Transforming dealer participation in online auctions on CARS24 app.

This case study is on solving some crucial problems which involves interaction of dealers with CARS24 app during online auctions.

👨Role- Product designer

Context

CARS24 is a leading auto-tech company streamlining the sale, purchase, and financing of pre-owned cars in India, Australia, Thailand, and UAE. There are 3 simple steps in which the app in the Indian marketplace functions-

Stage 1- Owners selling their old cars.

• Owners raise an enquiry for selling their car through a customer app.
• Owners get a rough quotation and an inspection appointment.
• A team of experts inspect the car physically and upload an inspection report based on some set parameters.

Stage 2- Car dealers buying those used cars.

• Dealers get a notification on partner’s app, prior to the auction and after the car details are uploaded by the internal team.
• Each car stays in auction for 24 minutes.
• The dealer who bids the highest at the end of auction time, gets the car.

Stage 3- Car dealers selling cars to end users.

• Car dealers sell those cars through the same customer app.
• For each transaction, Cars24 gets a commission.

I got to work on problem statements which fall under stage-2 of the process, where car dealers buy used cars via an auction model.

Understanding problem statements

The problem statements came in 2 parts.

• Part 1

To summarize- How do we retain and engage dealers while they’re browsing through the auction screen.

• Part 2

To summarize- How do we increase the adoption of auto-bid.

Screenshots of the app were given to us for reference along with a walkthrough video.

**Note- Other app flows could not be accessed as the app cannot be used unless you register as a dealer by paying an amount of ₹10,000.

Goals

• For business- To increase adoption of Auto-bid.
• For users- To show dealers the most relevant content based on their past purchase behavior, interests and most favorite brands.

Primary research

To have a better 🔎understanding, I thought of conducting research from the ground up. It led me to nearby used car dealers where I had my part of discussion. My primary aspect was to know on what basis they value an used car.

1. Year of purchase
2. Engine condition
3. Distance run (Odometer)
4. Tire conditions
5. No. of owners
6. Transmission type
7. Accidents if any
8. Dents & Scratches
9. Last paint job

From the data I collected from car dealers I talked to, here are my findings-

Data collected from interviews.

That’s me.

Secondary research

To get more insights on the scenario of buying and selling of used cars on CARS24, I surfed through Quora (It’s a platform to ask questions and contribute unique insights) to know what customers have experienced. Here are some of my findings-

To summarize the problems-

1. Insufficient car info on the condition of the car- customers finding out defects after use.
2. Dealers not quoting the right price.
3. Damages are not prominent in the report.

I found out that there is trust deficit through out the process in terms of knowing the near actual condition of different parts of the car. It was found in my primary research also.

User journey map

On the basis of the above shown research, I prepared a user journey map to find out what car dealers feel while they’re on the concerned screens.

Research summary and brainstorming

My research on why dealers do not make a fair bid, could be concluded into-

• Insufficient car info(deciding parameters) while browsing, makes it difficult for dealers to quote the right price during auctions.

To make things clear and come up with a solution-

“The dealer does not know how much cost would go into refurbishment, which is a contributing factor to not making the right bid. By mentioning more ‘decision making details’ in the inspection report, the dealer will be able to make a conscious bid, hence quoting the right price for the car. It helps the end user as well by solving the problem of insufficient car info, that we obtained from the research.”

Proposed solutions

Keeping in mind, the mental model of the users as they have been using the app for a long time, I have retained the visual design and elements as before. I did add a few features here and there.

Addressing each issue separately as mentioned in the above problem statements in the form of questions-

Problem statement- 1

1. How can we enable users to see more cars at the same time?

• Adding a drop down chevron in the card, which when expanded reveals basic parameters, resulted in shortening the height of the card. The dealer only expands the card only when he/she is interested.

2. How do we engage and retain the dealers to explore more cars?

• In order to retain the dealer on the screen, added a new filter which segregates all cars into 4 different popular categories, namely- Hatchback, SUV, Sedan & Compact SUV. These categories cover all the cars in the Indian market. This filter features a no. tag which gets updated once a new car is added, and the stroke on the filter gives a breathing effect each time to catch attention.

3. How do we optimize the view of the dealers based on their user behavior?

• Adding a new tab which shows personalized feed based on the dealers’ interaction with the app, optimizes the view of the dealers.

4. What should be the best way to show an auction in the discovery/exploration stage and in an independent car auction screen?

• Exploration screen redesign has been explained in the above question no.-2. The independent car screen is as below. The reason for including these deciding parameters have been explained in 3rd question (coming below) in problem statement-2.

Problem statement- 2

How can we nudge the user to increase the adoption of Auto-bid?

• Providing more emphasis to Auto-bid button should increase its adoption.

2. An auto bid is a convenience for the dealer, but as a feature, it can be difficult to understand. How can we simplify this with design?

• Earlier the prompt screen for auto bid was lengthy, confusing, and different from manual bid prompt screen, which made it difficult for the user, to go for Auto-bid.
• To make it easier to understand, I have summarized the information into 4 easy-to-understand pointers. It is easier to understand and remember when the copy is in pointer format. The rest of the functionality is kept similar to the previous design.
• I made both the prompt screens for manual bid and auto-bid similar. Making them similar should make the user pursue both with equal interest.

3. The dealer seems to have trust or process understanding issues as they are not honestly setting their cap for the bid. How do we fix this?

The dealer does not set his/her bid honestly because of unawareness of how much cost it will take to refurbish he car. More decision making parameters need to be introduced. On the basis of my research, these are the parameters I introduced, based on my research in the independent car screen-

1. Engine efficiency.
2. How old are the tires.
3. How long has the car run.
4. Transmission type.
5. Fuel type.
6. No. of previous owners.

4. How else can we improve the overall UX from Business and User(Car Dealer’s) perspective.

• The overall UX can be improved by being more transparent regarding the car condition. The more transparent the details get, the more trust it builds.

Learnings

1. This project got me through excessive research and rightfully so. Now, I know how solutions to complex problems are hidden within research.
2. Talking to on-field agents and analyzing their experience in such cases is a big revelation.
3. I would love to develop a working prototype to test it. Solutions do not reveal their usefulness unless tested. But the scope of the project and timeline do not allow to do so.

That’s all folks!

😃It was an incredible experience working on this project. I hope you had fun reading it as well. This was my first attempt at solving a real world design problem. Do let me know your thoughts, I am ever-ready to discuss, learn and grow my design skills.

🤝I am open to Product Design opportunities. If incase you’re hiring and like my work, let’s discuss on LinkedIn or Twitter or Behance.

🎉Lastly show some appreciation by holding the claps button (It goes up to 50 claps). I am sure you’ll find the animation pretty cool.

Thank you for staying engaged until the end! Your curiosity and attention are much appreciated. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask. 😊📚