User Needs & Business Objectives
Stage 1 | Design Process Methodology
Meet Nick and Alan
A friend of mine, Nick, is a bit of a car enthusiast. Over just three years, I watched him trade in and purchase three different vehicles—all initiated online. Each time, he ran into the same issues: friction and frustration, all tied to the trade-in aspect of the transaction. His frustration sparked the investigation below.
Using AI for Stage 1 Work
The workflows, artifacts and tools typically used in classical UX practices for this stage are being augmented, replaced and hastened by Artificial Intelligence. Click here to see some of the new tools and techniques I’m experimenting with.
Nick
Archetype – Car Buyer (with Trade-in)
Alan
Archetype – Dealer Agent
Volumes and numbers
So I asked the questions: “What’s up with vehicle trade-ins, anyway? What sort of numbers are we dealing with here on a national scale?”
2016
~16
million
…new and used cars sold through trade-in deals
2024
~15-18
million
…new and used cars sold through trade-in deals
User empathy and early stage research
Primary and secondary research painted an interesting picture of buyer perception regarding trade-in.
When asked…
12%
stated
…trade-in activities were top frustration with purchase process
Around…
$1,500
dollars
…per transaction could be saved by not having physical dealerships
Only…
10%
stated
…they completed trade-in valuation activities online
Only…
:26
seconds
…was saved completing trade-in valuation activities online
Current-state analysis
Next, I spent a few hours analyzing Carvana’s online purchase funnel, including the trade-in flow. Using Jesse James Garrett’s Visual Vocabulary best practices for flow diagramming, I mapped and visualized the complex conditional logic underlying Carvana’s online digital experience.
Between…
6-32
screens
…required to satisfy Carvana’s trade-in funnel experience
Between…
40-56
clicks / taps
…necessary to satisfy Carvana’s trade-in funnel experience
Between…
~3-8
minutes
…devoted to satisfying Carvana’s trade-in funnel experience
In summary
Market and user research exposes today’s vehicle purchase challenges. Trying to purchase a vehicle online today is often burdened and intertwined with vehicle trade-in valuation distractions. People are often unable to recall many important trade-in valuation data points (like vehicle trim and associated extras) causing them to guess. These burdens make trade-in valuations inaccurate and a frustrating distraction that interrupts the user’s primary goal – buying their next vehicle.
Business Objectives & Strategic Themes
Based on the available market analysis and user research, we have determined one of this year’s strategic themes is to Decouple and Optimize to Convert. This theme will likely address the friction caused by intertwined purchase and trade-in flows, and will likely support a disruptive shift toward simplified, faster, and more personalized funnel experiences. This strategy is likely to reduce cognitive load, speed up decision-making, and improve customer confidence—especially for those unsure whether to buy, sell, or do both.
Risk, Educated Guessing & The Scientific Method
The word ‘likely‘ is used significantly within this section — it’s not by mistake. Click here to watch this brief video on the Scientific Method by Dr. Richard Feynman (Nobel).
Solution hypothesis
➤ Achieving a richer, more personalized car buying experience would likely mean leveraging emerging technologies to collect, collate, interrogate, integrate, track and broadcast every detail of a vehicle’s attributes and activities (static and dynamic) from cradle-to-grave.
New experience concept
➤ Buying a car has always been synonymous with trading in a car. Until now. Say goodbye to doing both at the same time. Buy purely. Trade-In re-imagined. If a fully autonomous 18 wheeler can haul product across US highways, your smart car should be able to sell itself (when its time comes).
Future-state experience outcomes
Nick – Vehicle Owner / Buyer (with Trade-in)
Improving Nick’s life might look something like this in the future…
Alan – Dealer Agent
Improving Alan’s life might look something like this in the future…
Strategic intent
➤ Untangle the dependency between buying and trade-in to reduce funnel abandonment
➤ Use AI/automation to create parallel, optimized experiences for both flows
➤ Personalize interactions based on intent signals (e.g., is the user buying first or offloading a vehicle?)
Guiding principles
The business is prepared to fund and support concrete design solutions that adhere to and represent the following guiding principles:
