How Might We Make Buying Cars Online More Convenient and Flexible?

Intro: One of the largest automotive groups in Southeast Asia hired EY to enhance their e-commerce platform and operational apps as an integral part of their business improvement efforts.

Duration: 1.5 year

My roles:

• As the project progressed, my role evolved from senior to lead designer and assistant project manager.
• I started in a supporting role for research and design, then transitioned to leading progress tracking, guiding designers, and revamping the mobile app.

This project underwent 3 phases with 3 different design teams. I was the only designer involved in all 3 phases.

WHAT WE DID

• Enhanced the platform to drive traffic and generate leads through SEO optimization.

• Implemented a flexible discovery process, allowing customers to find car information across various channels.

• Provided options for inquiry and purchasing, enabling users to continue fully online or transition to offline.

Summaries (TL;DR)

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RESEARCH & DICOVERY

SOME OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS

Despite its popularity and large number of visitors, the platform didn’t generate enough leads and orders

• Many customers still prefer to inquire and order cars through offline dealers.
• The website and app have been live for two years with no significant improvement.
• Increasing competitors that utilize groundbreaking digital technologies.

From a UIUX audit, we identified several pain points on their website/platform:

• Cluttered design with excessive text and unclear visual hierarchy.
• Some journeys are too long and complicated.
• Product-detail-page (PDP) feels like a brochure but doesn’t clearly explain the product
• Lack of consistent navigation placement.

STUDIES: THE TRADITIONAL CAR BUYING PROCESS VS. E-COMMERCE

We also realized why selling cars online is still challenging in Indonesia

• Purchasing a car differs from the traditional store experience. Instead of checking out directly, potential buyers usually initiate a “Quote Request” first to be negotiated with salespeople.
• While many other e-commerce/marketplace platforms only require contact details and addresses for transactions, purchasing a car online may require extra documents to align with government regulations.

INTERVIEWS WITH 22 INTERNAL USERS & 16 CUSTOMERS

From interviews, we recognized that customers prefer a more serious-looking store and a clearer order journey

• “The website looks too busy and cartoon-ish. It is not convincing enough for me to buy a high-value item on it.” - Old customer
• “Potential buyers found it hard to buy from the website because there are too many forms and steps. If buying cars offline, we can assist them to finish the journey.” - Salesman

BENCHMARKING

We sought inspiration from other local & international platforms that sell cars

Some noteworthy heuristic findings that we found include:

• Familiar design elements and terminology
• Consistent design and layout.
• All forms & fields provide clear instructions
• Clear and well-organized product information.
• Visually appealing design.
• Help resources are available.
• Multiple ways to reach the inquiry/quote request form.

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PROPOSED SOLUTION - A (FAILED ❌)

Initially, we tried to simplify the end-to-end digital purchasing flow, but it was not enough 😥

Based on our early-stage findings, we proposed to simplify the end-to-end purchasing flow (from homepage to payment) and gave the platform a drastic redesign. Despite positive user testing feedback, other factors led us to reconsider the approach:

• While the flow might be simpler, it would demand major changes to the business operations.
• Few testers, especially those considering high-value items, hesitated to complete the entire purchase online and expressed discomfort with uploading personal documents.
• Although the design appealed to testers from the young Millennial and Gen-Z generations, it failed to attract older generations, who still represent large portions of the market.

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PROPOSED SOLUTION - B (REFINED ✔️)

Refined Solution 1: Flexible Journey Options

We discovered that the user journey is often non-linear; some customers may not start from the homepage, but use search engines or find links through other channels. Therefore, we optimized entry points and SEO elements to facilitate the discovery phase. Once customers reach the car-detail-page, they can choose to complete their journey fully online, interact with the sales team through digital channels (e.g., WhatsApp), or visit an offline dealer.

Refined Solution 2: Minor Visual Revamp

We designed bold new visuals to better represent a platform for high-value items. Multiple options were created, and a vote determined the best choice.

2a. Overall Theme Iteration

Initially, we proposed a simpler design (on the left) but sadly it lacked the feel of a commerce website (more reminiscent of a catalog website). We developed a new iteration (on the right) to strike a balance between our design principles and the clients’ vision. The tones and colors were also aligned with the website’s previous version.

2b. Evolving Design Library / Mini Design System

Due to the project's complexity and tight deadlines, we developed the design library simultaneously while creating features and flows. We continuously revisited and updated the library based on the needs and feedback.

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RESULT

For the new car discovery and purchasing flow, we divided the result by 3 stages:

1. Cross-Channel Discovery: Expanding Access Points Across Platforms

To ensure customers could easily find the cars they were interested in, we implemented multiple discovery paths across different channels. Whether customers arrived through search engines, retargeting messages on WhatsApp, or QR codes scanned at dealerships, the goal was to provide consistent access to the car-detail-page. This cross-channel approach ensured that customers could seamlessly pick up where they left off, no matter the entry point.

2. Flexible Ways to Inquire and Purchase a Car

Recognizing that not all customers are ready to purchase a car fully online, we introduced various purchasing paths. Customers can opt for a more traditional car-buying method by initiating a “Quote Request” (followed up by the sales team via WhatsApp), complete a digital checkout (similar to other e-commerce platforms), or utilize online-to-offline (O2O) features to engage directly with the car and the sales team. This flexibility allowed customers to choose the method that best suited their comfort level.

3. Omnichannel Document Submission

A major challenge in online car buying is submitting government-required documents. To address this, we enabled customers to submit documents digitally through the platform or physically at the dealership, providing flexibility and reducing friction for a seamless online or hybrid experience.

Extra: Ensuring UI Consistency Across Devices

We ensured consistent visuals across the mobile app, mobile web, and desktop. This allowed customers to switch between devices, maintaining a cohesive experience whether browsing on-the-go or completing the journey at home.

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OUTCOME AND REFLECTION

While the project is still ongoing, some of the flows have already been shipped live.

The website currently maintains a strong user base of 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 monthly visitors, and has seen a 70-90% increase in lead generation.

In addition to revamping the website and customer-facing platform, we also developed some backend app features. However, due to budget constraints, some progress had to be canceled.

Handling a complex project of this scale has given me valuable insights, including:

• As the team changed between project phases, maintaining design consistency proved to be challenging. This experience helped me realize the importance of establishing and adhering to a consistent design alignment. We tried to address this matter through ongoing coordination and daily progress tracking.
• Given the complexity of the clients’ business that has run for over 50 years, relying on design thinking and UI/UX principles alone is not enough to solve all the problems. We also needed to adopt emotional approaches to understand the clients' visions and predict the solutions that can balance the clients’ and their customers’ needs.