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user Experience design, system design

Tapestry: Engaging Education Touch Point for on-boarding system

Project Overview

we collaborated with Tapestry, a global luxury fashion company, to design an engaging education touch point for their on-boarding system. The project involved working closely with their HR department and ESG department to develop an educational component that create an effective educational resource to help new employees to understand the importance of sustainability and the role they could play in promoting positive change within the fashion industry

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Client

Tapstry

My Role

Research, Concept, Visual Design

Team

Brittany Nievinski
Diva Gohill, Riddhi Sabnis
Ziyuan Wang

Timeline

Mar 2022 - May 2022

Introduction

Climate Change + Fashion Industry. A Recipe for Disaster

Not only has the fashion industry been named one of the top three polluters by a 2021 World Economic Forum, but the fashion industry is responsible for a hefty 20% of water waste worldwide. And with 87% of products being disposed of within 3 years of production, textile waste floods landfills with millions of tons of waste per year.
We know that without intervention, the fashion industry’s impact on the planet will be disastrous. The industry continues to grow, with a 400% increase in production since 2020. The climate crisis is real, the clock is ticking, and change in the fashion industry and beyond is needed if we are to avoid catastrophe.

Photo from: Earth.org

Through a number of different initiatives involving people, communities, and the planet, Tapestry is making a difference, and we’re excited to be a part of it. With initiatives pursuing renewable energy to sustainable materials, it is clear that Tapestry is taking the necessary measures to do their part for the planet and its inhabitants.

tapestry

A Leading Global House of Brands

Tapestry is a leading luxury fashion company that is known for its iconic brands such as Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. The company was founded in 1941 and has since then become a global fashion empire with a presence in over 40 countries. Tapestry's mission is to inspire and innovate while upholding the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship. The company is committed to creating a sustainable and socially responsible future for the fashion industry by implementing eco-friendly practices, ethical sourcing, and empowering communities. Through its iconic brands, Tapestry continues to push boundaries and set new trends in the fashion world, while also maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability and social impact

ESG Goals - 2025 Goal (our planet)

build a more sustainable fashion industry

Reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions 20% below 2017 levels

Reduce Scope 3 emissions from freight shipping 20% below 2017 levels

Reduce water 10% below 2018 levels across Tapestry and our supply chain

Ensure 90% of leather comes from Silver- and Gold-rated Leather Working Group tanneries

Ensure 75% recycled content in packaging

25% reduction in North America corporate and distribution center waste

95% traceability and mapping of our raw materials to ensure a transparent and responsible supply chain

Procure 100% renewable energy in Tapestry’s stores, offices and fulfillment centers

What tapestry want ?

Tapestry seeks to recreate a section in on-boarding for new hires and all employees to increases awareness, encourages conscious decision-making, promotes education and engagement, and leads to measurable progress towards addressing climate change within their organization

Increased Awareness

Raise awareness among its employees and new hires about climate change and its impact. They aim to ensure that the audience has a solid understanding of the issue and its implications

Conscious Decision-Making

Inspire the audience to make more conscious decisions in their daily work and personal lives. This includes encouraging distribution centers to be more aware of waste and implementing sustainable practices

Education and Engagement

Be more educated about climate change and its effects. They aim to foster engagement and excitement among employees, motivating them to learn more and take action

Measurable Progress
‍

Measure the progress of the project by tracking indicators such as increased engagement, enthusiasm, and desire to learn. They also envision success in tangible outcomes

research

Qualitative research

We conducted a survey to understand people’s experiences with onboarding better, our findings helped us understand what we could include in our approach to make it more effective

key founding

only 40% of people actually found the process to be engaging. Most responses pointed to it being boring & not engaging, because of the information overload

When asked about what people wanted to know, it showed us that people were interested in participating in interactive group activities, a new narrative style of communication & something that was more relevant to their future job opportunities

We also found that 27% of our respondents were interested in knowing the company’s policies & benefits and 23% were interested in the value and culture

Final concept

on-boarding interactive engagement pathway

We are thrilled to introduce an innovative interactive platform that we have designed for the onboarding process of new employees at Tapestry. This unique platform aims to educate new team members about the sustainable practices in the fashion industry as well as showcase the remarkable achievements of our company.

The platform we have developed seamlessly integrates educational modules, interactive questionnaires, and mapping features, providing an engaging and immersive learning experience.

educational modules

Through the educational modules, new employees will gain valuable insights into the sustainable practices and initiatives that drive the fashion industry forward. We delve into various topics, such as responsible sourcing, ethical manufacturing, and the importance of circular fashion, empowering our team members with knowledge that will shape their approach to their work and the industry as a whole.

interactive question modules

Our interactive questionnaires encourage active participation, enabling new employees to test their understanding and engage in meaningful discussions. This fosters a collaborative environment where ideas are exchanged and a deeper understanding of sustainability is cultivated

mapping modules

The mapping feature allows employees to visualize and explore Tapestry's notable achievements in sustainability. They can navigate through a digital map that showcases our initiatives worldwide, such as reducing carbon emissions, promoting diversity and inclusion, and supporting community development projects. This feature not only informs but also inspires employees to contribute to our shared vision of making a positive impact

reflection

engagement pathway - testing prototype

We tested out our onboarding experience with a few young professionals whose interests in sustainability ranged from well versed to mildly interested.

key founding

Most of them were aware of the impact the fashion industry had on the environment but rarely took any active steps to reduce adding to it

people who had the most comments/concerns and questions were the ones that were the ones initially not actively engaged with the topic

although the interface helped with collaboration I feel that the newness made the experience both excited and intimidating as they felt scared because some elements moved, but eventually actively engaged with the content presented to them

How does it fit in the larger system?

Our intervention fits into the larger system by building off of Tapestry’s existing onboarding processes and company goals. Our Engagement Pathway embraces collective idea generation and discussion and utilizes a hybrid format to connect new-hires across time and space. Because this intervention focuses on education, we hope that the success of this framework could pave the way for how to educate individuals on other important topics

takeaways

We must be diligent in evaluating and revising our current ways of educating for sustainability

When it comes to onboarding and company culture, people need to connect with the company’s vision and goals to truly be invested in them

To support education around sustainability, we must encourage the use of more universal language, the addition of context, and opportunities for active engagement when discussing sustainability

takeaways

Looking ahead, we are looking to explore the possibility of scalability. We’ve made a strategic decision to start with only one of Tapestry’s pillars. The planet pillar is the most complicated and difficult for new audiences to understand, so we decided to tackle that one first. Our hope is that the framework we’ve developed may be applied to the other ESG pillars, and perhaps also be applied to other sectors within the company.

We are aware that you are shopping around for a new digital education program builder/host. We have complied a list of features & our recommendations to help inform your decision process if you choose to adapt or iterate upon the framework we have developed here.

We encourage you to look for the following characteristics and functionalities:
- collaborative digital spaces such as Mural, Miro, and jamboards
- easily shareable
- ability to view others’ work
- one location to house the key content (presentation), engagement, and reflection
- ability to save the resulting board as an artifact
- compatible with Tapestry brand visual language and identity