02 VDP Redesign Background
Information hierarchy and discoverability in the then-current VDP was problematic. While the VDP did contain a wealth of vehicle information, information important to the customer was difficult to find, hidden inside modals, accordioned sections, or on altogether different subpages. Despite the increase in visitors, there was a decrease in visitor action and an upward-trending bounce rate.
The fulfillment module (where the user could take action to a.) begin purchase or b.) schedule a test drive) was visually crowded and confusing, with potential user actions varying from vehicle to vehicle with no clear explanation of the differences in methods.
Usability testing revealed these user pain points:
Users did not know Test Drive at Hub was an option on the current VDP. 60% of these users would have preferred this to the Test Drive at Home option
Users expressed uncertainty around vehicle and/or hub location
And as a sticky fulfillment module (in web view), this confusion of actions was ever-present to the user.
Problem Statement
“As a Shift customer, I want to see all vehicle information in a clear, well-organized way so I can make the best-informed decision about my purchase.”
Understanding User (Empathize & Design)
A round of qualitative research (November, 2020) led to several key takeaways:
Users were most interested in understanding history, accidents, and maintenance of the vehicle
History, price, mileage, year, model, and photos were consistently the most important things shoppers immediately looked for on the page
Users did not readily understand Shift ships vehicles directly to them
Users were interested in more financing information, looking for the lowest APR, length of financing, and necessary down payment
The following opportunities for VDP were identified:
Vehicle location: provide clarity that vehicles are shipped directly to the customer
Vehicle images: clearly indicate the VDP photo viewer provides a 360° spinner in addition to static images
Vehicle inspection: provide details about ‘when, where, and who’ to build trust and credibility
Pre-qualification: users are unclear about how/when in the purchase flow to get pre-qualified for a car loan. Make this clearer on VDP
Inspection Report: provide clarity in the report sections and user education to make the report understandable and easily digestible
Vehicle fit: provide information in VDP related to how a user might physically fit in a vehicle and explain the roominess of the interior
Vehicle shipping: Clear confusion in the fulfillment module around free test drives vs. delivery fees for purchased vehicles
Mid-Fidelity
With a very clear set of categorized user requirements, we undertook execution of mid-fidelity web and mobile web concepts.