Redesigning the car buying experience
A choose-your-own-adventure style test drive experience that gives the buyer more control.
Role
User Experience Designer
Client
UCLA Extension
Team
5 Designers
Skills
User Research
Visual Design
Prototyping
Mockups
Tools
Figma
Whimsical
Project Overview
Post-covid, buyers are not interested in spending hours at a dealership, are doing more online research on potential cars they are interested in, prefer online shopping, and are concerned about their health and safety.
Pre-covid, buyers went into a dealership, found a car, test drove it, and agreed to price and financing options with sales before being sent to the finance office for final paperwork. Our goals include understanding how COVID-19 has changed the car buying and selling experience, learning about pain points related to the car buying and selling process, discovering customers’ motivations behind their shopping preferences, and considering a holistic solution for a car dealership car buying experience.
The Solution
A choose-your-own-adventure style test drive experience that gives the buyer more control.
Simplified Finance and Insurance Process
Progress Tracking
Personalized Test Drives
Guided Test Drives and Shopping
Receive Help On Buyer’s Terms
Compare Vehicles and Features
Laying Out Our Assumptions
Assumption Grid (Collect assumptions and identify riskiest assumptions)
Empathy Map (Build empathy and focus on the user)
How Might We
Desktop Research
Youtube
Reddit
Public Reports
Consumer Studies
Methods and Research
The Need for Both Online and In-Person Touchpoints
71% of consumers still want to buy in-person
Independent dealers who have digital retailing solutions saw 73% of their customers completing steps of the car-buying process online
64% of consumers require a test drive before purchase
The Need for Education and Transparent Information
57% of consumers said they have greater trust in companies that offer more information than is required about their products
83% of buyers do more background research on potential cars online than pre-covid
6 out of 10 car buyers are undecided from the onset
How Do Our Customers Feel?
Excited about possibly getting a new car but tend to become confused with car availability, annoyed by sales calls, and nervous about making the wrong decisions
Pressured by sales representatives and frustrated by the lack of car availability
Eager to see and test drive cars in-person
Confused and impatient with the finance and insurance process
Satisfied with their purchase decision
Customer Pain Points
Confusion on pricing and what buyers can afford
Finance and insurance process is long, cumbersome, and confusing
Frustrated with the lack of options and long wait times
Opportunities
A way to provide upfront info on pricing and inventory
Give buyers time alone with vehicles
Less friction with the finance and insurance process
Findings from Research
Crazy 8’s (Test drives, online F&I process, progress tracking)
Big Idea Vignettes (Transparency/accountability, give a sense of control, make process approachable)
Analogies and Association
Test drives (Buying furniture, pet adoptions, model homes)
Online F&I process (College tuition, choosing insurance, Turbotax)
Progress tracking (Wayfinding at IKEA, DoorDash, Rideshare apps)
Solution Sketching (Sketches for top three ideas from Crazy 8’s)
Future State Journey Mapping (Try Before You Buy, F&I Process, Progress Tracking)
Ideation
Curate Your Own Hands-On Experience:
A choose your own adventure style test drive experience that gives the buyer more control
Educate, Evaluate, Empower:
Easy to digest info during research, comparison, and F&I process
Transparency At Every Step:
Communicate needs and track progress throughout the purchasing process
The Three Pitches
Curate Your Own Hands-On Experience:
A choose your own adventure style test drive experience that gives the buyer more control
Simplified F&I
Progress Tracking
Personalized Test Drives
Compare Vehicles and Features
Guided Test Drive/Shopping
Receive Help On Buyer’s Terms
Our Direction
Storyboarding:
Walkthrough of the customer buying journey from exploration to order completion
Helpful to see how the entire journey would flow from start to finish
Prototypes
Cardboard Prototype and Desktop Walkthrough:
Visualize what the physical environment of the test drive center would look like
Service Ads:
Focuses on the value that a personalized, choose-your-own-adventure car buying experience can provide.
Can be featured on billboards, bus stops, etc.
High Fidelity App Mockups:
Visualizing how the car buyer can build their own personalized test driving experience through an interactive app
Takeaways From Prototypes:
There are 14 main steps to the car buying experience
Make personalized test drive center journey maps to visualize the driving experience of different buyers
Users will be able to access cars for sale through their interactive phone application
Solution
