Reimagining Housing Works
Transforming Housing Works into a global retail destination that fuels its mission of community empowerment.
Partnering with Housing Works, a New York City-based non-profit organization and thrift store, this project aimed to reimagine their thrift shop experience and operations. The goal was to position Housing Works as a global experiential destination for both tourists and locals, while amplifying its mission of community empowerment and social inclusion.
Housing Works is a New York City-based non-profit organization dedicated to ending the dual crises of homelessness and HIV/AIDS.
Founded in 1990 by members of the AIDS activist group ACT UP, Housing Works operates under the belief that stable housing is a critical foundation for health and well-being. The organization provides lifesaving services, including housing, healthcare, job training, and legal assistance, to tens of thousands of low-income New Yorkers each year.
How might we transform Housing Works into a global experiential space, bridging its mission of advocacy, and community through its thrift store, to attract tourists and locals while expanding its donor and customer base among individuals 35 and younger, both domestically and internationally?
Housing Works sustains its mission through entrepreneurial businesses, which not only generate crucial funding for the organization's advocacy and services but also create employment opportunities within the community.
Thrift Stores
- 9 thrift stores across NYC.
- Online thrift shop (eShop), auctions, and Bookshop.org partnerships extend reach beyond physical stores.
- Relies on community donations of clothing, accessories, furniture, and home goods.
Observations
- Lack of visual cohesion across all touchpoints, such as clothing tags, packaging material or posters.
- Navigation is tough for a consumer for specific purchases.
Housing Works Thrift Shop
Bookstore and Cafe
- Primarily relies on donated inventory and volunteer staffing.
- Space doubles as an event venue (e.g. readings, fundraisers, weddings etc.).
- The café serves coffee, wine and light fare, which keeps people in the space longer.
Observations
- Multiple ventures operating inside the same space makes one heavily rely on signage and directions which are lacking.
- Brand messaging could benefit from increased visual cohesion.
- Customers stay seated at the cafe without exploring merchandise (missed cross-selling opportunities).
Housing Works Bookstore and Cafe
Website and Social Media
- Website serves as both an e-commerce hub and mission advocacy portal, with clear CTAs for donations/volunteering.
- Leverages influencer partnerships over social media (e.g. LGBTQ+ creators).
- Promotions through ad boosts and posts of events to drive foot traffic.
Observations
- Social followers rarely translate to in-store.
- Inconsistency in branding and visual language.
Housing Works Website and Instagram
To understand the customer experience better, we created a service blueprint to highlight the actions and emotions of both the customers and employees during the service.
These insights were gathered directly from customers through in-store interviews conducted as part of our primary research.
Scroll to explore
To understand what directions are the most viable to least viable, we laid it out in a matrix, highlighting what our next steps would look like.
Why "reimagine" Housing Works?
Attract locals and tourists through storytelling
Bring NYC and its history into the store experience
Highlight their mission through the experience
The goal was to create one coherent brand across every touchpoint, from a scrolling feed to a shop floor, each carrying the same mission, story, and look.
- Social: A pink-led feed that ties every post, including events, collections and stories, back to the mission.
- Web: A redesign that puts impact stories beside the shop, so browsing and giving live on the same page.
Vision
To be a representative of New York City by providing a safe platform for expression and education.
Mission
By giving a second life to belongings and a second chance to people, Housing Works gets inspired and gives hope to the innumerable lives in the city of New York.
In-store: An immersive, location-specific experience while maintaining core brand assets across all thrift shops.
A consistent retail layer
Aprons, signage, displays.
A corner for the neighborhood
Local history, staff picks, wall art.
Walls that carry the mission
Second-chance stories.
- Higher social media engagement
- Rise in volunteer sign-ups
- Increased website feedback and traffic
- Higher average time spent in stores
- Improved donation conversion rates
- Frequency of return visits
- % of customers who post about their visit
Translating the renders into a real room was to replicate and test the overall experience and strategy we were proposing, and getting real feedback on it.
We turned a classroom into a working mock of the West Village location of the Housing Works thrift store, stocked through a donation drive we ran ourselves.
Store layout echoing the West Village street grid.
Housing Works' identity reinforced through the colours, signage, ambient lighting and music.
Storytelling built in through a West Village history wall and a curated staff-pick corner.
Feedback was gathered through forms and in-person conversations with visitors as they moved through the space.
- 70%+ of visitors said they'd want to learn about the history of their own neighborhood.
- Visitors consciously noticed the atmosphere: the scent, the lighting, the curated playlist. Several said the space taught them something they did not expect.
- The neighborhood corner drew the most appreciation. People valued learning West Village history in a place they would never expect to find.
Through this project, I gained valuable insights into transforming a well-established brand like Housing Works into a vibrant, mission-driven destination. I learned that cohesive branding and storytelling are crucial in connecting customers to the brand's mission. By integrating local relevance and sensory design, we can create inclusive experiences that drive engagement and loyalty. Additionally, I saw firsthand how digital-physical synergy can amplify reach and advocacy, highlighting the importance of aligning metrics with both mission and margin. This experience reinforced my approach to "design for impact", emphasizing empathy-driven systems that drive social change.
