The Contribution of Interface Design on the Promotion and Sales of Social Institutions’ Products: The Case Study of Escola Oficina

• Author(s): Lobo, Rita ; Martins, Nuno ; Pereira, Leonardo ; Brandão, Daniel
• Date: 2024
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/11110/2814
• Origin: Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave
• Subject(s): Design de interfaces; Plataforma digital; E-commerce
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

This paper focuses on the case study of Escola Oficina (EO), a non-profit, socially-oriented organization that supports unemployed citizens by offering training and employability in the fields of sewing and cartonboard making, with an emphasis on circular economy and environmental sustainability. Although EO is successful in training and integrating their trainees into the job market, it faces external commu-nication challenges and issues selling its products. This study aims, therefore, to tackle the stigma associated with unemployed individuals, while promoting the high production quality of its products. The adopted strategy was to create an online store to, thus, promote the products produced by EO’s trainees. This study focused on Interface Design and in the identification of the requirements and strategies that best help to fight the prejudice that traditionally lives amongst citizens associated with products that are produced in the context of social institutions. This project adopted a Design Thinking methodology, using a user-centered approach that was validated through usability tests. The results obtained are intended to serve as a basis for potential replication in analogous cases.