Project 02 — 2026

Exploring and driving the adoption potential of personal data stores

An exploratory design study, spanning quantitative & qualitative research and iterative low-to-high-fi prototyping to validate and optimise the adoption potential of personal data stores.

In collaboration with
Open Data Institute Randstad VRT MAX
A laptop showing the permission manager: the organisations holding one person's data, each listed with the details it may use, a switch per purpose and a button to revoke it.

The challenge

Personal data stores (PDS) are a promising technology for users to bundle their personal data into a single, secure location under their own control, enabling innovative cross-platform data usage. Despite these benefits, corporate adoption of PDS technology has remained limited.

To support the Open Data Institute (ODI) in accelerating PDS adoption, this project investigated the primary drivers and barriers influencing user acceptance. We explored end-user attitudes and translated those insights into high-fidelity interactive prototypes for usability testing and client engagement.

My role
UX designer
Freelance assignment.
Partners
Open Data Institute (client)
Collaborated with Randstad and public broadcaster VRT to define the use cases.
Status
Completed
2026

The process

01 Scoping Defining the use cases. 02 Market research Large-scale survey to define the potential of use cases. 03 Initial prototyping Designing user flows. 04 Expert review Gathering feedback from industry specialists. 05 High-fidelity prototyping Creating interactive prototypes. 06 User testing 17 think-aloud sessions. 07 Results Insights from user testing. 08 Impact From prototype to client acquisition tool.

01 — Scoping

Defining the use cases

To identify the most viable domains for implementing personal data stores, we defined four high-potential use cases based on industry interest. Partnering with leading organisations, including recruitment agency Randstad and public broadcaster VRT, we scoped the following applications:

HR Seamlessly matching candidates with career opportunities by integrating verified diplomas, location preferences, and professional interests directly from their PDS.
Media Delivering personalised streaming recommendations by securely leveraging cross-platform data, such as Spotify listening habits and viewing histories.
Finance Aggregating multi-bank and investment data into a unified, secure financial dashboard owned and controlled entirely by the user.
Health Enabling secure sharing of wearable metrics and activity data with healthcare professionals to facilitate proactive, personalised care.
Personal data store Randstad HR · Randstad Diplomas Work experience Personality test Contact details VRT MAX Media · VRT Viewing history Listening history Social media usage WealthWise Finance Transaction history Salary Subscriptions MyHealth Health Medical history Medication Activity
One personal data store, four services: each use case draws only the data types it needs.

02 — Market research

A large-scale survey with 2,335 respondents

To gain initial insights into the adoption potential of these use cases and to learn more about users' willingness to share data in these contexts, we started out with a large-scale survey with 2,335 respondents, in which participants evaluated the four personal data store use cases based on written scenario descriptions.

The survey revealed that the Health use case had the highest adoption potential among respondents. In contrast, the likelihood of adopting personal data stores decreased significantly with age across all domains, as illustrated below.

Average behavioural intention across use cases decreases with age 7-point scale · hover a bar
0 1 2 3 4 5
Average behavioural intention per use case and age group (18–24 to 64+).

Willingness to share data differed strongly across domains. Remarkably, Health data was shared most readily (over 80% for medical history and medication), followed by HR data such as diplomas and work experience (around 70%). Media and especially Finance data were met with more hesitation, particularly for sensitive details like transactions or social media activity. Overall, users were more willing to share data when its relevance and benefit were clear.

Willingness to share data varies significantly across use cases HR Media Finance Health
Share of respondents willing to share each data type. Hover a row for its percentage.

03 — Initial prototyping

Designing user flows

To quickly design a first tangible prototype of the personal data store and the use case scenarios, a design system was leveraged to rapidly prepare an initial version ready for expert review.

The resulting prototype featured the central personal data store, structured as a dashboard visualising the full range of storable user data. In addition, user flows were designed for the four use cases to demonstrate how external services can leverage the data in the PDS to enhance their services, while the user stays in control of who accesses which data.

The design system behind the first prototype: standard button variants and a colour palette of ink, sky, brand, red, green, yellow and blue ramps.
The design system used to build the first iteration.
The user flows of the first prototype: rows of screens for the pod browser and the HR, Media, Finance and Health use cases.
The user flows: the data store and one flow per use case.

04 — Expert review

Gathering feedback from industry specialists

Before user testing, the prototype was refined through a series of expert reviews with ten professionals from fields including UX design, product development, and privacy. Each expert navigated the prototype using a guided walkthrough. Their observations were organised in an affinity diagram, which helped identify recurring themes and actionable insights.

The expert review board in FigJam: sticky notes per expert on the left, and on the right the 23 design changes made in response, each pinned to the screen it changed.
Expert feedback, clustered and translated into 23 design changes.

05 — High-fidelity prototyping

Creating interactive prototypes

These findings from the expert reviews directly informed the second high-fidelity iteration of the interactive prototype, which was then used for user testing.

Personal data store
The personal data store: My data with payment cards and transactions, and the permission manager listing Randstad, VRT MAX and WealthWise with a switch per purpose.
The second iteration: the data store and its four use cases. Pick a screen to view it large.

06 — User testing

17 think-aloud sessions

To evaluate the PDS concept and the use cases, 17 participants took part in one-hour online sessions. Each session followed a structured flow combining think-aloud walkthroughs, a semi-structured interview, and a short post-test survey.

A remote session: a participant, blurred for privacy, walks through Alex Wilder's diplomas in the personal data store while thinking aloud.
A participant exploring the data store during a remote session.

07 — Results

Qualitative insights

Positive reception across use cases Qualitative feedback revealed a generally positive reception across all four use cases.
Domain-specific drivers Participants valued efficiency and simplicity in HR and Health scenarios, while trust and perceived relevance shaped their attitudes towards Media and Finance.
Interface feedback The personal data store interface itself was praised for its clarity and centralisation of data, though some users voiced concerns about security and information overload.
Hands-on interaction builds trust Overall, the tests confirmed that hands-on interaction with a prototype increased both understanding and acceptance of personal data stores.

“Interesting to have that in one location instead of having 456 different apps for it.”

Participant

“If they have the one password from that platform, they can get to all your data, but really everything. To your medical records, to your banking details, to your music preferences. Where you live, what newspaper you read. Yeah, you do not want that.”

Participant

08 — Impact

Client acquisition The final prototype now serves as a business development tool for the ODI to demonstrate PDS capabilities to prospective clients.
Actionable adoption insights Delivered quantitative and qualitative validation from 2,335 survey participants and 17 think-aloud testing sessions, demonstrating the empirical potential of PDSs.
User data control Paved the way for enhanced user control by providing a practical design of PDS use cases that empowers users to manage their personal data transparently across the web.
Show, don’t tell Demonstrated that hands-on interaction with prototypes significantly enhances user understanding and trust in personal data stores.

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