Service Design Project: LIFE heritageHOME Experience Stories

Project overview

This project was completed as part of the Service Design course at the Estonian Academy of Arts and is a part of the larger research and development project LIFE heritageHOME, or the heritage home renovation roadmap. LIFE heritageHOME was launched under the administration of the Ministry of Culture and co-funded by the European Union.

• Role: Co-conducted initial research, interviews and user analysis in a team formation. Acted as sole UX designer for the final concept and solution in the later stages of the project.
• Timeline: 9 weeks in the fall/winter of 2025.
• Tools: Miro, Figma

The Challenge

The primary challenge was to help homeowners navigate the overwhelming and highly technical process of renovating heritage-protected properties. Our research revealed that inexperienced owners often feel anxious and isolated due to a lack of foundational knowledge and trustworthy peer support. The goal was to bridge this gap by creating a community-driven solution that provides clear, validated information to build user confidence throughout the renovation journey.

The Process

The project followed the Double Diamond design process week-by-week, allowing for a deep dive into every stage of development. I co-conducted initial research, interviews, and user analysis in a team formation and then acted as the sole UX designer for the final concept and solution.

• Discover: Research, interviews, and persona building.
• Define: User journeys, affinity diagrams, How Might We (HMW) statements, and a creative brief.
• Develop: Ideation, selection strategies, lo-fi prototyping, and testing.
• Deliver: High-fidelity prototype and a pitch presentation at the ministry.

The User and Pain Points

My team’s research focused on inexperienced homeowners. These individuals have acquired a heritage-protected home and feel a deep emotional connection and responsibility for its preservation without having any technical background. During the interview phase, we discovered that these users often feel overwhelmed and isolated when facing these expensive and important renovations.

The primary pain points identified were:

• Lack of Confidence: Users do not feel confident in their decisions due to a lack of foundational knowledge.
• Missing Community: There is a lack of a trustworthy community where users can find relevant information based on their specific renovation situations.
• Information Overload: Even with recommendations, homeowners experience anxiety when trying to find reliable experts and specialists.

In other words, we found that while technical guides exist, what these users often lack is a way to validate their choices through the real-world experiences of a community.

The Solution: Experience Stories

To address the lack of confidence and the need for peer support, my final, individually proposed solution to the problem mentioned above is a filterable experience archive system featuring finished renovation stories in the form of articles.

The idea was to move away from dry, technical manuals and instead provide a “human” layer of information. By documenting real-life renovation journeys, the platform serves as both a source of inspiration and a practical guide. It allows new homeowners to see that others have successfully navigated the same regulations and technical hurdles they are currently facing, effectively turning shared experiences into a form of social validation.

Key Features:

• Relevant Filtering: Homeowners can find finished renovations similar to theirs by building type, renovatable elements, or location.

• Trustworthy Content: To ensure reliability, articles are constructed by Heritage Board employees through interviews with homeowners.

• Direct Support: The system includes an option to reach out to owners of similar homes to ask questions and exchange thoughts without sacrificing the owners’ anonymity.

• Validation: By accessing a structured format of real-world experiences, users can validate their information and make confident decisions.

Value

The redesign transforms the renovation journey from an anxious, individual research task into a community-supported process.

• For the User: Validation from shared experiences leads to increased confidence.
• For the System: It bridges the gap between official Heritage Board regulations and the practical, real-life needs of homeowners.