students in this process, the Berufswahlpass was introduced in 2003 – a tool for career orientation designed to help young people discover their strengths and interests, explore different professions, and plan their professional future in a structured way.
For a long time, the Berufswahlpass existed only in analog form – as a binder filled with extensive paper documents. However, this format no longer met the expectations of its target audience. As a result, the federal and state governments launched a joint project to transform the outdated Berufswahlpass into a mobile app – the "berufswahlapp." SUNZINET supported the project as a digitalization partner.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Minister of Education and Research from 2021 to 2024, on the berufswahlapp:
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Technology
Go/Golang
Vue.js
MinIO
Keycloak
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KPI
Developed for 5.1 Million Users
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Project Participants
Project Consortium from eight federal states, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Berufswahlpass, G.I.B. GmbH
The goal: An inclusive app that motivates and engages
The berufswahlapp was designed to provide students with a modern, digital tool to support them in choosing a career path. The vision: a stereotype-free, inclusive, and culturally sensitive platform that addresses the diverse needs of young people across all types of schools throughout Germany.
Four key aspects were at the heart of the project:
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Motivation and brand identity: The aim was to create an attractive, inspiring brand that resonates with students, teachers, and decision-makers alike.
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Scalability and performance: With a potential user base of up to 5.1 million (students and educators), the app needed to be stable and scalable.
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Collaboration among stakeholders: It was essential to align the requirements of educational institutions, policymakers, and researchers.
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Digital accessibility: The app needed to be inclusive. To ensure access for individuals with disabilities, the design had to comply with the Barrier-Free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0).
Solution & strategy: Extensive testing for the best outcome
To achieve these goals, we chose a user-centered approach. The app was tested and optimized in three phases with more than 6,000 students and teachers. We focused on the following key areas:
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Gamification & engagement: We incorporated playful elements to create an interactive and motivating user experience — for example, by unlocking achievements or enabling in-class rankings.
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Inclusive design: To ensure barrier-free access, the app was thoroughly tested with various user groups, including students with visual impairments.
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Scalable technology: A high-performance, future-proof architecture based on Go/Golang, Vue.js, MinIO, and Keycloak was chosen to ensure the app runs reliably, even with a large number of users.
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Data protection: To ensure all students could use the app without concern, data security and privacy were top priorities throughout development.
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All interactive elements are designed in such a way that they can be detected by screen readers – an important criterion, especially for visually impaired users.
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For people with motor impairments, the typical touch navigation of apps is often a challenge. As an alternative to swipe gestures, the career choice app offers arrow keys that can also be operated via keyboard or voice control. Additionally, drag-and-drop functionalities have been replaced by dropdown menus.
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Sans-serif fonts and a special contrast mode improve the readability of text. Tests revealed that the black-yellow color combination in contrast mode is perceived as more comfortable than the conventional black-and-white combination.
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Important explanatory videos about the career choice app are made accessible. Versions are available with subtitles, in sign language, in easy-to-understand language, and for visually impaired users.
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In addition to potential impairments, it was important to consider the diverse social and cultural backgrounds of the students – for example, with a gender-neutral design and a neutrally designed logo.
Rollout & successes: App wins German Brand Award and BITV certification
The career choice app went live in 2022 and is now being used in six federal states (Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia) – two more are planning to introduce it in the coming months.
The solution meets the expectations of young people, fulfills the highest security and privacy requirements, and takes into account the great diversity within the target group.
Two particular successes that the app has celebrated are:
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Awarded the German Brand Award: The career choice app won Gold in the category "Excellence in Brand Strategy and Creation / Brand Communication – Web and Mobile." The jury particularly praised the modern, target-group-oriented design and the clear, motivating, and accessible user experience.
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Certification according to BITV 2.0: The app specifically addresses the needs of users with physical and cognitive impairments. It meets over 100 checkpoints for digital accessibility and has been certified according to BITV 2.0.
Justification of the jury of the German Brand Awards:
"The 'berufswahlapp' is more than just a career guidance tool for students – it is a holistic brand that has been consistently developed from the world of young people and has a high potential for identification. The educationally valuable app impresses with a modern and target-group-oriented design, as well as engaging and understandable storytelling through illustrations and gamification. It promises a clear, motivating, and accessible user experience. A well-crafted, helpful brand tool with a high appeal factor." (Translation of the German quote; for the original see german-brand-award.com)
