"The single most important thing to get right in a used car operation to set conditions for optimal decision making and pricing is proper inventory." —Dale Pollack
MY ROLEs
UX Architecht, UX Designer
Problem discovery and alignment, Scope definition, workflow mapping, Lo-fidelity and hi-fidelity designs and prototyping, User feedback facilitation and synthesis, Beta launch preperation
TEam
Product, Engineering, Developers, Data Scientists, Performance Managers
Tools
Mural, Figma
Background
Outdated stocking practices among dealers are leading buyers to acquire vehicles that do not align with their stocking and sales goals. The enhancements to our application aim to provide accurate data, customizable objectives based on historical sales, and a connection to the Global Search feature to minimize uncertainty in vehicle selection.
Our Founder's Vision
Our company's founder and automotive retail industry visionary, Dale Pollack, imagined a system that provided sales data-driven guidance on vehicle segments and pricing, forecasts for vehicle sourcing, and individualized stocking objectives for buyers.
Problem
How might we prioritize, design, develop, and test a list of features that we can launch in less than 6 months to bring our founder’s vision to life, and provide beneficial improvements to our current capabilities for our dealers?
Discovery "Lite"
Although we bypassed generative research with dealers because of time crunch, I still needed to understand how the Performance Management team was solving dealer problems with a massive spreadsheet that they would customize with the dealers during their regular consultations. My product partner and I worked with the spreadsheet authors, data scientists, and a few dealers to understand the current process and how this "Stocking First" strategy improved it.
Alignment was challenging due to philosophical differences between Performance Management and Data Science on key calculations and metrics. However, we agreed on a scope of work that was beneficial to dealers and feasible for Engineering to deliver in a short amount of time.
After compiling notes from calls, emails, and meetings, I completed a UX canvas exercise to align all stakeholders.
Low fidelity wireframes enabled visual feedback sessions and rapid itteration.
Low fidelity wireframes enabled visual feedback sessions and rapid itteration.
High-resolution designs came together quickly once I had full stakeholder alignment.
The subsequent feedback session with PMs and product was initially met with surprise and approval, but as that session went on we called out key use cases that needed to be addressed and lack of a coherent flow that each of the dealer roles would follow to achieve their desired outcomes.
After several refinements, I mapped out a simpler approach that was approved for development.
The Stocking “Control Panel” allows the Used Car Manger to set stocking goals for the entire system with one simple input. While giving them full visibility into historical data and
sales projections.
Solution/Iteration
Feedback emphasized the importance of automation with flexibility, data integration, and competitive insights.
- Annual Sales Goals: Typically set by the owner or principal,often based on intuition.
- Vehicle Availability: System suggestions are limited by actual availability.
- Actual Evidence: Data is valuable for informed decisions, even if unfavorable.
- Automation with Editability: Desired with manual adjustment options.
- Appraisal Integration: Dealer request. Would enhance pricing strategies by knowing vehicle necessity.
Outcomes
I didn't have the opportunity to see this feature rolled out for full release, but the feedback I received suggested we achieved our goal of delivering a more intuitive approach to stocking strategy based on actual data and realistic sales goals.
I would have loved to have the opportunity to bring these inputs, calculations, and insights into a more high level view, like a dashboard, to allow dealers to see their actuals and projections at a glance so that they can prioritize their next steps more effectively.