Acura.ca reimagined.

The redesign has been launched to everyone across Canada. Visit the website.

Sprint 0.

We had a 4 week Sprint 0 at the beginning of the project, during this phase our team spent time understanding and gathering insights. Our deliverables for Sprint 0 were:

Competitive Analysis

My team and I researched Acura’s direct and indirect competitors as well as high-end brands to determine how they deliver a modern automotive web experience. This analysis helped us identify patterns, best practices, and designs that offer inspiration for the Acura re-design.​

Reserch Findings

Our findings were identified and given a marker as to the corresponding action we felt the business should take. Each marker indicates the ‘weight’ Acura should consider applying when looking at meeting the needs of a customer or prospect.

Industry & UX Trends

My team and I spent time researching industry & UX trends to educate our team on best practises within the automotive industry.

These findings helped us validate our design decisions throughout the project.

Design Principles

My team and I used our design principles to frame any underlying problem in a perspective that is unique to the challenge Acura is trying to solve. The principals were used to not only make things simple and intuitive, but to develop empathy for the Acura customer / prospect and offer a very ‘Acura-centric’ solution that meets their needs. ​

Customer Journey

My team and I put ourselves in our persona Claire’s shoes to understand how the current state of Acura.ca was preforming. By using her mindset, we were able to understand her pain points going through the site, this helped us identify areas for improvement and opportunities to address during our design phase.

Information Architecture

Through exploration of the current site we had found the navigation to be confusing and disorientating. My team and I restructured and organized the site into four levels of navigation. Once we were satisfied with the new hierarchy, my team and I ran a card test to validate and test our proposed architecture.

Once this was completed, we started to tackle main parts of the site like the "Build and Price" section and "Model Exploration" and identified pain points.

Pain Points.

From the pain points identified through the Journey Mapping exercise, my team and I identified areas of opportunity within the overall experience. Here are some examples of pain points we addressed through the redesign.

1. My team and I wanted to come away from a linear flow, to allow the user to navigate around the Build & Price experience.
2. Users are unable to easily visualize differences between models & trims.

1. There are limited customization options for the user to play with.
2. There is a lack of imagery controls and images for exterior and interior views.
3. The user is unable to see accessories such as wheels dynamically update on the vehicle.
4. Categorization of accessories are confusing and inconsistent.

1. Users do not understand the differences between warranty options.
2. Users are unsure if this is a decision that needs to be made now or if it can be made at the dealership.
3. Users are irritated by having to click into each protection/warranty package to learn more.

Opportunities.

Once my team and I identified the pain points, we worked on refining these pain points.

1. My team and I introduced an image carousel which will now include several angles for the model/trim and video.
2. We highlighted the key features per trim and allow for a quick comparison of trim for the user.
3. My team and I introduced a “Compare Trims” option to allow for a detailed comparison of trims.

1. Imagery dynamically updates with accessory selections made by the user.
2. Accessories are organized into logical groupings.
3. Imagery controls allow for a more robust viewing experience with 360ª, landscapes, and interior views.

1. Warranties/Protection Plans are removed from the main flow and are more descriptive and easier to understand.
2. Users will receive a recommended warranties based on their selections reducing decision fatigue.

60 minute testing sessions with 13 customers (virtually).

Ultimately, my team and I set out to validate our assumptions around specific features within the build and price experience.

To protect the privacy of participants, their images and names have been blurred out.

During the user testing sessions, my team and I set out to observe and probe into:

• How easy to navigate and enjoyable is the build process for the customer?
• What obstacles does the customer run into within the build process?
• How do customers relate to and understand the language that's used?

My team and I found three main insights from our research: