Challenge
The lack of a visible value proposition for both users and the company during the car uploading process. The existing process did not prioritize the needs and wants of customers, and there was confusion and an overload of information for sellers who had no previous car knowledge.
01
Understanding
Context
The project originated from the need to understand why users were not converting on VINN's platform. We also wanted to see how we could optimize the website to gain more organic traffic while helping the buyer find a car.
Problem Statement
The specific problem that the project aims to solve for users and business:
Users were not converting, leading to the need to optimize the website for SEO, reducing ad spending, and improving the overall user experience.
Discovery
Key findings from the research:
Users were seeking guidance from VINN's vehicle experts, as evidenced by Google reviews, calls, and call conversations.
Specific lifestyle needs and preferences: Customers have specific needs, abilities, and preferences, such as low-budget cars, cars that provide value, and information about car safety.
CRM data, calls, and chat: Most users are Unqualified or don’t respond, and budgets are less than 10,000 - not what we sell.
Chat use by customers with vehicle experts: Search type asking for help but Poor Response Time
The top page was our blog. Blog topics related to best, value, and lifestyle.
💡 How these findings informed design decisions
The insights shifted the focus from relying on the blog to educate the user
The goal is to guide users through the search process based on competence, motivation, and context.
02
1 | Leaning into newly developed brand and design principles
Conceptual Model:
Guide Like a Mentor
Design Principles:
Design for context
Playful and alive
If in doubt, leave it out
2 | Balancing Guidance & Autonomy
Leveraging Inclusive Design Principles: The research findings highlighted the diverse needs and preferences of car buyers. I referenced $ Microsoft’s inclusive design principles$ to create a search tool with different levels of $ guidance$ (Search, Explore, Shop) based on users' needs and preferences.
The top page was our blog. Blog topics related to best, value, and lifestyle.
To leverage inclusivity and guidance to increase conversion, we focused on 3 levels of guidance desire based on confidence, motivation, and context.
Search Mode
Low Guidance
The Search mode allowed users to search existing inventory and content with minimal guidance.
Explore mode
Mid Guidance
The Explore mode offers users the highest level of guidance, including the use of social validation.
This feature aims to assist users in making decisions by providing them with the reviews of other car owners.
Shop mode
High Guidance
The Shop mode provided users with more guidance, such as providing insights from our vehicle experts.
It was designed with the intention of empowering users to make decisions on their own.
4 | Enhanced Search Functionality
Categorizing based on lifestyle needs: Added trending categories to the search tool to facilitate quick access to popular vehicle searches.
Introduced lifestyle-based search options, allowing users to tailor their searches to personal preferences.
Searching by category on Explore Page
Ability to search by lifestyle preferences
5 | Insights and Vehicle Expert help
Introduced a new card format to help users during their search by providing more information about the vehicle. The goal of the card design was to offer helpful guidance without overwhelming the user.
Car content located in between car cards
Vehicle Expert Help on the Search page
Shop page located in between car cards
03
Polish
Finished Desktop Designs
As a result of my findings, which I communicated to the CTO and Marketing VP, the decision was made to discontinue the project and the associated product.
Car content located in between car cards
Search Screen
Explore Screen
Social Videos
Cohesive Brand, and internal efficiency:
The new Brand guidelines
A few of the new componenets
04
Outcome
All functionalities were not built due to VINN closing. The Vehicle expert function, and some visual design changes were implemented.
