The Easy Ride to a used car
DB Autohäuser sells used vehicles from the Deutsche Bahn fleet. The range is large and of high quality, and customers give it top marks. We at HENKELHIEDL were only too happy to take on the relaunch.
This project for Deutsche Bahn Connect GmbH required the full commitment of all our trades: from conception to design and editing to programming.
Turn right at the next traffic lights
The task was to design a navigation concept that accommodates users and their learned behaviour in dealing with vehicle portals. In order to get to know this behaviour, we held persona workshops with the car dealership managers, interviewed (potential) end customers and conducted user tests.
User instead of crash test
The user tests took place in the d.lab in Frankfurt under the direction of our client. The prototype of the website that we created was put through its paces: The test persons were given various questions and tasks that they had to solve by using the site. Together we evaluated the results of these tests. In this way, we were able to identify one or two deficiencies and significantly optimise the usability before the site went online. Since then, it's clear that we'll be doing UX testing more often in the future.
She's got the look
The focus in the design was to create a clearer structure on the site and make it more image-heavy. A professional photo shoot was essential for this - Thomas Straub from Munich was once again our first choice. The colours of the DB Autohaus corporate design were adopted, but we added the structure-giving colour gradient on the page. This gives customers a clear overview of both individual details and topics.
To avoid unnecessary clicks and jumping back and forth, the pages are structured by functional modules with strong images and reduced text in the style of checklists. In addition, we have used the full potential of the drop-down menu and also compiled everything worth knowing about the category as an overview there.
From dream car to test drive
It was important for us to make the process of finding a new car as simple as possible: The vehicle search can be filtered according to preference, customers can compare the cars and get detailed information. They can park their favourites in the »garage« for the time being or arrange a test drive right away.
Most important to us, however, was the overall impression
Where high-quality cars are sold, usability and design must also convey value. We think so: Buying used cars at DB Autohaus has taken on a new quality. Take a look!
