Disinex- Digital Entrepreneurship Expert
A European Union-funded initiative developed in collaboration with partners from 8 different countries.
The DISENEX Europe portal is part of a larger EU-funded initiative designed to promote entrepreneurship among persons with disabilities across eight European countries. As the sole designer, my task was to create a scalable, accessible platform that provides various essential resources—mentorship, legal guidance, funding opportunities, and success stories.
The project aimed to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey—whether they were just considering starting a business, launching their venture, or already managing an active enterprise. The platform was designed to guide users step by step, providing everything from inspiring success stories to practical resources like legal assistance, funding opportunities, and business advice.
One of the biggest challenges was finding the right balance—how to offer all these various resources without overwhelming users with too much information at once.
When I first started working with the collected resources, I was struck by the massive amount of information that needed to be structured. Google spreadsheets filled with legal regulations, funding options, and country-specific resources felt overwhelming. I imagined what it must be like for an entrepreneur with disabilities—already navigating the challenges of starting a business—now having to sift through an overwhelming flood of disconnected information.
The example below is a small fraction of the data I received—legislation details from one of the partner countries.
I wanted to ensure that users never felt the same sense of overwhelm I did when first encountering all the data. The portal needed to be a clear, supportive space, where entrepreneurs could easily find the right tools and resources to confidently move forward with their ideas.
In essence, the DISENEX project’s methodology is grounded in a participatory, evidence-based approach typical of Erasmus+ programs. In the first stage, we collected and coded the literature review results, digital ethnography (coding material from online communities), and 28 interviews, allocating the main obstacles people with disabilities face when starting a business.
One key takeaway from almost all interviews was the heavy reliance on public funding and support. Many entrepreneurs with disabilities (PWD) expressed frustration with how difficult it is to locate and access these resources, often citing limited awareness and complex application processes.
Despite these barriers, entrepreneurship remains an attractive option for PWD. Many find inspiration in their lived experiences, leading them to create products, services, or solutions tailored to the specific needs of their communities, benefiting others with disabilities. While traditional employment offers security, self-employment provides flexibility, autonomy, and the ability to design a business environment around one’s unique needs and aspirations.
While barriers to entrepreneurship for people with disabilities remain significant, the desire for autonomy, financial independence, and meaningful impact continues to drive many forward. However, success often depends on access to the right information, funding, mentorship, and legal clarity—all of which are often fragmented, difficult to navigate, or inaccessible.
This is where DISENEX comes in. By making critical resources accessible and easy to navigate, DISENEX empowers entrepreneurs with disabilities to focus on building their businesses rather than struggling to find the support they need. With these findings in mind, the next step was to develop personas, allowing us to translate these challenges and motivations into a user-centered design process.
.png)
.png)
.png)
The design strategy grew naturally from the research: one of the biggest issues we discovered is that, although plenty of resources exist online, they’re scattered across so many sites that they’re practically hidden. This revealed a clear need for clear navigation and progressive disclosure to make complex information easier to access and understand. At the same time, people with disabilities often feel isolated and crave a sense of community—a space where they can connect with others, share experiences, and cheer each other on. To address these needs, our design focuses on fostering real connections and easy knowledge-sharing. Another crucial element is motivation—uplifting success stories, peer recognition, and tailored guidance are integrated throughout to inspire confidence and empower users to pursue their entrepreneurial goals.
The first step was to create a site map, which helped define the overall structure of the platform and ensure a logical flow of information. The first step was to create a site map, which helped define the overall structure of the platform and ensure a logical flow of information.
The content was grouped into four main areas:
Success Stories and Case Studies: Inspirational videos and articles from PWD entrepreneurs across different countries.
Educational Materials: Open-source courses, webinars, and mentorship programs.
Funding and Business Support: A database of funding opportunities and business support tailored to PWD entrepreneurs.
Legal and Regulatory Information: Country-specific guides and resources for starting and running a business.
With the site map in place, I developed low-fidelity wireframes to visualize the layout and structure of key pages. At this stage, the focus was on ensuring that navigation and content filtering were clear, and community engagement features felt natural. I paid particular attention to the design of filtering and categorization functions, especially for resource-heavy sections like the comparison table and funding opportunities. The goal was to allow users to refine results quickly based on country, language, and topic.
.jpg)
To ensure the early design choices aligned with user needs, I conducted usability testing with a small group of users. The study highlighted several areas for improvement, particularly in navigation and content clarity. Some categories and menu labels were confusing, making it harder for users to locate key resources. Based on this feedback, I refined the naming conventions and adjusted the layout, ensuring that the site felt more intuitive. Additionally, the filtering system was simplified.
The Home Page was initially designed as a central hub for new users, providing multiple pathways to the platform’s four main content sections while also offering background information about the project, partners, and key resources. This ensured that first-time visitors could quickly understand the purpose of the platform and explore relevant areas.
For logged-in users, however, the interface was simplified. Instead of being directed to a static homepage, they are taken directly to a personalized Dashboard. This change allows returning users to focus on updated and saved materials rather than navigating through introductory content they no longer need.
The Dashboard is designed to be customizable, enabling users to select the type of content they want to see and filter resources by country and language, ensuring quick access to the most relevant information.
Each section was designed to make things easier for users by following progressive disclosure—showing simple, high-level content first (like category names or featured resources) and letting users dig deeper into the details (like guides or funding opportunities) only if they need to. This approach keeps things from feeling overwhelming and helps users focus on what’s most relevant to them.
The team did an amazing job gathering tons of helpful resources from across the web, but we realized that wasn’t quite enough. To further streamline the experience, we added descriptions for every resource, providing a clear summary of its purpose and relevance. To streamline this process, we designed a structured template for organizing information across different content types—legislation, funding opportunities, study courses, and community support resources. It allowed us to automate content processing. Instead of manually summarizing each resource, we used the template to train a GPT-powered bot to pull key information from external websites and format it clearly.
The DISENEX platform features a robust filtering system, designed to ensure users can quickly and easily navigate through diverse types of content. Each page has specific filters aligned with the nature of the resources.
The DISENEX platform was envisioned as a community-driven space, not just an informational resource. To foster engagement and collaboration, we have integrated key community features, including user profiles and comments, allowing members to interact, exchange ideas, and build connections.
To encourage engagement and deeper interaction, we nudge users to create an account by making certain features—such as saving materials—available only to authorized users. This approach was a calculated risk, as it could potentially be perceived as a dark pattern, forcing users into registration. However, usability testing revealed that participants did not feel pressured to sign up, and they viewed the account creation as a natural step to access personalized and enhanced functionality. Based on this feedback, we decided to keep the approach, ensuring that registration remains a valuable and user-driven choice rather than an imposed requirement.
The comparison table on the DISENEX platform is designed for people who are just starting their journey in social entrepreneurship and need clear, structured guidance on choosing the right legal form. While the platform offers detailed text articles, these can sometimes feel overwhelming—especially for users who are unfamiliar with legal and business terminology. Instead of reading through long, complex explanations, the table provides a quick, side-by-side comparison of different legal structures, highlighting key factors like liability, taxation, financial support, public procurement benefits, and compliance requirements. This makes it easier to understand the differences at a glance and decide which legal form fits best. For beginners who may not yet know exactly what to look for, the table serves as a starting point, guiding them toward deeper research and informed decisions.
DISENEX is designed to be more than just a static resource hub—it’s a living, evolving platform that grows alongside its users. While the initial design phase is complete, future developments will be shaped by real user feedback, ensuring that the platform continues to meet the needs of PWD entrepreneurs in a meaningful way.
As more people use the platform, we will gather insights to understand what’s working well and what could be improved. Based on this feedback, we will refine existing features and introduce new tools that directly address user needs. For example, if users express a strong need for better navigation, we may expand advanced filtering options to allow searches by location, business stage, or specific types of learning materials. If entrepreneurs request more structured learning paths, we will prioritize personalized learning tracks that recommend courses, webinars, and mentorship programs based on individual progress and interests.
Community engagement will play a key role in shaping the platform’s future. If users show a strong interest in peer networking and collaboration, we will introduce interactive discussion forums, mentorship matching, and live community events to foster deeper connections. Similarly, if funding remains a major challenge for many users, we will focus on developing grant application assistance tools to provide more hands-on support.
Rather than dictating the next steps ourselves, we see this platform as a collaborative effort, where user insights shape how DISENEX evolves. By staying responsive to real experiences, we will continue to build a platform that is not just informative, but genuinely helpful, empowering, and user-driven.
