Streamlining car buying
Creating an end-to-end experience for auto auctions
Role
Senior UX Designer
Focus
UX / Strategy
Duration
2019–2020
Challenge
Car auctions move fast, and field buyers need reliable tools to fill their inventory. Byrider's field buyers were struggling with an outdated system that was costing them profitable opportunities and creating operational inefficiencies.
Ahead of the event, field buyers printed spreadsheets, and they became outdated within minutes. Auctions follow the pace by digitally updating inventory in real-time.
This disconnect caused buyers to miss important purchases and make it hard to compete with other auctioneers who had better tools.
Process
I partnered with Byrider's team to design and build a mobile app that would track purchases and help field buyers communicate with their home office while at auctions. My role focused on understanding the unique challenges of this fast-paced environment and creating solutions that worked under real-world auction conditions.
The primary goal was to replace the inefficient spreadsheet system with a mobile solution that could keep pace with auction speed while maintaining accuracy and reducing administrative burden.
Key themes
Rapid prototyping and validation
Field research and real-world testing
Branding and visual considerations
Discovery research
Through stakeholder interviews, I learned that the communication burden was equally problematic. When buyers won auctions, the immediate requirement to call headquarters created a cascading effect of missed opportunities.
Each call took valuable time away from monitoring other potential bids, and the manual reporting process introduced errors that affected inventory tracking and financial reporting.
Design process
I established the app's architecture and sketched early ideas to product and engineering teams.
From my initial sketches, engineers built a mobile prototype for me to conduct user research in the field. At an auction, I observed the buyers working with the prototype across different devices. Since this, I created device-agnostic design patterns to accommodate diverse phone types.
Phase I prototype screens
Field testing
This field research revealed critical technical challenges we hadn't anticipated. We discovered increased load times in areas of low connectivity, which were precisely the primary conditions where auctions took place.
This finding was crucial since poor performance could mean missed bidding opportunities. Working with stakeholders, we restructured the API to preload suggested vehicles based on attributes from previously successful bids.
Post-MVP refinement
The first prototype proved to be a successful framework for an enterprise tool, validating our approach to solving the complex challenges of car auction operations. This initial phase helped map out clear next steps for product development.
To increase data accuracy, I designed workflows to encourage field buyers to enter a price prediction and then enter the actual purchase price after they finished bid/purchase.
I tweaked the visual design and refined the app's components to further establish a connection with Byrider's brand. I updated the dark theme to accommodate usage in bright, sunny outdoor conditions.
Phase II prototype screens
Results
The interface focused on speed and clarity, with navigation patterns and microinteractions designed for quick information access. I customized features like quick view and the ability to add/move vehicles between lists for the fast-paced auction environment.
Buyers could quickly view auction details, scan VINs, and track their bids. They can rely on the app to communicate their activity to headquarters–opposed to making calls each time they make a purchase.These refinements replaced the reliance on printed spreadsheets.
