KMX new

PRODUCT DESIGN INTERN |
JUNE 2017 - AUGUST 2017

During the summer I worked on an interdisciplinary team with two developers. We were tasked with creating a way for CarMax Associates to determine their discount on vehicles. We operated as a true core team from discovery to delivery of our product shipment. Due to the sensitive nature of the product I am unable to show finalized product. Below you can view our process.

JUNIOR PRODUCT DESIGNER |

Once I completed my internship with CarMax, I extended took on the position of Junior Product Designer. I work with various product teams. Contact me to chat about my current experience at CarMax bagby.jess[at]gmail.com (804)484-0079.

Create an internal platform for which associates can determine their employee discount.

CARMAX ASSOCIATE DISCOUNT CALCULATOR EXPERIENCE

WE SELL CARS, CAN WE BUY CARS?

Carmax employees dedicate their lives to ensuring their customers experience when purchasing a vehicle is seamless. Yet can not use their own benefit due to lack of knowledge and time. Objective is to Increase employee pricing education and access while reducing the time required from in-store associates.

STEP 1

CAR SEARCH ON CARMAX.COM

Employees will visit Carmax.com and find for the car they would like to calculate their Associate Discount on. and the save the stock number.

STEP 2

CarMax associates will only be able to utilize calculator while they are on premise.

STEP 3

SEARCH BY STOCK NUMBERS

Associates can search up to 10 vehicles by their stock numbers.

STEP 4

RECEIVE DISCOUNT CALCULATION

Associates will be able to view the current discount and the future discount on vehicles they are interested in. Since this site is separate from the CarMax site we wanted to ensure that the basic pertinent information is also being given to the associate so they wouldn't have to switch back and forth.

STEP 5

LEARN ABOUT PROCESS

One of the largest opportunities we found was the educate Associates about the discount they received and answer many of their FAQ.

STEP 6

KEEP SHOPPING

The Web App saves the most recent cars viewed allowing associates to log back in and not have to search once more for the same vehicles.

STEP 7

PURCHASE VEHICLE

A large number of Associates with interviewed & surveyed were not taking advantage of their discount due to the lack of awareness, transparency & understanding of the policy. Therefore many Associates were not purchasing their personal vehicles from CarMax and if they were were purchasing at full price due to the hassle of the process.

PRODUCT DESIGNERS

CARMAX UX

I was fortunate enough to not only work on a collaborative internship team but be surrounded by thoughtful product designers at CarMax.

WHY MY INTERNSHIP WORKED.

JESSICA + CARMAX = PERSONAL GROWTH

My experience at CarMax has not only increased my knowledge and experience about product design but also about myself. It has allowed me to gain hands on experience I would have never received otherwise. I was and am immersed in the full product organization experience, over the summer my team and I had daily stand ups, attended town halls, presented at open house. CarMax is an organization dedicated to learning which makes them constantly trying out new methodologies, software and ways to connect with the user. Which allowed me the opportunity to try out new methodologies and software as well.

MY DESIGN PROCESS

A design process is not like baking a cake there is no one recipe, it is every changing and fluid. My design process and deliverables adapts based on the context, problem, goals and scope. Design processes never are as neat and tidy less linear and more cyclical. However, I use decide the problem, discover the pain points, define the objectives and design the solution as my overarching guideline. View detailed process and documentation below

decide

THE PROBLEM

GOOGLE SPRINT
USER INTERVIEWS
PROBLEM SPACE
SURVEY

discover

THE PAIN POINTS

JOURNEY MAPPING
USER FLOW
PROTO PERSONA
CARD SORTING
PERSONA

define

THE OBJECTIVES

SYSTEMS CAPABILITIES
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
DESIGN OBJECTIVES

design

THE SOLUTION

USER INTERVIEW
USER TESTING
COLLABORATE
SKETCHES & CRAZY EIGHT*
WIREFRAMES*

decide the problem

GOAL

Briefed by our Product Managers we were given the stakeholder expectations as well as our limitations and constraints.We were led by Chip Trout, UX Discipline lead on our first Google Sprint. This aided our team in becoming acclimated with one another and familiar with our problem space.

KEY INSIGHTS

Determining the price was not the major issue, understanding and finding the associate discount policy was the largest pain point.
Associates would give up trying to receive their discount price and purchase a vehicle from another retailer.
Associates would give up trying to receive their discount price and purchase a vehicle from another retailer.

PROCESS

UNDERSTANDING LEAN UX.

LEAN UX

I was gifted LEAN UX by the awesome CarMax product designers as a welcome and I read and applied many of the methodologies throughout my process.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

GOOGLE SPRINT

We spent a week following the Google Sprint methodology. By the end of the week had developed goals, ideated How Might We's, completed Blue Sky Concepting, created Design Target , current user flow for home office and in store associates.
By the end we had created and prototyped a tool which we tested.

WHAT ARE THE USERS PERCEIVED PROBLEMS?

SURVEY

I created a general survey to gather statistically significant data to better understand Associates perception of the policy. Utilized the results to guide our team to determine the problem we truly needed to solve for.

discover the pain points

GOALS

Once my team and I understood the current situation of the Associate Discount and our chosen problem space. We then needed to have a better understanding of who we were designing for; what their needs, expectations, and pain points were. Establishing associate needs and expectations.

KEY INSIGHTS

Misconceptions about what the acutal policy is and how they determine their discount
The majority of associates we interviewed had learned about the policy through word of mouth, many unreliable sources
Associates had developed their own custom solution
'Guestimating' was a popular form of determining their discount

PROCESS

WHAT IS THE CURRENT JOURNEY?

USER FLOW

We created a user journey based off of our assumptions and user interviews. Completing this activity we realized the various methods in which Associates use to determine their price, many of which are ineffective and even lead to dead ends. We uncovered many pain points.

HOW DO ASSOCIATES WANT TO SHOP?

USER JOURNEY MAPPING

While interviewing associates we documented their responses using Delta Next boards to aid in organizing notes. Following each session we each shared our insights or questions to create discussion and shared understanding.

WHO ARE THE USERS?

PROTO PERSONA

We developed Jenny, our design target. A new employee who is proactively looking for a new vehicle as her current is close to reaching 100,000 miles. She is very unfamiliar with the policy and relies on other associates to help her navigate the policy and CarMax associate discount.

WHAT FEATURES & INFORMATION DO ASSOCIATES NEED & WANT?

CARD SORTING

In attempts to understand what information was most and least important for associates to know I used statements from the policy and had associates organize accordingly. This gave me a overview of which parts of the policy were not explicit and created the most tension. Understand employees base knowledge of the policy. Allowed me to build efficient heirarchy of information.

define the objectives

GOALS

Ensure that we thoroughly understand who are design target is, their needs, pain points & expectations balanced with those of our stakeholders. Increase employee pricing education and access while reducing the time required from in- store associates

KEY INSIGHTS

Strategically designing within the limits of time, scope and resources while accommodating needs for business and design target ensure the impact and effort have a pay off
Associates needs are understanding how the policy works just as much as the car discount price. One without the other is not a delightful experience.
Developing an authority for the discount program would deter miscommunication and misconception

PROCESS

WHAT CAN WE CREATE?

SYSTEMS AND FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS

Due to various constraints our team needed to understand what we could and could't create within our time there. Thus creating an effort and impact chart to best prioritize our time and effect of our platform.

What can we not create?
Can not filter by max discount, use azure, No separate API, Access of Site Network, Guest Accounts

WHAT ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS GOALS?

CARMAX BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

We had check ins with our Product Manager and Stakeholders to ensure that we were not only creating an effective product for Associates but also meeting out business goals. Learning to balance business goals and advocate for the user is a very delicate balance.

design the solution

GOALS

Designing with our target rather than for our target enabled us to quickly design, prototype, receive feedback and iterate on our design. We needed to be as mindful as possible of time management and meeting our bi weekly sprints that it was a necessity to be in a constant feedback loop.

PROCESS

SITES MVP FOR TESTING

WIREFRAMES

Developed a MVP for testing to allow the associates to feel comfortable to share their thoughts and ideas being this was a tool designed for them.

CAN ASSOCIATES NAVIGATE THE SITE?

USER TESTING

Our team worked collaboratively to concept and deliver an extensive and well rounded campaign with various touch points. Starting with print ads and social posts which are reinforced by the experiential all of which leads to the website. The website provides the mobile tool, fairprice credit card and list of pink tax free stores.

WHICH DESIGN TO ASSOCIATES LIKE BEST?

DOT VOTING

To gather many associate's feedback quickly I designed a quick dot voting exercise which was placed at each of the kitchenettes. Associates were asked to choose their favorite design and layout, using the dot and post it notes.

WHAT IS THE TONE & VOICE?

COLLABORATE WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS

After completing my user research I developed an information architecture of must haves for the platform to be useful for our design target. As a team we met with a copywriter to ensure we were evoking the correct tone and voice for the site and being as clear as possible. Especially with a dense document such as a policy. The communication of our platform was at the top of our list especially being that many associates are confused by the policy. We also spoke with legal about the 7 page document and how we could best consolidate.