Finance Made Simple

Claudia Vago and the other members of the Valori team expressed the desire to create an e-learning tool aimed at supporting individuals in becoming more mindful and informed consumers regarding money management, understanding its risks, limitations, and opportunities. With enthusiasm, we accepted the invitation to collaborate on this socially significant project.

Co-design Workshop

As always, we initiated the working process with a workshop to thoroughly understand the project and create a high-level concept. We supported the Valori team in clearly defining the project objectives, identifying the target audience, and understanding their needs. Finally, we outlined the features intended to be present in the platform. In doing so, we took into consideration the project budget, advising the foundation on solutions suitable for the anticipated expenditure level. The workshop sessions were conducted entirely in remote mode.

Next, we crafted low-fidelity wireframes representing the user experience we aimed to achieve. Finally, we compiled a detailed document of requirements and specifications that exhaustively described the technological solution to be implemented.

Tech design & analysis

The Valori team intended to offer completely free online learning courses, structured in a program of progressive lessons with interactive quizzes, completion certificates, and downloadable educational material. We recommended adopting a robust software platform that already included, at least at a structural level, most of the required features. The choice leaned towards Sensei, one of the most comprehensive components for creating a Learning Management System (LMS) based on WordPress.

The adoption of open-source software like WordPress allows for cost containment while benefiting from a suitable level of customization. We proposed developing a completely customized theme for ValoriLab, with a user interface and interactions fully in line with the guidelines provided by our designers.

Brand identity design

After the initial strategic workshop, we focused on designing the Brand Identity for ValoriLab. The Valori team wished for the project to have an identity consistent with its own, yet clearly distinct from the main Valori.it project.

In line with this direction, we developed a visual identity based on the primary guidelines of Valori, created in Moze a few years earlier, utilizing recurring elements such as colors and typography but with new distinctive traits. The illustrative collage-style element imparts a friendly and human character to the brand, engaging the target audience through its inclusivity and playfulness, reflecting the platform’s goal of making financial education simpler and more accessible.

Interface design

Then we entered the UI Design phase. The Valori team aimed to provide comprehensive learning paths for consumers, allowing them to gain a thorough understanding of topics related to personal finance, investments, and savings. Simultaneously, they wanted to reach out to educators to promote the outreach activities conducted by the Fondazione Finanza Etica in schools, through financial education initiatives undertaken by the foundation’s members (GIT groups), and through new thematic projects.

Software engineering with WordPress, Sage & Keycloak

The software development of the platform commenced with the creation of the custom theme and the implementation of Sensei’s functionalities. We developed the WordPress application using the popular Sage starter theme, which provides an advanced development environment and tools, including Laravel Blade templates and asset builds.

Furthermore, as the Fondazione Finanza Etica wanted to offer content exclusively to registered users and Banca Etica members, we implemented authentication using the Single Sign-On (SSO) credentials of the Banca Etica group. To achieve this, we integrated the WordPress authentication system with the Keycloak SSO solution. This way, a client or member of the Banca Etica Group can access the ValoriLab site using their unique credentials.

Training & public release

We conducted training sessions to instruct the Valori staff on using the custom WordPress back office, enabling them to be self-sufficient in the routine management of the website’s content. Finally, in November 2023, the new ValoriLab web platform was released to the public.