Driving UX Forward: Designing a Better Car-Buying Journey
ROLE: SOLE UX DESIGNER
JAN 2024 - PRESENT
Skills Involved: User-Centred Design, User Research, Journey Mapping, Design Systems, Wireframing & Prototyping, Design Iteration, Developer Handoff, Responsive & Mobile-First Design, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Accessibility, Information Architecture, Visual Design, Usability Testing
Project Summary
Buying a car can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Customers often visit multiple showrooms, manually compare options, and navigate lengthy document submissions. As the sole Product Designer on this project, I was tasked with bringing an innovative car-buying platform to life.
⚠ Due to NDA restrictions, certain details and visuals have been modified or omitted.
My Role
🔬 Led UX research, conducting 10 in-depth user interviews with recruited participants.
📊 Transcribed and analyzed interview data, applying thematic analysis to extract insights that shaped design decisions.
👩🏻💻 Created the entire user journey and flow in collaboration with the Product Manager.
🎨 Designed the platform from scratch, iterating through 5+ versions based on feedback and requirements.
📅 Presented the design decisions and end-to-end user flow in meetings with teams across business, finance, marketing, development, design, product management, and other key stakeholders.
🖌️ Developed new design system components to support missing use cases.
🦾 Advocated for usability, accessibility, and WCAG standards.
💻 Worked closely with developers for implementation, documenting dev notes for every iteration and ensuring fixes via Jira (Agile).
Tools Used
Figma, Jira, Lark, Agile methodology
The Problem
Buying a car online presents several challenges:
⏳ Long process – Users have to go back and forth to showrooms, taking time to explore different options.
📄 Lengthy document submission – Submitting documents is tedious and time-consuming, leading to frustration.
👓 Lack of transparency – Users often don’t have a clear view of their deal and offer details upfront.
Research & Discovery
User Research Approach
To understand user pain points, I conducted:
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10 one-on-one user interviews (1-hour each) with potential and existing car buyers, recruited via Snowball and Purposive sampling.
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Competitive analysis of existing platforms.
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User journey mapping to identify key friction points.
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Thematic analysis of the interview data, applying what I've honed in my Master's degree.
Sample of data analytics using thematic analysis.
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Key Insights
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Users prefer a clean, clear interface with instant clarity, minimizing cognitive load.
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Transparency and trust are crucial - they frequently question details and want to understand exactly what they’re paying for.
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Unclear information leads to confusion; users prefer details to be straightforward and easy to grasp at a glance.
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Buying a car is a major commitment, so they want an easy way to contact support if they are unsure about anything.
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Users also provided feedback on the design and colour schemes, which led to expanding the design system to enhance UI consistency and accessibility.
Design & Iteration
Defining the User Flow & Gathering Requirements
At the start of the project, I worked closely with the Product Manager and Design Lead to map out a guided user journey - from comparing dream car options to confidently making a purchase decision. We also had discussions with teams across finance, business, and marketing to gather requirements, check protocols, and ensure alignment across departments.
Design System & Custom Components
During the design phase, I started with early wireframes to establish the visual style. Since this was a brand-new platform, we had to get creative in how we presented information to customers. I explored the existing design system, identified missing use cases, and created new components to add to the library.
The design phase was a long one - we iterated based on both user research and stakeholder feedback, going through over five full end-to-end iterations before landing on the existing version (still a work in progress as of now).
Through it all, I made sure to maintain consistency in layout, typography, and interaction patterns, while prioritizing usability, accessibility (WCAG compliance), and visual clarity.
Please find samples of some of the design elements below.
Development Handoff & QA
Once the prototypes were finalized and presented to stakeholders, I prepped everything for developer handoff. I included detailed developer notes to ensure clarity on requested changes and hopped on calls after each iteration to walk the developers through updates, clear up any ambiguities, and provide proper documentation. All changes were tracked and documented in Jira for easy reference.
In the later stages, I:
✔ Conducted QA on staging to catch and resolve usability issues.
✔ Worked closely with developers to fix usability concerns and refine interactions.
✔ Used Jira (Agile) to track issues, report fixes, and maintain a smooth workflow.
✔ Ensured the project stayed on track and aligned with the intended user experience.
Outcomes & Takeaways
Users were excited about this simplified, time-efficient, and intuitive way to attain their dream cars. The streamlined process reduced cognitive load and allowed them to navigate the journey at their own pace.
They especially appreciated:
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The intuitive UI and seamless navigation
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Clarity and transparency at every step
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Engaging visuals, information cards, and accessibility features
Internally, the project strengthened collaboration between design, product, and development teams, fostering a more cohesive and engaging work environment.
Key Takeaways
✅ Deep user research is essential for identifying pain points and needs.
✅ Iteration and cross-functional collaboration strengthen the final product.
✅ Prioritizing accessibility and usability enhances the experience for all users.
Summary and Closing Remarks
This project has spanned 1.5 years so far and is still ongoing, making it the longest I’ve worked on as a designer thus far. Despite its duration, it’s been incredibly rewarding. I had the opportunity to lead the project independently, taking full ownership from start to finish and successfully delivering everything on time. Being entrusted with such a significant responsibility so early on in this company has been such a great experience and I can't wait to see how this platform will help its users.
Thanks for reading! If you'd like to know more, feel free to reach out!