Case study · UX Design
Lakeshore Furniture Experience
A discovery-first furniture journey for educators and facilities buyers — built to give school admins and architects a streamlined path from inspiration to quote, and to position Lakeshore as a serious contender in institutional furniture, not just a classroom retailer.
- Role
- Senior Designer in a team of 4
- Collaborators
- 9 cross-functional teams including Marketing, Merchandising, Editorial, Ecomm, and Analytics
- Scope
- Information Architecture (IA), Responsive Homepage, Page System, Components
- Duration
- 18 Months
Desktop and Mobile
The responsive experience guides customers from inspiration and planning to product exploration and purchase. A consistent design system helped us create a cohesive journey across desktop and mobile while accommodating detailed product information, room applications and furniture collections.
The Challenge
Lakeshore was a trusted name to teachers and parents — but almost unknown to the school administrators and architects who control large institutional orders. To compete for that business, the furniture experience couldn't just be a spin-off of the retail site; it had to look and feel like it belonged in the same conversation as established commercial furniture brands.
Two Visitors, One Page
Educators arrive to browse and gather ideas; facilities buyers arrive to price and order. The previous page forced both down the same catalog-first path.
Building Credibility
To be considered a serious competitor in the school furniture market, Lakeshore needed an experience that communicated expertise, quality and the ability to support large-scale projects.
A Different Experience
The existing retail site used bright colors, playful typography and energetic imagery. The furniture audience required a more focused experience that made complex planning and purchasing feel clear and professional.
From Retail to Institutional
Lakeshore's existing website primarily supported retail shoppers making familiar, lower-consideration purchases. Furniture introduced a different audience and a more complex decision-making process, requiring greater inspiration, product education and guidance.
Existing Retail Experience
Product-forward and designed for familiar purchases, with straightforward category navigation and a faster path to products.
New Furniture Experience
More inspirational and guided, helping institutional customers shop by room, understand product details and confidently plan larger purchases.
The result was a distinct furniture experience designed around institutional customer needs while maintaining a clear connection to the broader Lakeshore brand.
Wireframes
Early wireframes helped us establish the hierarchy and flow of information before applying the visual design.
PROTOTYPING & PRESENTING
Simulating the Interactive Experience
I built interactive prototypes in Figma to simulate how customers would navigate the experience. This helped the team explore different paths and experience the designs as one cohesive journey.
We presented the work to stakeholders, using customer data, competitive research and business needs to explain our design decisions and build alignment.
The Path from Discovery to Approval
01
Understanding the Opportunity
We partnered with business leaders and cross-functional teams to understand the furniture audience, business goals and purchasing journey. Personas and journey maps helped us align the experience around the needs of school administrators, facility planners and architects.
02
Research and Analysis
We conducted extensive competitive research and reviewed analytics, heat maps and behavior across the existing retail site. These findings shaped the experience strategy, content hierarchy and visual direction.
03
Designing and Testing
I contributed to wireframes, high-fidelity designs and interactive prototypes across desktop and mobile. User feedback and ongoing reviews helped us validate decisions, uncover friction and refine the experience.
04
Presenting and Gaining Approval
I helped present the work throughout an extensive approval process, from creative leadership to the CEO. Our presentations connected research, competitive examples and audience needs to the design decisions made for each page.
Additional Pages In The System
The design system extended across landing pages, category experiences and product detail pages. Reusable components created consistency across the experience while allowing each furniture collection to maintain its own visual identity.
Furniture Line Pages
A campaign page introducing the Modern Edge collection — product highlights, classroom inspiration and a brochure download to start the conversation.
Product Detail Pages
Size and color selection, quote and cart actions, spec sheets and shipping details on one page, so buyers can move from browsing to an order in a few steps.
Product Landing Pages
Landing pages for the top nav items, displaying each hero of its page as a thumbnail that invites the viewers to click.
Landing Pages
A reusable landing page system created so designers could build pages from consistent templates, keeping layouts and components aligned across the site.
An Elevated Experience for a New Audience
The final direction gave Lakeshore's furniture business a distinct identity while remaining connected to the larger brand. Research helped us move beyond the playful visual language of the retail experience and create something more focused, modern and credible for professional decision-makers.