CAR BUYING PLATFORM
My Role
UX Lead
Moderated user interviews
Conducted usability testing
Managed team efforts and UX associates
Defined UX roadmap with product manager
Helped defined pain points and problem statements
Involved with L.O.E ranking exercises
Conducted competitive audit noting takeaways
Developed process flows (for new technology and competitors purchasing funnel)
Need-finding workshop/experience mapping
Graphics for executive presentations
Axure prototype for mobile and desktop (w/conditional logic)
Wireframes in Sketch
UI Design in Sketch
Overview
The online car buying space is a relatively new concept in terms of providing an end-to-end online solution that car shoppers can use and trust. There are information security and legal constraints that go along with building such a platform. The car buying platform has to provide a fluid integration with dealers inventories with accurate payment information for it to be successful.
Challenge
The car buying team was part of an R&D unit within Edmunds called digital futures. We were tasked with selling a car online as a measure of our success.
Strategic Opportunity
The overall arching challenge is to deliver an online solution to a two-sided problem in the car buying process that produces a measurable improvement to the transaction process for shoppers and dealers.
Offer buyers, dealers, lenders or OEM’s a differentiated experience through which they can see the value in the platform.
PROBLEM STATEMENTS
What are the problems we’re trying to solve for?
Problem statements are written as user stories to define the type of user, their goal or instants and the reasons why they have a particular pain point or problem.
Shopper
As a shopper with many commitments, it is a pain for me to spend a long time at a dealership.
As a shopper with middle tier credit, it is a pain for me to understand what my monthly payments will be.
As a Lessee, when I am returning my vehicle, It is hard for me to know what the best option is, and what is a good deal.
As a Shopper, when waiting for the car I purchased, It is hard to me to know when the vehicle will be delivered.
Needfinding STATEMENTS
What is the unmet customer need?
When I buy a car online I need assurance, so I can feel confident about completing my transaction.
When I move through the purchase process I need to have a clear understanding of all steps within the process, so I know what’s coming up next and what remains
When I buy a car online I need access to assistance from a skilled and trusted individual, so I can complete my transaction without being impeded.
Understanding the space
During our discovery phase, I had to understand the process of buying and selling a car. I documented the three key business segments and stages the user journeys through as they move from one segment to the next during their purchase. The main pain points are noted as a focal point of the product build.
Competitive analysis
The team did an extensive breakdown of each online business that currently sells cars online. These are just six of the nine companies that we analyzed. A process flow for each of these online entities was created and broken down into a synthesized chart that's easier to view and compare. Our goal was to clearly note where payment and credit check flows are placed in the user's journey. We also wanted to see where companies injected the vehicle trade-in flow and if there are any delays the customer experiences along the way.
Key Insights
Once we completed the competitive analysis there were some common threads that stood out.
Companies provided a trade-in estimate but only two of the nine would guarantee the trade-in value of the vehicle.
Three of the nine companies provided more then one lender option
Digital signatures were used (certain states allow digital over wet signatures on contracts. California is not one of those states).
These insights informed our decision as a team to scale back our MVP in the beginning phases of the initial rollout to meet the challenge of selling a car online.
Crude Prototypes
I put together a prototype using Axure. I compiled all the assumed user stories based on our learnings from user interviews, competitive analysis and vast knowledge of the car dealer space. Many iterations were made to these prototypes as we narrowed our focus of selling a car. These prototypes are meant to test the product’s viability within the car buying market. They are not meant for design purposes but rather a pathway to design.
Finished Design—Mobile first approach
After reviewing the steps of selling a vehicle and the insight from the user interviews and dealer feedback we wanted to focus on a simpler solution.
Our focus :
Vehicle lease flow only
One VIN (vehicle identification number)
One dealer partner
No trade-in
Penny perfect payments
Middle tier credit 670 and above
Car buying platform promotional video
This video was produced for the Edmunds company meeting to promote the car buying platform as a future Edmunds product.
The product team used this opportunity to test a current iteration with a real customer in the market to buy a car. The customer had no idea she was using a prototype to facilitate her vehicle sale. This provided us with a unique opportunity to gain insight into how a customer might use our product.
