Remote Test Drive Web App Concept
A transient mobile web application designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic - CDK Global Summer 2020 Hackathon Entry
Project Deliverables
Mobile User Interface
Interactive Protoype
Javascript Web App
My Role
Generative Research
Copywriting
User Testing
UI/UX Design
Project Context
CDK Global Summer 2020 Hackathon
Five days
August 2020
Project Vision
Research, ideate, design, test, and build a remote test drive booking experience to aid car dealerships in adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic. We decided to pursue a transient web application as we wanted the platform to be customizable for the dealership and as seamless as possible for the user.
Challenges
1) Create a non-invasive temporary application in 5 days
2) Utilize CDK Global’s new design system
3) Design a cohesive interface for a wide range of users
4) Provide a seamless + linear booking experience
Kickoff
In order to properly execute all of the necessary work involved in a UCD process, we began the week by constructing a project plan and assigning roles to each team member. By creating a roadmap for the project and placing accountability on each member, we were more likely to end the week with a deliverable product. Going into the Hackathon, we knew we wanted to build a mobile experience for car dealerships to increase sales. We started our generative research by asking some initial key questions.
“What are some existing problems in the auto industry?“
“Who is buying cars right now?”
“How can we build a tool to address the COVID-19 Pandemic?“
“How can dealerships maximize profit?"“
“To what extent is the COVID-19 Pandemic impacting car sales?”
“What are some pain points in the car buying process?”
Design Process
After asking our initial key questions, we decided to do some reseach into how car sales are projected to change during the pandemic. We found that customers do not necessarily want the industry to return to normal, and are gravitating towards online sales.
We then conducted a competitive analysis to look at how other companies are changing the car buying experience by moving the traditional process to a fully digital experience. Companies like Carvana, Shift, and Tesla are increasingly popular options as they offer touchless delivery of vehicles.
Our team was entirely remote so we used Miro to whiteboard collaboratively
Persona Development
Primary
Secondary
Supplementary
What types of car buyers would be interested in using this product?
Ideation
We wanted to create a simple, streamlined workflow that the user could access entirely through the app’s browser. By providing a seamless booking experience, we hope to generate more test drives.
First Iteration
In our first iteration, we went with a bold blue hue from CDK Global’s new design system. While we liked how the natural language and progress dots at the top of the page guided the user through the process, we found some screens had too many items on the screen, which resulted in cognitive overload.
Design Goals
Reduce the amount of text on screen
Pick a more neutral background color while still sticking to the design system
Eliminate unnecessary blockers
Flow
Once we finalized the flow of the booking process, we went back to our competitive analysis to revisit how other companies offer similar services.
High-Fidelity Prototype
We used Sketch for all of the designs and InVision to put together a high-fidelity prototype to show our stakeholders what a final product could look like.
Outcome + Impact
After testing our high-fidelity prototype on four users in our target demographic, we found no usability problems. The participants expressed that they were able to navigate the flow with ease and noted how quick and “painless“ the booking experience was. Additionally, we received a few good suggestions for how we could improve the application if we had more time.
We presented our Hackathon case study at our bi-weekly User Experience All-Hands where we received department-wide praise for the work we were able to accomplish in five short days. The biggest honor came from the Head of Customer & User Experience, who expressed support to build our idea into a fully fledged product.
