Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains aims to support enterprises within selected value chains to adopt circular economy practices.

My responsibilities

• Usability audit
• UI/UX Design,
• Visual Design, Design system
• Visual QA

Team

• Copywriter
• Product manager
• Industry specialist
• FE / BE developers

Industries

• B2B
• Government/Policy

Client

• The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Date June - November 2021

About

The SWITCH programme aims to support MSME (micro-, small, and medium sized) suppliers in developing countries in the value chains of large EU manufacturers and buyers to jointly identify, adopt, and excel in circular economy practices.

The transition towards a circular economy is imperative to achieve economic, environmental and societal benefits, which can significantly reduce poverty. SWITCH supports and facilitates effective and replicable pilot projects that involve all relevant actors across selected value chains and enable enterprises to meet their circularity goals.

Problem statement

Lower tier suppliers in developing countries often face major technical and financial challenges when adopting new practices in the circular economy. Suppliers do not have access to the latest policies and circular solutions and do not know the impact of policies on current business operations. Even though they have knowledge of circular economy practices, it is very difficult to network, and they do not know a safe platform to share their questions, experiences and good practices. Suppliers are often unaware that they can request support that may be available in the form of capacity development, technical expertise, development of circular ecosystems and access to finance.

Steps

Steps included in my process:

1

Understand the client's needs and goals: It was essential to have a clear understanding of the client's business, target audience, scope and goals. This helped me to design a website that meets their specific needs.

2

Conduct user research: Conducting user research is crucial to understanding the behaviours, preferences and needs of the target audience. In this case, we did not know which countries and companies will be involved in the program, so my research was mostly secondary, and usability testing was done internally, with the program staff and initiators. I was exploring other programs aimed at supporting individuals and companies in transitioning to the circular economy, improving the value chain, communicating sustainability challenges.

3

Together with SWITCH, we created a site map (a site map is a visual representation of the website's structure and hierarchy). It includes all the pages and content that we included on the website and forum.

4

I developed wireframes (wireframes are basic layouts that represent the structure and content of each page on the website). They were used to ensure that the design of the website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. I was able to test wireframes using interactive prototypes to identify any usability issues and make necessary changes.

5

Next to the final design, I was working on the design system.

Design mockups: Once the wireframes were complete, I design mockups of each page to show what the final website will look like.

Project outcomes

• The project was launched successfully in November 2021.
• We were successful in our goal of creating an intuitive, streamlined experience for web and mobile.
• By encouraging collaboration platforms for multinationals and their lower tier suppliers, the project enabled sharing of experience and best practices. Suppliers can join the Forum (only available by invitation), interact and learn from each other.