Economisch Huis Oostende: a central website for entrepreneurs by the sea
The Economisch Huis Oostende (EHO) was founded by the City of Ostend to support entrepreneurs and stimulate employment. Their service offering has grown significantly in recent years, making the old website no longer sufficient. Comma developed a new Odoo website that brings all services together in one user-friendly platform tailored to entrepreneurs, employers, and job seekers.
Challenge
The expansion of services and the influx of additional information made the old site confusing. Both entrepreneurs and job seekers had trouble finding their way.
The challenge lay in creating:
- a central and clear structure,
- integration of diverse services,
- a user-friendly user interface design where visitors find the right information with as few clicks as possible,
- a scalable solution that grows with EHO’s ambitions.
Our approach
We began with a positioning exercise and SWOT analysis to sharpen the foundations. From this clear strategic framework, we designed a sitemap and wireframes, which we fine-tuned with the EHO team during several sessions. This ensured a consumer-first approach: the website had to be designed fully around the needs of entrepreneurs and job seekers.
Next came design and development in Odoo — a deliberate choice for its extensive integration capabilities and scalability. Special attention was given to UX design UI design: clear navigation, logical flows, and intuitive search and click paths.
Result
The new website of EHO today offers:
- ease of use – visitors find the right info faster, with fewer clicks.
- central operation – all services integrated into one platform.
- scalability – the website grows with the organization.
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strategic foundation – thanks to Odoo ERP software, EHO can eventually connect additional modules for even more efficiency and synergy.
The website now plays a central role in EHO’s digital strategy and strengthens their position as the key point of contact for entrepreneurship in Ostend.
Our takeaways
A new website is not a stand-alone project but a starting point for further integration and optimization. By choosing Odoo from the start and working from a strategic positioning, EHO now has a platform that supports entrepreneurs and is future-proof.
