We’re incredibly proud to share that Toast has been awarded Bronze at the Best Design Awards 2025, recognising our work on Sorted.org.nz.
For us, this project was always about more than design. It was about helping everyday New Zealanders feel a little more confident, a little more in control, and a lot less alone when it comes to money.
Award-winning by design and by impact
Here’s the official write-up from the Best Design Awards:
Sorted.org.nz has been helping New Zealanders make sense of money for over 20 years. But in today’s world, where financial stress is rising and digital expectations are shifting – it needed to evolve.
Together with Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, we reimagined Sorted as something more than a website. We set out to create a trusted digital companion – one that meets people where they are, speaks to their real-life challenges, and helps them take confident steps forward.
The new Sorted.org.nz is designed to feel human. Curated tools and guides are front and centre, guiding users toward action. Content is conversational and judgement free. Journeys are structured around real goals like paying off debt, growing savings or planning for retirement with clear, supportive next steps along the way.
The user experience is playful, modern, and calming. We introduced a warm, expressive colour palette, simplified navigation and subtle motion to make the site feel alive and welcoming. Everything is built to be accessible, mobile friendly, and culturally inclusive, helping Sorted reach more New Zealanders than ever before.
Behind the scenes, we built a flexible platform that can evolve as users’ needs change. It supports new campaigns, guides, and journeys, all managed through a streamlined CMS and modular component system.
The results speak for themselves. Since launch, tool usage has increased and session times have improved. Critically, trust and confidence have grown too:
• 85% of users say they trust the information provided by Sorted.
• 69% say they feel more confident making money decisions after using the site.
But perhaps the biggest success is emotional: Sorted now feels like a place people want to return to. Not just when things go wrong, but when they want to grow.
It’s a modern financial wellbeing platform that walks alongside people, every step of the way.
A shared win
Awards are lovely, but what matters most to us is the impact behind them.
This recognition belongs just as much to the team at Te Ara Ahunga Ora as it does to ours. It is the result of a truly collaborative partnership, grounded in a shared goal, making financial wellbeing more accessible for all New Zealanders.
What it means for Toast
Winning Bronze at the Best Design Awards is a special milestone for our team. It reflects the care, craft, and thinking that goes into every project we take on, and the belief that great design should genuinely make people’s lives better.
We are proud of what we have created together. And even more excited about what is next.
