Audi configurator design sprint
Case study
Client: Audi Global
Company: BIMM
Position: UX Lead Designer
Duration: 1 week
Product type: Responsive web
A crumb of context
Background:
In a one-week design sprint, our team, including the XD Director, UI lead, and myself, had the unique opportunity to reimagine Audi's vehicle configurator. As the only design team outside of Germany involved in this transformative process, we aimed to enhance the configurator experience.
Users engage with the configurator at various points in their buying journey, each with diverse intentions. In this decision-making phase, they expect relevant information about available equipment, the ability to compare options, and the convenience of saving configurations for future use on different devices.
Sharing considerations with friends and dealers, scheduling test drives, and exploring buying options are also priorities. The future configurator is designed to cater to this diverse range of intentions, acknowledging the complexities of the decision-making process rather than solely focusing on speed.
The Challenge:
The objective was to redesign the configurator to create a more intuitive and seamless customization experience. Our focus includes providing comprehensive product details to empower users with the information needed for informed decision-making.
Our collaborative efforts aim to exceed user expectations, delivering a transformed Audi vehicle configurator that seamlessly aligns with your preferences and needs.
Why it matters
Through our frequent user testing we knew that our current configurator was not meeting our customer’s expectation.
During this redesign, we wanted to focus on improving comparability, making it easier for users to understand and compare listed equipment. By reducing buildability conflicts, our aim is to minimize hurdles in the configuration process, ensuring a smoother and more satisfying user experience.
Design sprint methodology
We explored diverse user intentions through creative exercises, integrating global and regional research to understand current trends and future concerns. Collaboratively mapping essential user stories, we identified key experiences and areas for improvement.
The process transitioned seamlessly from wireframing to high-fidelity solutions and testing with English-speaking German customers, resulting in valuable insights. At the week's end, our team presented transformative deliverables, receiving feedback from Audi's adjudicators and drawing inspiration from other teams' dynamic solutions
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Audi Global presented an extensive kickoff session, delving into their current research and future predictions. We diligently took notes and integrated their insights with our findings from North American research for a comprehensive understanding.
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Later in the day, we kicked off a team brainstorming session to completely rethink the experience. To ignite our creative sparks, we dove into a "crazy 8's" exercise. In this activity, all team members strive to generate 8 sketches in 8 minutes, fostering a focus on creativity and innovation without getting bogged down in intricate details at the moment.
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Following that, we started mapping out user stories crucial to our audience. This process uncovered essential experiences that needed emphasis and shed light on areas for potential future enhancements.
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After selecting a direction based on our crazy 8's exercise, I took the lead in crafting detailed wireframes to outline a solution. The rapid creation of comprehensive wireframes was seamlessly aligned with the group's overall vision.
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Following that, our UI design lead initiated the visual design phase. In light of the tight timeline, I collaborated with him to elevate the wireframes to high fidelity.
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Upon finishing the UI design, we developed an interactive prototype and conducted testing.
Audi's German digital agency facilitated the testing with English-speaking German customers, providing valuable insights despite the time constraints. The overall testing proved successful, offering valuable feedback and highlighting areas that needed reconsideration. -
Wrapping up our week, we presented our deliverables and findings as a team. Audi's adjudicators provided valuable feedback, and it was fascinating to witness the diverse solutions from other teams.
The experience was both enlightening and inspiring, showcasing the unique directions each team took in just one week.
Constraints and considerations
Time
Given the one-week timeframe, we worked swiftly, prioritizing essential tasks to ensure timely completion while upholding our quality standards.
Managing our day-to-day responsibilities alongside the sprint demanded some long nights and a highly collaborative approach.
Testing
Collaborating with a different team introduced uncertainties in the user testing process.
We encountered limitations in insights as the participants didn't align precisely with our usual screening requirements.
The condensed 30-minute testing sessions also restricted the scope of questions, leaving some aspects unexplored.
See the UX process
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See the UX process 👀 👀 👀
Crazy 8 sketches with votes from the team
User story mapping exercise
New ideas to help users unfamiliar with all of the Audi options while allowing experienced users to build their own.
"Help me build" page, designed to guide users based on their goals and budget
Wireframe of the configurator with the summary drawer opened, including a running tally of what has been added and a budget calculator.
After UI
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After UI ✨ 💅
"Help me build" page with images and full UI
Configurator with suggested packages
Configurator image switches to interior view as you scroll through interior options
When a buildability conflict arises, we aimed to explain the the user what is happening and offer them solutions
Trimline comparison is a big pain point with our current configurator. This chart would allow users to easily understand and compare all trimlines.
What I could have done differently…
Focus more on realistic redesign
Despite the promise of a "blue sky" and highly creative redesign environment in the brief, Audi adjudicators marked us down for not presenting an immediately feasible design. In hindsight, if given another opportunity, I might have scaled back on our most innovative ideas, such as the "help me build" feature.
Advocate for our own research team
As highlighted in the considerations and constraints, the research quality fell short of our usual standards. In retrospect, involving our research team would likely have yielded more actionable and accurate insights, showcasing our team's skills to the broader Audi Global audience.
Start wireframing earlier
Reflecting on the sprint, it appears that we invested a considerable amount of time in the ideation phase before delving into wireframes. This approach resulted in a hectic last couple of days, as we explored numerous "what if" scenarios that, while enjoyable and creative, ultimately limited the time available for iterating on our designs.
The Results
Our design received highly positive feedback from Audi adjudicators, despite the ambitious nature of our ideas. Although we weren't directly involved in the redesign execution, the German agency took it forward.
Surprisingly, with the recent release of their next-generation configurator, we noticed that many of our ideas and the overall layout were incorporated into the final product. This realization brought a sense of surprise and satisfaction. The team eagerly anticipates the rollout of the configurator in other markets and looks forward to receiving testing feedback. Check out the finished configurator on Audi.ca.