UX Research, UX/UI Design, UX Writing

OAK Projects Ireland: Designing Trust and Growth for a Bespoke Carpentry Business

Creating a high-end digital presence for Ireland’s bespoke carpentry craftsmanship, focused on generating qualified leads, strengthening brand authority, and delivering a clear journey from portfolio to enquiry.

1. Project Overview

OAK Projects Ireland is a growing, handcrafted, bespoke furniture company known for delivering unique, high-quality projects through custom renovations and exclusive pieces.

Initially, the business grew primarily through Instagram and Facebook, using social media platforms to showcase handcrafted work and attract clients. As demand increased, the need arose to expand beyond social media and establish a dedicated website, one that could strengthen brand authority, support lead generation, and meet user expectations in a market where Irish consumers are highly accustomed to researching and interacting with services through websites.

This project focused on translating OAK's handcrafted work and values into a clear and trustworthy digital presence that supports business growth and guides users from inspiration to consultation.

Project Type: End-to-End Website UX Design, Website Development
Role: UX Researcher & Designer

2. The Challenge

Design a hybrid service and e-commerce experience focused on promoting bespoke carpentry services, while being strategically structured for a future e-commerce experience expected to become the site’s main business driver.
Translate OAK’s brand identity, craftsmanship, and story into a cohesive layout and content strategy that communicates trust, expertise, and value.
Work within a tight timeline, with limited time for research and the first design iteration needing to be delivered quickly for development.
Launch the website ahead of an investor meeting, adding pressure to ensure clarity, credibility, and readiness for public presentation.
Select and curate high-quality service imagery that accurately represents the level of craftsmanship and supports the brand’s premium positioning.
Create a scalable design foundation capable of growing with the business and supporting future features and expansion.

3. Design Process (User Centered Design)

I followed a user-centered design (UCD) approach, grounded in the belief that meaningful digital experiences are created when business goals, user needs, and technical constraints are considered together. Rather than designing based on assumptions, research was used to understand how users perceive bespoke services, what builds trust, and what information supports confident decision-making.

This approach helped ensure that design decisions were not only visually aligned with the brand, but also relevant, usable, and scalable, supporting both immediate business needs and long-term growth.

4. AI in this project

In this project, I used AI as a strategic partner to optimize my workflow and deepen the research phase. My goal was not to automate creativity, but rather to accelerate the search for references, data synthesis, and the testing of my hypotheses.

How I used AI in this project:

Research Synthesis: I utilized Large Language Models (LLMs) to categorize and theme qualitative data from user interviews. This allowed me to identify recurring pain points and behavioral patterns with greater speed and precision.
Edge-Case Brainstorming: I leveraged AI to simulate a wider range of user scenarios and potential friction points. This helped me identify "blind spots" in the user journey that might not have surfaced in traditional ideation sessions.
Content Strategy & UX Writing: AI was a key collaborator in refining micro-copy and ensuring that the tone of voice remained consistent, professional, and aligned with the brand's specific high-end requirements.

Critical Reflection on AI:

While AI significantly boosted my efficiency, every AI-generated insight was filtered through a Human-First lens. I maintained strict oversight to ensure empathy, ethical considerations, and real-world viability remained at the heart of the final solution.

5. Research & Discovery (Sprint 1)

Research was conducted during Sprint 1 of the project, with a clear understanding shared with stakeholders that this was an initial discovery and validation phase, and that further iterations and refinements would be required to continuously improve the user experience over time.

The primary goal of this phase was to reduce uncertainty, support early design decisions, and align business, user, and technical perspectives within a tight delivery timeline (4 weeks).

Research methods included

Stakeholder alignment sessions: To clarify business goals, assumptions, priorities, and long-term ambitions, particularly the need to design a hybrid service and e-commerce experience.
Desk research & competitive benchmarking: Analysis of similar bespoke and service-based businesses to identify existing patterns and expectations. This evaluation was guided by Jakob Nielsen’s usability heuristics, focusing on clarity, consistency, recognition over recall, and user control, especially in service presentation and enquiry flows.
Best-practice research for service-led and hybrid e-commerce websites: Exploration of how customisable services are effectively communicated online, including how businesses balance bespoke offerings with scalable structures, pricing transparency, and conversion pathways within the same website.
User interviews: Conversations with potential users to understand:

- How they perceive value and trust in bespoke services

- Expectations around pricing visibility (fixed prices vs. ranges or starting points)

- What information supports confidence before making an enquiry

- What influences the decision to move from browsing to contacting a service provider

Technical alignment with development: early collaboration with the developer to assess technical feasibility, development constraints, and timelines, ensuring that research insights could be realistically translated into design and implementation within the available timeframe.

5.1 Key Research Insights

Translating user pain points into strategic design opportunities.

"I like seeing the pictures, but I also want to understand more about the business and location before reaching out."

"I know it’s a bespoke work, so I don’t expect see the prices... but yeah, it would be good to have an idea if it would fit in my budget. "

"I like to know where the services are located. I live in the countryside, so I'd like to know if they work in my county"

1. Trust & Craftsmanship as Primary Decision Drivers

Insight: Users prioritise trust, craftsmanship, and proof of quality over pricing details when first engaging with a bespoke carpentry service. Without clear credibility signals, users hesitate to move forward.
User Evidence: "I want to see photos of the work and see if it meets my expectations and what I'm looking for..."
Design Opportunity: Reinforce credibility by prioritising project showcases, process transparency, and trust signals (expertise, materials, craftsmanship) early in the user journey, before prompting users to enquire.

2. Pricing Expectations Without Fixed Prices

Insight: Users expect some form of pricing guidance for bespoke services to help assess affordability. However, due to the wide variability of services and the complexity of custom projects, fixed pricing or ranges can be misleading at early stages.
User Evidence: "I know it’s custom work, so I don’t expect exact prices, but I need to know if it’s within my budget”;
"Every project feels different, so I assume pricing depends on many factors."
Design Opportunity: While research suggested that price guidance could reduce early friction, competitor analysis showed that most businesses in this category rely on enquiry forms rather than visible pricing, reflecting the bespoke nature of the services.
As an initial solution, the website prioritises a structured enquiry flow that captures key project details, allowing for more accurate and personalised quotations.
This approach was intentionally designed as phase one, with plans to introduce pricing guidance and a future customisation feature that will allow users to explore options and gain clearer cost expectations as the platform evolves.

3. Service-Led Journeys Require Clear Structure and Guidance

Insight: Bespoke service websites require a different information hierarchy than traditional e-commerce, as users need reassurance, context, and clarity before taking action.
User Evidence: "I want to see the portfolio, but I also want to understand how the process works before reaching out"; “It’s not always clear what happens after I make an enquiry"
Design Opportunity: Design a service-first information architecture that clearly explains services, process steps, and next actions, while laying a scalable foundation for future e-commerce functionality

6. Collaboration

This project was developed using an agile, collaborative approach, with close alignment between UX, development, and the main stakeholder from the outset.

Due to a tight delivery timeline driven by an upcoming investor meeting, design and research decisions needed to balance user insights, technical feasibility, and business priorities. I worked closely with the developer to validate early assumptions, assess feasibility, and ensure that design decisions could be realistically implemented within the available time.

From the early stages, design handover was embedded into the process, with clear annotations and interaction notes documented directly in Figma to support development and reduce ambiguity. This helped streamline collaboration, avoid rework, and maintain alignment as the project progressed.

Regular check-ins with the stakeholder enabled fast feedback loops and prioritisation, ensuring that the first release delivered clarity, credibility, and a strong foundation for future iterations, with a shared understanding that the experience would continue to evolve beyond the initial launch.

7. Outcomes & Learnings

The first release delivered a clear, service-led digital experience that communicates OAK’s craftsmanship, supports lead generation, and establishes a solid foundation for future growth and e-commerce capabilities. The project successfully aligned business goals, user expectations, and technical feasibility within a tight timeline.

One key learning from this project was the importance of documenting design decisions and interactions in detail, without assuming that any behaviour or flow is “obvious” to development. By annotating interactions, states, and behaviours directly in Figma from an early stage, collaboration became more efficient and reduced ambiguity during implementation.

Another important learning was the value of aligning expectations early in hybrid service and e-commerce projects. Clearly defining what would be delivered in phase one, and what was intentionally deferred (helped maintain focus, manage stakeholder expectations) and support a more sustainable roadmap for future iterations.

The project also reinforced the value of early research, stakeholder alignment, and iterative delivery, particularly when working with bespoke services and evolving requirements. Future iterations will focus on deeper usability validation, pricing transparency, and enhanced customisation features as the platform continues to evolve.

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