Client
Lithia Motors & Driveway is one of the largest providers of personal transportation solutions in the U.S. and is among the fastest-growing companies in the Fortune 500 (#158 in 2022). In 2020, they launched an e-commerce platform called “Driveway” to give car buyers and sellers a safe alternative to in-person car buying and selling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Situation
When the MVP e-commerce platform launched in October 2020, it was bare-bones, to say the least. The website had a very basic search results page with limited filtering functionality and the checkout experience could only allow you to reserve a vehicle. The customer would have to wait to be contacted by a sales representative to complete the transaction over the phone.
When I joined the team in November 2020, I was responsible for leading a team of 8 product designers and two content designers in building out a more robust shopping experience with the ultimate goal of driving more transactions.
In late 2020, the site was selling a handful of cars each month. By the time I left the company in June of 2022, we were selling thousands of cars per month, exceeding the company's annual transaction run-rate targets by 27%.
role: product design manager
Partnered with Design, Content, Product Management, and Engineering to interpret strategic product vision into actionable design direction. Identified, scoped, and prioritized work and assigned work for 8-10 Designers. Oversaw project assignments and day-to-day activities with a sense of urgency; ensuring timely delivery while maintaining quality and documenting progress.
Paired closely with Product and Content Designers in Figma to provide design direction and constructive feedback ensuring a high level of design craft and quality. Supported designers in articulating design decisions, and helped them practice executive communication skills for design reviews and critiques.
Task
Optimize the search page for usability, affordability, price-transiency, and customer trust.
Search Page
October 2020
the before (MVP launch)
One-size-fits-all entry point from the Landing page to the Search page
Exact match searches are required plus funky interactions when the search bar and filter panel are used together
Limited filtering options do accurately reflect other factors that influence vehicle price
Vehicle tiles don’t reveal financing options. Must leave the search page for more info.
June 2022
the after
Customized entry points from the Landing page direct different user types into a pre-filtered Search experience
Fuzzy and suggested search increases results for relevancy and reduces the likelihood of viewing “No Results.”
Enhanced filtering options include location-based searching for fast and low-cost shipping
All pricing options are revealed on the vehicle tile
Process
Target Personas
Our UX researchER compiled these target personas after completing 15-20 interviews with potential customers prior to the site launch. Our primary persona emerged POST LAUNCH WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO GATHER MORE SPECIFIC DATA ABOUT OUR SHOPPERS.
Auto Upgraders
A good portion of buyers think about their car in a similar way to their cell phone. They want the latest technology in the palm of their hand in their driveway. And while one might expect this type of person to lease, that’s not always the case. However, those individuals who choose to lease often feel this need the strongest and are more often thinking about cars in the periphery of their minds.
Homebodies
Several Driveway customers voluntarily describe themselves as homebodies. This is not the same as being introverted, though they may also self-identify as introverted. These people found the pandemic relatively easy to navigate because they prefer to spend their time at home. They can be very social, albeit among their tight-knit group of family and friends, or they may spend a fair amount of time watching television. Either way, their home is their castle and they don’t like to leave it it’s all avoidable.
Passenger Seat Buyers
Some Driveway customers are not experienced car buyers. A husband, father, or boyfriend may have taken on this role in the past. Others recently graduated and were ready to buy a car to set out on adult life or moved from a city where most people do not own cars, but have moved or otherwise decided that owning a car was necessary in a post-pandemic world. None of the people who fit this persona like the idea of negotiating.
credit improvers - PRIMARY PERSONA
These buyers are cost-conscious and credit-sensitive. They have experienced some financial hardships in the past that have prevented them from obtaining financing. Many fear the judgment and rejection they might face from salespeople in a brick-and-mortar dealership when their credit report is run. These buyers desperately want to start rebuilding their credit and prefer the ability to shop multiple options online.
Customer Flows
The Before
Immediately after the launch in October 2020, we identified significant drop-off rates in the Shop funnel related to our Search experience.
Research Inputs
Feedback from Driveway Customer Care Center and Driveway Finance Center
Interviews with potential and current customers
Power BI Custom dashboards combine sales data and provide insight into customer drop-off rates throughout the funnel
Research Outcomes
Learnings from October 2020 MVP Launch
THE LANDING PAGE WAS LACKING
The Landing Page didn’t inspire trust. There was only one main entry point into the main search experience from this landing page. This may have been fine for Auto Upgraders but for most customers, this increased their cognitive load when they arrived at the search page because if the customer didn’t know exactly what they were searching for. As a result, customers felt overwhelmed with endless options.
“🧐 Is Driveway legit?”
The filter panel was too limited
The options are limited to basic vehicle features. It didn’t include other key factors that will impact the vehicle price.
“😫 I need a car right now! Show me cars near me that I can get it fast and have a low or no shipping fee. ”
The vehicle tiles didn’t provide enough info
Users struggled to understand and compare pricing options without navigating to the vehicle description pages because the vehicle tiles only displayed the MSRP.
“😳 I can’t afford to purchase a car outright. Can I finance it? If so, I can’t tell how much the monthly payment will be here and that’s my main concern. Can I actually afford these cars? ”
Final Designs
We made iterative enhancements to the search experience so that by Q2 of 2022, we exceeded company transaction targets by 27%. We went from selling a handful of cars in the first few months of our initial launch to selling thousands of cars per month.
How we increased conversion rates through search enhancements
landing page refresh increased trust & relevance while reducing dropoff
Before we could start making enhancements to the Search page, we knew we had to start at the front of the funnel - the Landing page.
We partnered with Content Design and Product Marketing to move away from a one-size-fits-all strategy to a new Landing page with several paths to drive specific user types into pre-filter search pages. Such as shopping by vehicles you are pre-qualified for, body style, brand, and popular models.
Using the concept of progressive disclosure, we were able to reduce cognitive load when customers landed on the search page by pre-filtering results. When we created new paths to the Search page, we met customers “where they were at” emotionally in their vehicle search and brought them down a path that increased their confidence in Driveway by showing them more relevant information.
Demonstrates multiple user-specific paths to the search page with pre-filtered results.
expanded filter functionality increased usability & emphasized affordability
Providing the ability to “Shop By Budget” was a game-changer for customers. It was now possible for finance customers to shop by monthly payment and include cash down.
Location-based searching was also a customer win. If enabled, the browser will pass Driveway location information or users can enter it. The location information will persist throughout their entire shopping session and will optimize their experience.
Now that we have location information, we can present vehicles eligible for free shipping! We learned that customers wanted to find vehicles that they could get fast and shipped for free.
Redesigned vehicle tiles to promote price transparency
A more robust search and filter experience requires more dynamic search results. We redesigned these tiles using the concept of progressive disclosure to contain all the right pricing information users need to compare and decide. Yet, if they are not happy with the pricing estimates displayed on the tile, we include a link to customize their payment.
Team Obstacles
Friction points I successfully managed throughout the project
Problem
Lack of team process, poor communication
When I joined the team, I noticed that there wasn’t a defined process for the team. As a result, designers struggled to get regular input from Product and Engineering. In return, Product and Engineering complained that they lacked visibility of what the designers were working on. The problem was made even worse by the fact that designers used Favro to track their design work and the rest of the product development teams used Microsoft Azure. There wasn’t equal access across both tools.
my solution
Implemented design planning to create cross-functional alignment
I facilitated weekly cross-functional design planning and invited Product & Engineering so everyone had visibility to what design was working on and which designer was working on what. In this meeting, I collaborated with Product and Design to prioritize, scope, and assign the design work. I always opened the meeting by giving Product & Engineering the floor to share any immediate updates, questions, and concerns with the design team. Engineering helped Design identify feasibility constraints. Collectively we all set deadlines for design review, which is the ceremony we used to get approval from executive leadership before moving designs into development. I made sure Product and Engineering leads had full access to Favro so they could see the status of a design ticket at any time.
Problem
Conflicts between designers
My design director asked my teams to pilot a new approach to delegating design responsibilities throughout the design process. The pilot entailed a designer who is stakeholder (executive) facing and a designer who is team-facing. The intention was to have dedicated designers so that stakeholders and Engineers had a clear point of contact. This caused many problems from the start and we realized this created more coordination and communication within the design team. Two designers that were paired together had immediate friction points because they had VERY different feedback styles - one was a direct collaborator, and the other preferred working alone and only receiving feedback when they specifically asked for it.
MY SOLUTion
Formed working agreements with designers to clarify responsibilities
I met with each designer individually to understand their concerns, needs, and working preferences. I asked each of them to make a list of the key responsibilities they felt were important to their role. Next, the three of us sat down together and we identified the areas in which we the designers were aligned. Then we focused on the areas where they didn’t have alignment. We identified specific working situations where these differences of opinion may cause an issue. After, we talked through each designer’s communication style and preferences. Finally, we aligned on compromises each designer would make to support the other’s communication needs. As a result of my coaching, the two designers we able to successfully overcome their disputes and eventually even became friends. We decided to end the pilot program as it caused more conflict than it resolved.