Creating a mobile first marketplace for used cars

CARFAX had an existing used car marketplace that wasn’t gaining traction in the market. After making a key hire to reinvigorate their efforts, DesignMap was approached to kickstart updates to the UX.

Our team in worked in two phases. In Phase 1 we worked to rapidly update the core experience of finding a used car. In Phase 2 we broadened our scope, building out the rest of the experience.

The team included:

• Design directors (2 over the course of the project)
• A prototyper / developer
• 2 user researchers
• Client product lead
• Client lead developer

My role 

In my role as junior designer, I was the sole consistent resource throughout the project. I was responsible for translating rough designs from my design director into fully fleshed out concepts. I produced the vast majority of mockups and designs for the project.

Kicking off the design phase through whiteboarding

We were tasked with rapidly improving the current experience while proving our value to the executive team. I participated in a 2 day workshop to sketch a new vision for the experience. Utilizing our clients experience as SMEs, we rapidly iterated on core concepts. 

As a result, we came out with a series of designs ready to translate into mockups in rapid time.

One of several detailed whiteboard sketches we created.

Translating sketches into testable prototypes

I jumped into crafting mockups and making prototypes we could test. Once the mockups were completed, we dove into 3 weeks of user testing twice a week with two user researchers.

Rapidly updating prototypes to prove value

We were learning, updating, and testing in 2-3 day cycles. I would rapidly update our prototypes in between and translate our learnings into easily digestible updates for executives, accompanied by recordings of the sessions. By showing rapid improvement, we secured a phase 2 to build out more of the experience.

Building a car comparison tool within the app

I spent a good chunk of time designing an interface for comparing several cars side by side that would work on both desktop and mobile. By showing how similar used cars compared top each other, we were able to emphasize CARFAX’s competitive advantage of having an extensive set of car history data. 

Rounding out the ecosystem with dealer search

I was able to leverage similar visual patterns to build a streamlined search for dealers. This allowed users to have multiple entry points into the car buying process, and ensured that CARFAX gave attention to the dealers who pay for reports.

Creating a modular email system for a programatic future

One of the last pieces I designed were their email notifications. Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, I helped design a system where messages could be assembled on the fly. My work showed a world where emails could be respectful and tailored to a users needs. 

Making in responsive and making it real

I worked with a visual designer to create visual designs and scale them to other pages and breakpoints. I worked with our internal development team to create a web prototype, which we tested with users and tweaked small details over several final rounds of user testing.

By working in a prototype we were able to refine animation and small details. The prototype served as the primary handoff for developers. 

A new marketplace, built from scratch and rigorously validated

In the end our team succeeded in creating an experience that helped customers find a used car and furthered CARFAX’s goal of being seen as a trusted source of information. It was gratifying to be able to design a product from scratch and have such robust user testing to validate my work. 

I was pleasantly surprised when my designs were prominently featured in a national ad campaign.