Project Overview

ARA Group is a multi-million dollar enterprise in Australia operating across various industries—from security and electrical to fire protection and facilities management. Historically, each business division maintained its own standalone website, resulting in a fragmented digital presence, inconsistent content, and missed opportunities for cross-promotion.

The challenge was to design and deliver a unified, scalable platform powered by AI-enhanced search and a headless CMS—making it easier for users to discover relevant services while giving internal teams the tools to manage content dynamically across all divisions.

Problem Statement

ARA’s decentralized digital setup led to key pain points:

• No centralized service discovery — users had to manually browse multiple websites to find relevant services

• Limited admin visibility and control — content was siloed and difficult to update consistently across platforms

• Missed opportunities for cross-selling — without a shared backend or intelligence layer, related services went unpromoted

• High operational overhead — each division had to manage its own content, updates, and infrastructure

Product Focus

We proposed and executed a full platform redesign—moving ARA from multiple disconnected sites to a centralized, AI-powered web experience built on a headless CMS architecture.

Key product decisions included:

• Introducing an AI-enhanced search assistant to improve discoverability across services and divisions

• Designing a modular, conversational interface that helps users quickly find what they need through natural queries

• Implementing a headless CMS to allow content teams to manage all services, divisions, and metadata from a single, scalable backend

• Creating a custom admin interface with search analytics, content governance tools, and user management

• Building a unified front-end experience that still allowed for division-level branding and customization

My Role

As Product Owner, I led the entire product lifecycle—from concept validation to MVP launch. My role involved:

• Translating business needs across multiple divisions into one cohesive product vision

• Working closely with UX/UI teams to shape the AI interaction and multi-division structure

• Leading technical alignment with developers and CMS architects to implement the headless architecture

• Managing stakeholder expectations, timelines, and delivery across competing priorities

• Ensuring admin-facing tools met real operational needs, not just surface-level functionality

Outcomes

• Successfully launched the MVP with a fully integrated AI-driven search and unified service discovery

• Enabled dynamic, real-time content updates via a centralized headless CMS

• Reduced operational overhead by consolidating digital infrastructure across business units

• Laid the foundation for smarter cross-promotion and data-informed content strategy

• Created a scalable platform architecture that supports future expansion and customization

Key Takeaways

This project required building from the ground up—no legacy app to improve, just disconnected sites and siloed teams. The real challenge was unifying both user experience and internal operations into one scalable platform. It reinforced the importance of headless systems, cross-functional alignment, and designing flexible admin tools that truly empower internal teams.