PROJECT DONE AT OLX AUTOS
2021
TLDR;
OLX Autos recognised the need to shed the baggage of our older classifieds app and design a brand-spankin'-new car-focused app experience that would knock our users’ socks off. We explored features from a mobile first perspective, pushing the envelope of the user experience while taking the learnings from our classifieds app and improving upon them. In addition to this, I also took on the role of art direction to ensure that the overall visual language, motion design and photography was consistent and visually appealing.
HIGHLIGHTS
INTRODUCTION
We didn't just want to fix the issues with the old app - we wanted to create something truly special, something that would be more user-friendly and inspire trust in our users. The Classifieds app was designed with desktop browsers as a priority. We wanted to explore features from a mobile-first perspective, pushing the envelope of the user experience. We knew that some features and flows would exist as it is from previous experiences. We wanted to take the learnings from our classifieds app and improve upon them. So, we put our heads together and got to work, designing and developing a brand-spankin'-new car-focused app experience that would knock our users’ socks off.
Issues with the old OLX Classifieds app
Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let's take a quick look at what was wrong with the old app, shall we?
Bad navigation and Complicated CJM (Customer Journey Map)
Low
conversion rate
Lacked personalization
for each customer.
Entry Points
Illustrations
vs.
Reality
Not specifically designed for
car transactions.
Entry Points
Looked old
and dated
Entry Points
Now, it's not every day that you get to redesign a product from the ground up, especially at a big ol' corporate like OLX. But when you do you have to say you are up for the challenge to re-think about the product from the ground up. We worked with our customers to understand what their needs were.
When it comes to selling, our users want trust, speed, and transparency in the process.
They're looking for the best possible price and a personalised, fast, and easy car selling journey. And who can blame them? They want to get the best deals and check out cars worth upgrading for.
Of course, they want end-to-end handholding and user education at each critical stage.
They needed a personalised service that saves time and effort, including home pick-up, home inspection, and all the info they need about the cars they're selling.
Buyers want trust, transparency, and convenience in the buying process.
And of course, they need guidance and handholding at each stage.
FROM FINDINGS TO FEATURES
Now, let's talk about designing for humans. We're all about the tone of voice, communication, and copy that emphasizes security, transparency, and education. We also developed art direction guidelines for content, imagery, and motion.
For returning users, we're continuing with content curation, prioritization, and recommendations based on intent, location, and other factors. We're giving you a tracking feature for your buying, selling, financing, and trade-in journeys, as well as a wish-list, shortlist, and favorites.
Entry Points
For those of you on the move, we've got some cool features in store. We're talking quick explore, powerful and smart search, seamless checkout, and instant pricing. We're taking advantage of device capabilities, including the camera, for quick information gathering. And we're all about using a centralized system for the source of truth, like Zoop.
We'll onboard you swiftly and give you a login contextually. We're all about relevant entry points and redirection, with no dead ends. When it comes to personalization, we're all over it. We're talking content curation, home screen widget/dashboard recommendations, and a customized onboarding experience. We're capturing intent and directing folks to their main task without any fuss.
When it comes to accessibility, we wanted to use bottom sheets more efficiently, designing for one-hand operation, and making sure the visual themes are easy on the eyes. Plus, we kept in mind cognitive design and reduced the need for typing wherever possible.
Designing for "First Time Users"
We wanted to make sure our users had a personalised experience, with the help of our research team we identified three questions to help us understand what they were looking for.
And if they skipped the onboarding flow, we asked them again later, like a friendly nudge in the right direction. And we even encourage them to edit their preferences later on, so they could always have a custom experience.
Designing for "Delight"
Our research suggested that people only retain about 10% of what they hear or read after three days. But if you pair that same info with a relevant image, boom, they remember 65% of it.
We also gathered that there was content that is better understood in the context of imagery and content without the context of imagery but still important for decision making.
We made sure to include plenty of comprehensive car photos, video player and a 360 degree car view with dent maps and feature markers to give our users instant information about the vehicle visually, without having to read through a ton of text.
We divided and organised everything on the screen into three sections (Top Nav, 360 Degree View, Bottom Sheet) and made it so that the users can seamlessly switch between them.
** Context: From past research in the LATAM region, we've learned that videos add to the trust factor as users feel pictures are easily editable but videos are difficult to tamper with. Competition uses manual video process/drone video recording of cars.
Designing for "On the move Users"
Now, stories are a bit different from your usual listings. Instead of bombarding you with a ton of info all at once, they take things one story at a time, giving you a chance to dive deep into what you're interested in. And they do it all in just 7 seconds (15 seconds if there's a video), taking advantage of every inch of your screen real estate. You get to shortlist, share, view car details and compare it with other cars. The video content would be shot with templates right on the screen for our inspectors.
Additionally, we included features such as sharing, add-to-compare, and shortlisting to let users choose their dream cars. Adding social proofing indicators such as views and shortlisted count so that other people, or even better, familiar people, like the content can remove decision-making uncertainty. Crucial car details called qualifiers can be swiped up into view to see more details in the ad detail page.
Designing for "Trust"
Together with the LATAM marketing team, we developed mood boards, shot lists, locations, camera angles, and lighting. And let me tell you, these personas from the research team were invaluable in shaping what kind of scenarios and models we would shoot for our lifestyle shots.
We commissioned a local agency to execute the shoot in Mexico and Chile, capturing users using the app in environments that were familiar and relatable to them. It was a blast seeing your vision come to life!
PARTNERING WITH LIQUID INK DESIGN
We partnered with Liquid Ink’s design team in building a visual language for our Autos business that is globally relatable, clever, and confident.
The library of illustrations, onboarding, and icons was designed to create a universal feeling of pride and empowerment and move & flex through a playful storytelling of the car trading process.
GESTURE BASED INTERACTIONS
When it comes to interactions, we wanted to shake things up with new interaction paradigms. But don't worry, we're keeping things familiar and predictable with widely accepted gestures, functional animations, and transitions. We added micro-interactions for feedback and delightful animations for a little extra fun.
DESIGN VALIDATION
Onboarding & User Profiling lent a helpful hand
Most users felt that the onboarding process was good, fast, and easy - especially those who already know what car they want to buy. However, some users found it annoying if they already knew what they wanted.
We kept the user at the center of everything we did, and it showed in the final product. And while it's bittersweet to say that OLX Autos as a business vertical is being sold off/shut down, I'm proud of what we accomplished during my time there. If you want to learn more about my work or have any questions, don't be shy, hit me up!
© Nitin Shekhar
© Nitin Shekhar
[email protected]
+91 996 778 4886