Traditional
Shoe Repair Shop
A website to promote a small, local business and its traditional craft.
Project
Duration: October 2021
Type: Give back
Role: UX Designer
This is a small extracurricular project delivered for a local shoe repair shop in my home city of Szczecin, Poland.
The cobbler trade is one of our traditional, artisanal crafts. Although they could once be found on every street corner, shoe repair shops are relatively rare today. The wide variety of shoes currently available, combined with their competitive pricing, means that people these days rarely have their shoes repaired.
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Challenge
This type of business generally has a low online presence, making it difficult for the user to locate the right store. Additionally, users are oftentimes unaware of the wide variety of services on offer. Aside from shoe repair, a traditional cobbler will also mend latches, snaps and zips on bags, jackets or even expensive sports equipment
Project Vision
A website to promote the traditional cobbler trade and to inform the user of the standard and non-standard services that are offered.
Starting the Design
I started off by categorizing the cobbler services and merging them into coherent groups to be displayed on the site.
​My main objective was to emphasize the services offered in store, while keeping the site architecture lean and straightforward.
Using paper wireframes, I experimented with different layouts, choosing those that would best suit the idea for the site. With the main sections refined and ordered, I started work on the first designs.
Refining the Design
I kept the design balanced and conservative to accentuate the traditional character of the profession and the long history of the shop, which has been operating in the same place since 1945.
The services are highlighted on the main page, making it easier for the user to identify what the shop has to offer.
The website was launched in October 2021.
Towards the end of the project, I added a small section promoting the cobbler vocation, to help to attract new people to this long-established profession.
You can visit the site yourself, by following the link below.
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