Spotawheel Go : User Research, UX Design & Usability testing
My role
Ran product discovery & definition workshops for a new product (short & long term car rental) for Spotawheel. Defined problem statement, product goals, product features & USPs, IA for product landing page, designed user flows and high-fidelity wireframes. Designed and conducted usability testing to understand how users interact with our design and identify problems they encounter and friction points.
Outcome
Webpages for Spotawheel GO product are now live. All feedback from user testing was incorporated in the designs.
Background
Spotawheel is a company that sells used cars based in Greece. Until recently customers could acquire a car from Spotawheel only through purchasing it. Spotawheel introduced an alternative way to purchase - the short and long term rental - under the name Spotawheel Go.
Project Overview
The project deliverables for the new product were:
a. To design a landing page for Spotawheel GO
b. To design a new version of the car page for Spotawheel GO
c. To test both designs with users and get their feedback
Step 1: Product discovery & definition
After a Product discovery workshop with stakeholders to understand what we’re trying to solve and for whom:
-we defined the problem we’d like to solve and product goals
-we defined the product features and USPs
-we determined the information architecture of our product
Problem statement
Until recently, people could acquire a car from Spotawheel only by buying it. However, there are many people who need to own a car but don’t want to buy it and Spotawheel couldn't address the needs of those people.
Why people don't want to buy a car?
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Don't have the cash to buy a car
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Can't get a bank loan due to their credit score
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Value flexibility and want to be able to cancel anytime
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Value peace of mind and don’t want to worry about the burden the car ownership involves (car maintenance, MOT, Road tax, Car insurance)
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They’d prefer to rent than to buy a car because they own a business and monthly rental payments can be considered as business expenses and therefore pay less tax
Product goal
After problem gained its shape we defined the product goal:
People should be able to acquire a car in an easy and flexible way without having to worry about the burden the car ownership involves.
Product features and USPs
The new product name would be 'Spotawheel Go' and it would provide an alternative to car ownership for people that don’t want or can’t buy a car for various reasons.
Spotawheel Go gives the option to costumers to rent a car either short (Flex) or long (Fixed) term rental. The main difference between Flex and Fixed term rental is that:
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With Flex you can rent as long as you want and cancel anytime and there is no downpayment
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With Fixed you can choose to rent between 36 or 48 months and the downpayment is 20% of the car retail price
These are the USPs the business wanted to set:
No maintenance fees
Flexible term lengths
Immediately available
24/7 Roadside
Assistance
Step 2: Wireframes
I designed high-fidelity wireframes of the new product landing page and the car page.
A. Spotawheel GO landing page
B. Car page Version 1
In relation to the car page, as we wanted to explore different versions of how we could present the subscription type I created two versions of the pricebox.
Users can choose between Flex and Fixed subscription type. If they choose Fixed they need to select a duration among 24, 36 or 48 months
Version 2
Users choose between three subscription options: Flex, 36 and 48 months (we don't use the word Fixed for 36 and 48 months)
1. FIXED SUBSCRIPTION
2. FLEX SUBSCRIPTION
Step 3: Testing with users
Having in mind the product and user goals I designed a usability research study to get feedback on the user experience and validate whether the new design would solve users' problem.
A. Research goals
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Understand how users interact with the design throughout the whole user journey
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Identify problems they encounter and friction points. Whether they get the product offering, can compare Flex and Fixed options, if it’s easy for them to make a choice based on the information they see.
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Learn about their behaviour and preferences when looking for a car to rent
B. User testing participants' profiles
In person or remote, with just as five users you can identify most of the usability problems of a design so we got eight to cover all categories: people who have already had an experience with leasing, people interested in renting and people interesting in leasing.
Number of users: 8 males 35-45
Relationship with renting:
-3 people have leased a car
-3 people have rented a car / interested in renting
Location: Athens and suburbs
Method of testing: Athens and suburbs
C. User tasks - Scenarios
Users were given a link to a prototype and were asked to go through some scenarios. I had created a set of questions to follow up each task and some more general questions to ask in the end. I asked the participants' permission for recording in order to revisit their feedback. During and after the usability sessions, I wrote observations, findings and ideas on sticky notes. I then organised notes into themes and created a summary of key findings.
Task 1
Action: User sees Spotawheel GO landing page
User Goal: Understand how Spotawheel GO works, the benefits and the difference between Flex & Fixed subscription types
Task: Imagine you are interested in renting a car instead of buying it and you see this page. Have a look at this page. Does this page provide all information you need to know?
Participants' feedback
Task 2
Action: User sees Spotawheel listing page
User Goal: Find smoothly a car that he is interested in. Understand the difference between Flex & Fixed subscription types and make a suited choice easily.
Task: Imagine you would like to subscribe for one month only, to a 2015 Toyota Yaris Hybrid. Could you let me know how you would do this?
Task 3
Action: User sees Spotawheel Car page
User Goal: Understand the difference between Flex & Fixed subscription types, understand the benefits of each and being able to choose the most suitable plan easily.
Task: Imagine you would like to subscribe to this Toyota Yaris Hybrid for two years. How would you do this?
1. FIXED SUBSCRIPTION
2. FLEX SUBSCRIPTION
D. Addressing Pain points
Insights from the validation test led me to reiterate on both Fixed and Flex subscription screens. Below are the Hi-Fi mockups BEFORE and AFTER user testing including pain points and design solutions.
Price breakdown design screens
