The

Future of CarMax
David Ruiz, Kaleb Lora, Vince Lam, Sean Payne
An explorative project to improve the CarMax website by identifying what its doing wrong, what is right and where is this technology h eaded.
U n i v e r s i t y o f W a s h i n g t o n I n f o r m a t i o n S c h o o l T e a m P a r a n o i d G r i m R e a p e r H e a d q u a r t e r s 5 / 2 0 / 2 0 1 2

Project Vision Overview

Currently CarMax and other car-dealers provide the users with an exhaustive database of every vehicle they have available. For example CarMax has fly-out menus with categories of car makes, models, and manufacturing year. The CarMax site also has a well-organized index but it does not cater to the users perspective, i.e. the divisions are based on vehicle specifications and not user wants or needs. The problem with this kind of service is that it is not how a user thinks. By using an exhaustive list format based off a database schema, current car sites are confusing and feel foreign to a user. Users are confronted with an issue of information overload. Users that are uncertain about their choice vehicle will be overwhelmed by the exhaustive lists. The user is searching for a car that fits their lifestyle and price range. The user then wants to locate a dealership and continue their car search/purchase there. The organization wants users to visit a dealership so that their salesmen can assist the user in buying a car. To achieve the aforementioned goals we plan to improve the site based on the user mental schemas and usage patterns. By creating a website that is separated into lifestyle categories, users without an exact idea of the car they want will easily locate cars based on their interest and price range. The results will be limited to 10 cars that will represent the range of cars in that category. To accommodate for well- educated users, a search feature will be continually visible on the website, allowing the user to search for a specific model. All car models will be contained within the site, but unlike other sites, browsing will only produce a broad representation of the vehicles. Every leaf page (specific car) will have a locate a dealer button to connect users to the organization.

Project Vision Analysis

Goals and Problems
The first step to developing our project vision was to highlight what Prof. Boiko considered to be the major problems and goals with the current CarMax website and combine that with our team analysis.

Carmax
Problems Goals Help customers nd out what Customers Don't know what they want. they want. Drop-os (FrustraXon) Help users walk-in to dealership. Help inuence walk-users to purchase. Inuences Magazine Ads TV Ads Online Ads Research (84% begin at Google) Reviews Word-to-Mouth (Freinds \Family) Social Circles (Online)

Although we could influence some of these aspects to a great extent others would have to be taken in good faith. We couldnt guarantee that the user will purchase the car but we definitely could reduce their confusion and help them decide before they get to the dealership therefore increasing their desire to purchase.

Identifying Personas
Our team was ambitious enough in our attempt to satisfy all the users so we chose our personas, identified their wants and highlighted their concerns.

Personas
Michelle
Unsure of what she wants A car based on her style \personality Needs help deciding

Vince
Needs some guidance A family man A budget in mind A car to t his lifestyle

Roger
Knows what he wants Businessman Brand Loyalty Not very tech savvy

Project Vision Reflection

In our reflective process we had to find how to make it all successful. Our focus as a team was to eliminate the frustration and provide a helpful guidance to selecting the car before the go to the dealership. Achieving this will help the user decide what car he/she wants and the organization achieve its goal of selling the car at the dealership. We came a few fixes that should help fit all of these problems.

Fixes

Simplicity - LisXng Clueer

NavigaXon -Search CategorizaXon - Mental Schemas

Heuristic Overview
Executive summary
We did our heuristic evaluation on CarMax, Auto-trader, and Craigslist. We chose Auto-trader because it was very similar to CarMax in design and aesthetics and has a large user base so we felt it would be good for a comparison. We chose Craigslist because it was a site that was completely different from CarMax, yet still had a large user base and met their needs. One of the main problems we ran into was deciding on what heuristic criteria to use. We got around this by searching the web for some ideas of what good criteria were as well as brainstorming to figure out the criteria we wanted to develop ourselves as well as which criteria we wanted to use off the web. The main result was that CarMax needs to do something different from its competitors to get ahead otherwise it will remain to be very similar to the other websites it is competing against.

Methods
1. Chose CarMax, Auto-trader, and Craigslist to do a heuristic evaluation on. 2. Found some criteria on the web as well as developed some of our own for a total of 30 criterions. 3. Each of the four team members took one of the heuristic sections and did the test on all three of the sites. 4. Results were then collected and structured together into a cohesive heuristic evaluation.

Results
CarMax could improve by providing better results for diverse users. Roger who knows what he wants would prefer a search and plug method. Michelle who isnt quite sure but has an idea could benefit from categorical divisions by car types. Vince requires a balance between not being sure what he wants and restrictive requirements of what are necessary. Maintaining database presentational form for skilled users was one of the competitor features that we wanted to maintain. We also wanted to include a powerful search that does not lead to dead-ends. From the evaluation we found the presentation of the information was database driven and schematic in display.

Heuristic Analysis
Heuristic Rubric
Our Heuristic Analysis began with developing a suitable rubric with 30 criteria which we divided into four major categories. Intuitive Information Schema
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

Labeling fits user vocabulary Adequate relevance of car information Tools fit user needs Cues are present to guide user through their workflow Car information presented is useful for all persona types Thumbnail views provide adequate detail Car selections provide more options if a user wants to browse similar vehicle

Support User Goals The navigation scheme and layout actively supports the user's goals (RAMP) Adequate explanation is given for tasks that require it (RAMP) All the information a user needs is available at each stage of a given workflow (RAMP) There is a clear hierarchy in the primary calls to action (RAMP) The search interface is located where you'd expect it to be (Louis Rosenfeld) It is clear what was searched (Louis Rosenfeld) Results are listed in a useful way (Louis Rosenfeld) Flexibility and Efficiency of Use 1. Landing page has a possible way to navigate to any part of the site (Ramp) 2. Site provides the appropriate informational goal (Ramp) 3. How well does the site deliver the informational goal? (Ramp) 4. Site has reasonable load times and search efficiency (Ramp) 5. Site supports mobile devices (Original) 6. Site supports print options when needed (Original) 7. Site provides tools when needed (Original) 8. How helpful are the tools provided? (Original) 9. Does the site provide helpful prompts? (Original) Aesthetics and Minimalist Design 1. Intuitive layout of content (Original) 2. Optimized use of content area (Original) 3. Professional appearance (Original) 4. Design consistency (constant theme throughout) 5. Main navigation easily identifiable 6. Ads and pop-ups are unobtrusive(usereffect.com) 7. Main Copy Is Concise & Explanatory (usereffect.com) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Tables
We then explored the 3 sites applying our rubric and analyzed the CarMax selection tool. We placed our results in a table and analyzed the data.

Carmax hep://www.carmax.com/enus/car-search/default.html? intcmp=START2012SEARCHL01Home_Page AutoTrader hep://www.autotrader.com/ Craigslist hep://seaele.craigslist.org/

4 3 2 1 n/a Intuitive Information Schema Labeling fits user vocabulary Adequate relevance of car information Tools fit user needs Cues are present to guide user through their workflow Car information presented is useful for all persona types Thumbnail views provide adequate detail Car selections provide more options if a user wants to browse similar vehicle 2.9

CarMax
1.1

1.2

1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

1.7

Overall Score

7
4 3 2 1 n/a Intuitive Information Schema Labeling fits user vocabulary
*

AutoTrader
1.1

1.2

Adequate relevance of car information Tools fit user needs Cues are present to guide user through their workflow Car information presented is useful for all persona types Thumbnail views provide adequate detail Car selections provide more options if a user wants to browse similar vehicle 2.1

1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

1.7

Overall Score

Craigslist
1.1

n/a

Intuitive Information Schema Labeling fits user vocabulary

1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

Adequate relevance of car information Tools fit user needs Cues are present to guide user through their workflow Car information presented is useful for all persona types Thumbnail views provide adequate detail Car selections provide more options if a user wants to browse similar vehicle 1.2

1.7

Overall Score

CarMax
1.1

n/a

Support for user goals The navigation scheme and layout actively supports the user's goals (RAMP) Adequate explanation is given for tasks that require it (RAMP) All the information a user needs is available at each stage of a given workflow (RAMP) There is a clear hierarchy in the primary calls to action (RAMP) The search interface is located where you'd expect it to be (Louis Rosenfeld) It is clear what was searched (Louis Rosenfeld) Results are listed in a useful way (Louis Rosenfeld)

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

Overall Score

3.3

AutoTrader
1.1

n/a

Support for user goals The navigation scheme and layout actively supports the user's goals (RAMP) Adequate explanation is given for tasks that require it (RAMP) All the information a user needs is available at each stage of a given workflow (RAMP) There is a clear hierarchy in the primary calls to action (RAMP) The search interface is located where you'd expect it to be (Louis Rosenfeld) It is clear what was searched (Louis Rosenfeld) Results are listed in a useful way (Louis Rosenfeld)

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

Overall Score

2.85

Craigslist
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Overall Score

n/a

Support for user goals The navigation scheme and layout actively supports the user's goals (RAMP) Adequate explanation is given for tasks that require it (RAMP) All the information a user needs is available at each stage of a given workflow (RAMP) There is a clear hierarchy in the primary calls to action (RAMP) The search interface is located where you'd expect it to be (Louis Rosenfeld) It is clear what was searched (Louis Rosenfeld) Results are listed in a useful way (Louis Rosenfeld)

2.0

Carmax.com
1.1

1 n/a Flexibility and Efficiency of Use Landing page has a possible way to navigate to any part of the site Site provides the appropriate informational goal How well does the site deliver the informational goal? Site has reasonable load times and search efficiency Site supports mobile devices Site supports print options when needed Site provides tools when needed How helpful are the tools provided? Does the site provide helpful prompts?

1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Overall Score

2.66e

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4 3 2 1 n/a Flexibility and Efficiency of Use Landing page has a possible way to navigate to any part of the site Site provides the appropriate informational goal How well does the site deliver the informational goal? Site has reasonable load times and search efficiency Site supports mobile devices Site supports print options when needed Site provides tools when needed How helpful are the tools provided? Does the site provide helpful prompts?

Autotrader.com
1.1

1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Overall Score

2.44e
4 3 2 1 n/a Flexibility and Efficiency of Use Landing page has a possible way to navigate to any part of the site Site provides the appropriate informational goal How well does the site deliver the informational goal? Site has reasonable load times and search efficiency Site supports mobile devices Site supports print options when needed Site provides tools when needed How helpful are the tools provided? Does the site provide helpful prompts?

Craiglist.com
1.1

1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Overall Score

2.33e

CarMax
1.1 1.2

1 n/a Aesthetics and minimalist design Intuitive layout of content Optimized use of content area

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1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

Professional appearance Design consistency (constant theme throughout) Main navigation easily identifiable Ads and pop-ups are unobtrusive(usereffect.com) Main Copy Is Concise & Explanatory (usereffect.com) 3.4

Overall Score

1.7

Autotrader.com 4 3
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Overall Score

n/a Aesthetics and minimalist design

Intuitive layout of content Optimized use of content area Professional appearance Design consistency (constant theme throughout) Main navigation easily identifiable Ads and pop-ups are unobtrusive(usereffect.com) Main Copy Is Concise & Explanatory (usereffect.com) 2.4

Craigslist
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5

n/a Aesthetics and minimalist design Intuitive layout of content Optimized use of content area Professional appearance Design consistency (constant theme throughout) Main navigation easily identifiable

12

1.6 1.7 Overall Score

Ads and pop-ups are unobtrusive(usereffect.com) Main Copy Is Concise & Explanatory (usereffect.com) 2

Results

Opportunities
Improve upon categorizaXon and have a search opXon for the user that knows what he wants. Help the user throughout their journey. Add tools that will help the user decide what vehicle is right for them.

Competitor Strengths

CategorizaXon NavigaXon Guiding Text

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Weaknesses to Fix

Inconspicuous Labeling

Relevant Results

Organize InformaXon

Screenshots
CarMax CarMax does a great job at displaying all the details about a car, but lacks the ability to see what purposes the car best serves. There is also no user rated system with user opinions about the cars functions.

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Cues are present to guide user through their workflow The home page of the site clearly defines how the user can search for a car. The labeling is simplistic and after clicking the make button they are presented with a list of car makes in alphabetical order. The process feels guided which is solid. Landing on other pages doesnt provide the same clear path.

CarMax does a great job at making their thumbnail simple and informative. The most crucial pieces of information in a car buying process are all present. However, CarMax lacks the ability to show related cars which could be very important for a user who isnt set on the particular vehicle.

Site design is largely interactive with logically related items placed within close proximity. Consolidated categories draw the users attention to the arrow buttons and more importantly the Start Here link. Website information and areas do not intrude upon one another and compliment information flow towards specific car search criteria the image below illustrates that. No space is unused aside from borders and margins. The content is artfully placed.

15

Like CarMax, AutoTrader excels at consciously restricting the amount of content that is initially visible. They do this by also implementing a comprehensive global navigation toolbar. CarMax: Navigation is comprehensive - The navigation scheme and layout makes it easy for a user to search for a car and locate what they are looking for. It leaves very little room for guessing how to start the search for a car. Clearly labeled navigation buttons for executing tasks each persona requires.

CarMax: Needed context is present - Most car searching is fairly self-explanatory if the proper navigation layout is present, but the small amount of needed explanation or context is present. As seen in the image below, there is further explanation for things that might need it such as advanced search.

16

CarMax: Some but not all information is given As seen in the following two images below; there is enough information to guide the user through the car buying process. In the case where the dealer isnt nearby, there isnt much instruction what to do with the information presented. CarMax search information when dealer isnt nearby: CarMax: Steps are ordered clearly and effectively Each page is clear in what it is designed for and then the next page keeps the user moving along their path to success (buying a car). Below are the steps to finding a car in sequence. CarMax: Shows what you searched for Although there is a notification of what was just searched, it is very small and easy to miss if you arent looking for it. It appears right below the search bar once a query has been made.

CarMax indication of what a user searched for CarMax: All relevant Showed a list of all cars relevant to the search. Started with most relevant and then went on to other cars by the same manufacturer and then finally to cars within a similar category. There were many filters at the top to adjust search results.

17

CarMax search results Navigation through- Landing Page was very difficult mainly because the text labeling isnt conspicuous as seen in the following images.

CarMax does have a print option but again the text labeling isnt conspicuous as seen in the image below

AutoTrader The only noticeable search option is by model. For a user like Michelle, this would be difficult because she wouldnt have any idea of what she wants.

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Many different buttons related to car buying are on the front page. There is too much redundancy and there are giant ads distracting users from finding what they are looking for.

AutoTrader: Easy to find what you are looking for Good global navigation leads to easy navigation. AutoTrader: Decent, but nothing special There is some explanation but really only explains the obvious things and just prompts the user towards database thinking. AutoTrader: Needed information is available at key points.

AutoTrader: Similar to CarMax, AutoTrader first has the search page, then has you enter you zip code, then displays your results and has you move forward from there; about the same level of hierarchy in calls to action as CarMax. AutoTrader: Has a more visible searched for text

AutoTrader indication of what user searched for Information seems to be thrown all at once to the user which could possibly frustrate him\her. Serious flaws plague AutoTrader. For instance, clicking on any of the global navigation links reveals that 1) the minimalist features of AutoTrader are only skin deep and 2) that the information schemas of any particular page are radically inconsistent the image below illustrates that finding. Upon following a link,

19
a user is bombarded by a wave of information that may disorient the user.

AutoTrader: Results arent relevant Seems that the top search results are sponsors and not necessarily the most relevant cars to the search. Many of the top vehicles dont fit my best criteria Printing option is absent in the competitors site. AutoTrader

Craigslist Craigslist is an example of minimalist design gone horribly wrong. The layout is utterly devoid of life. Items are categorized and categories are organized according to super-categories. Beyond this there is no apparent structure to where the links are placed. Items within the super-categories are half- heartedly alphabetized. Craigslist: Very database centric Not very good layout for navigation or user friendliness. Only is easy to use for those who are familiar.

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Personal Note: How the hell does this site succeed?

Craigslist: Almost no explanation is given for any task at any time. Nothing really guides the user. Again it feels more like a tool that works once you are familiar. Craigslist: Really no information beyond the vehicle searched is shown on the page. Craigslist: Almost no hierarchy present. A user can end up anywhere on the site at any time. The only feature that is similar to a hierarchy is that a user must click on a listing to see it; they cannot jump straight to the vehicle listing without a link. Craigslist: Only indication of what was searched is the results themselves. If you type wrong or dont know exactly what you are searching for, results dont make any sense. Craigslist: Based only on date posted not necessarily based on what cars best fit the user needs.

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Heuristic Reflection
The major goal of the heuristic evaluation was to uncover flaws that the user would encounter. These are expert evaluations that take in mind Michelle the fun extroverted assistant manager, Vince the family oriented office manager, and Rodger the small business owner who knows what he wants. At evaluating the site our team identified areas that would need to be taken into account and we evaluated a few of the competitors for a comparative reflection. Although CarMax outperformed the other two competitors it was clearly at an advantage to one of them and it could use a lot of improvement. All the sites supported mobile devices although none of them made it obvious. The landing page was clearly the worst for both car websites. Craigslist outperformed both of them with its superior search option. Although it is important to mention that CarMax and Auto-trader did have a better indexing system if you were to consider browsing this would be beneficial for somebody like Michelle who isnt quite sure of what she wants. CarMax didnt necessarily provide better or more efficient tools rather it wasnt as bad a failure as the others. Craigslist and Auto-trader didnt provide print options once the car was found this isnt necessarily a bad thing but it is a disadvantage because print options allow you to organize the information in simple format.

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User Interview Overview

Executive summary
We conducted our interviews for Roger and Vince, producing a total of three interviews. Given our time constraint we decided not to interview a Michelle because we felt that as college students, we were very similar to her. During our interviews, we took notes on key points that the participants made and attempted to draft a flow representing their user journey. One of the main problems we ran into was locating participants that fit our user personas. Another big problem was figuring out how to record the audio, because the computer codecs were difficult to configure. We ended up running through five or six programs before we were successfully able to record through Skype. Using the details from the interview, we were able to accumulate specific criteria defining the failures and successes throughout the car buying process.

Methods
1. Developed a working script for our user interviews after deciding what information was

needed. 2. Chose 2 users similar to each of the Roger and Vince personas. 3. Conducted the interviews, took notes, and recorded the audio 4. Developed a general user journey/user flow based off the interview

Results
Users highlighted their needs for the car, setting criteria asking within their social networks for advice to reach a conclusion on what vehicle to purchase. The encompassing concern from all our users was user feedback. This was a major factor in their decision making process. As a team we noted that price, rating, feature availability would helpful to the user in the car buying process.

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User Interview Analysis

Interview Script
To begin the user interview analysis we developed a script that would help us identify the steps of the user journey. We began by asking introductory questions that would set the analysis to understand to if the selected interviewee fit the persona in mind. We asked questions that would highlight major drop- offs by identifying frustrations when hypothetically searching for the right car. Introduction Hi, my name is ______ and I wanted to start by thanking you for taking time out of your day to be interviewed. We are here to understand your journey in purchasing a car, dont worry about upsetting us, but rather provide honest information. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Are you looking for a car fit for you or a family car? When would you use it? Is there a specific car brand you prefer? Are there aspects from previously owned cars that you liked? Whats your lifestyle like?

Start-it-up: What is the first thing you do when you want a car? (adv, social circle, websites, mobile) If you were going to buy a car online, new or used, what would you do? How much research do you do before buying a car? Would you expect to be able to do this on the car buying site or elsewhere? Do you ever make use of car buying websites? How much outside research do you conduct before buying a car? At what point do you transition from a car buying tool to a dealership? What kinds of details are essential to learn before you visit a dealership? What do you like/dislike about your current vehicle? What features do you require/desire on a car? What websites would you go 2? (If no)-what would entice you to go to a site How would you get info for the car within that website? If you find the car what would you go to the next step or alternatively what would make you leave the site? If you find the car what would make you buy the car or what would make you consider other car options?

Perform script
Because of our limited amount of time and the fact that we wanted to capture all three personas we had to compromise. When doing the interview we chose to focus on the two personas that were

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personally unfamiliar to us, Rodger and Vince. We also had to split the work between pairs so the interviews could be done in good time. We later combined our notes to create a cohesive user journey. Vince Lam and David R. were able to find a Vince and Rodger persona. For Vince we chose a family woman who goes online to do research when looking for the right car. For Rodger a male who happens to have brand loyalty. We alternated positions between note-taker and interviewer from one persona to the other. Kaleb Lora and Sean Payne were also able to find a Vince and Roger persona. For Vince we chose a mother who recently had her first child. She made it very clear that safety was her biggest concern when looking for a new car. For Rodger we found a male who has a good amount of brand loyalty and knows exactly what he is looking for when shopping for a car.

Capture data
We were able to meet the minimum requirements with the recordings but ran into some trouble at first. Nonetheless we found that our perspective of each persona not to be conflicting and very successful. Recordings SEE APPENDIX FOR RECORDINGS Interview notes Vince 1 1. Looking for family car 2. Use for errands, trips, and just about everything. Husband independent for work car 3. Previously owned Hondas 4. Wants an automatic, wants comfort for back problems 5. Worked, had child late in life, gave up job to stay at home 6. Starts at car dealership usually, but husband is different 7. Usually has husband start looking for a car and recommend 8. Turn offs Bad Salesman, Insincerity, Would change dealership 9. If did online process Start on Google, Check manufacturer website, read up on features and get an idea, Google to look for the car/price elsewhere 10. Would be searching for a car with safety features 11. Doesnt like used car dealership and doesnt know enough about cars to buy used 12. Why she doesnt trust used car companies Doesnt find them honest, car lots are unappealing, has to have a real good feeling about a dealership 13. Does little research before buying a car, calls on friends and husband for advice, usually asks men 14. Warnings about safety or about the car having been wrecked would get her to not buy. (from friends) Wants good performance as well 15. Would really like to see an online tool with user ratings, with comfort and safety, forgot that she would be looking for user reviews 16. Transitions from car buying tool to dealership once she has narrowed it down to a few cars that she is interested in. 17. Loves her current car, interior is light colored, likes heated seats 18. Enjoyment of people at the dealership determines if she stays there

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19. Would take recommendations from salesmen determining a similar car if the exact model wasnt in price range or on the lot. Last time, she bought a Subaru when looking for a Honda. Would want to do research. If the dealer had a list of user reviews to prove the similarity, that might be useful. 20. Buys car if it meets all criteria, didnt buy the Honda because there were no heated seats without a 5,000 dollar upgrade. Ended up buying a Subaru Vince 2

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Rodger 2

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FOR SKETCHES REFER TO FUNCTION FLOW ANALYSIS!

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User Interview Reflection

In one interview we tried using actual tasks a user might take in the process of buying a used car online. We took notes on the actual sites they mentioned and the steps they went through. The second interview we tried taking notes more focused on the states of mind that user actually goes through when buying a used car. We ended up finding that the mental state route worked the best with figuring out the flow our web tool needed to have. As you can see in our info flow, we used the idea of the states of mind the user went through. We combined the parts of each interview to come up with our overall conclusion. Even though each user flow had different goals in mind we were able to take out the main points and the information from the persona, to create our overall user flow for the Vince persona. We chose to use the upside pyramid to represent the user journey because success is so hard to reach and at each stage the mark become harder and harder to hit. So as the user goes down the pyramid, each section gets smaller. The boxes on the right side are the factors that cause a drop off at each stage and the boxes on the right side are the factors that cause the user to move on in their journey at each stage. For the Vince type user, safety and features are the biggest concern when it comes to buying a used car. During each user interview the number one factor that the user was interested in was that the car was safe. Realizing that for this persona safety was such a huge factor was something we already could guess based off the persona, but the interviews solidified the idea so that we could move forward with some of the features to put into our site design and wireframes. Some of the issues we ran into during the interview were being tempted to ask leading questions when the user seemed to wonder from what we were really hitting at. Some of the best information though ended up coming from the tangents the interviewees ended up going on. These tangents ended up being a crucial part of our web tool design. We ended up having to use some leading questions to stay on track in the time frame we had, but we limited them as best as possible. Overall the user flows worked out well because they allowed us to get an idea of what functionality our tool needed to have to ensure the user could make it all the way through their journey to buying a used car.

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Function and Flow Overview

Executive summary
Given the long and detailed information we received from our user interviews, combined with information in the personas, crafting user flows was fairly simple. We chose to use an inverse pyramid to represent the user journey, because when they start out wanting a car, this is a broad and highly undefined phenomenon. Through the progression of the car buying process, the user becomes more certain and decisive about features, financing, etc. and finally reaches the finite point where they buy a car. One of the main problems we ran into was determining the number of steps in the car buying process. We wanted to ensure that our process was accurate and wasnt over or under detailed. Figuring out exactly what criteria would lead to failure was also tough, because it couldnt just fit the one or two interviews, but had to fit the entire persona.

Methods
1. Studied the interview notes and rough draft user journeys 2. Deducted the main points and similarities from each of the user interviews to come up

with one user flow for each persona 3. Decided on how many steps there are in the car buying process 4. Created a layout and design for our user journeys that fit how we viewed the process 5. Made final draft of each personas user journey through the car buying process

Results
- For Diagram See Function and Flow Reflection For the function flow we realized as a group that there where many drop-off reasons. However all of the specific reasons like pricing, location of dealership, brand of vehicle could be generalized into one major drop-off which is finding the right vehicle. Our goal was to guide the user through a short and simple journey to finding the right vehicle. -For our selected Actions See Function Flow Analysis-

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Function and Flow Analysis

To begin our function flow analysis we combined our interview notes and flow sketches to produce a solid user journey for our personas.

Vince 2

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Rodger 2

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Unify Data
We then combined our notes and compared it with the results we highlighted in our heuristic analysis. We were able to identify opportunities to fix the current setup of the CarMax site to improve the user journey and achieve the organizational goal. Possible Improvements

CategorizaXon Relevancy Chosen Features Favorited Vehicles Similarity (Chosen Vehicle) Feedback RaXng (Nearly (IdenXcal)\Similar Vehicles) User Reviews (Nearly (IdenXcal)\Similar Vehicles) Pricing (Nearly (IdenXcal)\Similar Vehicles)

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Function and Flow Reflection

After analyzing all the data we came up with a single function flow based on the user we helped us later highlight the major functions that we will need to integrate into our solution.

Vinces Journey

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Rodgers Journey

Functions
The following diagram continues off the idea of going from broad to specific however focusing mainly on the functions. It goes over the algorithms we wanted to implement and where they could show up in our wireframe.

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Category FuncXon
select vehicles from cars-table where vehicle type matches

Search FuncXon
select vehicle from cars-table where text-input matches \relevancy.

This would be a front page opXon and would help the user who needs guidance.

Favorited\Login FuncXon
select vehicles from cars table where user-search was favorXed.

Should skip category based page and go directly to lisXng based page.

A favoriXng opXon should be present when reaching the specic vehicle nal step in the journey this will help us develop beeer suggesXons for users who match that persona.

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Information Analysis\Design Overview

Executive summary
In our information analysis and design we decided to keep the overall site structure simple and easy to understand. Most of the car websites that we looked at organized their information similarly and so we felt that a few representative websites would be sufficient for our sample modeling. The ERD contains only a few entities and the schema was expanded to include information that the ERD could not capture. One of the main problems that we encountered while working on the ERD and schema was that none of the websites provided a good skeleton for the solution that we had come up with. Our solution called for the heavy use of categorical funneling whereas the car sites primarily used faceted search. This made the creation of an ERD and schema more challenging because a number of components had to be made up by our own interpretation. The main result was that we implemented a data entity that we did not see in the other websites: categorical organization of cars based by features, lifestyles and needs. This was a small but radical difference that separates our solution from the other car sites on the internet.

Methods
1. Looked at cars.com and carmax.com 2. Found common data types and structure from each source and consolidated them into a single ERD. 3. Used the ERD to construct a more detailed database schema that would address the particulars of the ERD and how we would store and label the data. 4. ERD and information schema were converted into formalized documents.

Results
CarMax can benefit by using categories at key landing pages to quickly funnel users into the sections of the site that display the cars that people of their profile would likely show interest in. Having user data and logins provided the information to form user profiles which is the key to our proposed solution. These profiles will address the needs of our personas Rodger, Michelle, and Vince because our database will theoretically have collected data from our users input. This would allow CarMax to better cater to their users, make them feel comfortable, and get them into the CarMax dealership.

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Information Analysis\Design Analysis

Data Collected

The current setup of the listing is pretty database driven and unfriendly for the amateur user like Rodger. It would be helpful to have the listings less complicated. The specific car listing however has very useful information it would be wise to take advantage of this and not change the data but rather improve upon the organization of the way its presented. A few things that were helpful were the global navigation, the attempt in categorization and the rating\reviews. We want to make sure to keep these abilities while expanding there functionality, mainly categorization.

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Info Analysis\Design Reflection

Entity Relationship Diagram

Database Schema

For the database schema we took our thoughts and put them into action. We added a carTypeID to allow for categorization based on personas choosing, we added a favoriting element, and we joined the information in interesting ways.

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Wireframes/Templating Overview
Executive summary
Our process to design the wireframes began with a homepage design and a short brainstorming activity for our chosen labeling schema. After drawing out a basic design, we moved on to the categories page. This page was challenging to design, because we didnt want users to drop off because of price, but we also didnt want to display more than 5 cars within a category. In an effort to keep the site simplistic, we ask the user what their price range is right after they select their category and display the top 5 cars in this price range. For each vehicle, there is a see similar vehicles button to guide the user. The most difficult part of designing our wireframe was finding the balance between being informative and keeping simplicity. This took a few hours of drafting and redrafting. Once we had a nearly finalized draft of the pages, we split up our four wireframes, one per person, and produced final drafts on the computer. We even kept the car profile page format from CarMax because they did a good job providing a link to the dealer and displaying the detailed car information. Our site goal was to get them to this page faster, and at a higher level, getting them to the dealership faster.

Methods
1. 2. 3. 4.

Decide where the user is supposed to end up Finalize the tools necessary to get them there Find general parts of the page to wireframe Develop the wireframes of each phase of the web tool the user will go through

Results
In our results we developed four different wireframes walking through the user journey. Weve addressed Roger who knows what he wants as well as Vince and Michelle who both need some guidance. We kept the text and labeling conversational to engage the user and we successfully laid out the information so the user can find his\her vehicle. In conclusion we influenced the persona to head to the dealership.

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Wireframes/Templating Analysis
Layout, Navigation and our Personas
When developing on our wireframes we were able to keep a consistent layout while changing the results throughout the user journey. We organized our layout to create a simple design that could deliver a lot of information. We had to balance navigation between those users who knew exactly what they wanted with those who needed guidance. Our solution was to categorize items for the users like Michelle and Vince while allowing users like Rodger to search for the car they are sure they want.

Wireframe Diagrams and Functions

To begin our analysis for the wireframes we had to create a few global design constraints. We all chose to keep a consistent left placing search option, global navigation, and login constraints. We divided our wireframes into four major templates beginning with the home page and ending with the individual vehicle. Home Page The home page categorizes based on the user mental schemas and funnels user groups into relevant view categories.

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Category Page After selecting a category the user sees a list of vehicles that associative characteristics that match their user type. It provides a listing to search for more specific vehicles.

More Detailed Listing Once you select a vehicle within the category another listing is given with even more recommendations based on relevancy of the specific vehicle chosen. It also provides additional options to refine the search.

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Specific Car After all the searching the user will end with the final leaf page where specific details about the car chosen will be listed.

Wireframes Reflection
Overall as a team we were pretty proud of our accomplishments with the wireframes. We were able to satisfy Michelle, Vince, and Rodger by allowing them to choose their method of searching while guiding them through an uncomplicated process to success.

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User Testing Overview

Executive Summary
Rodger2 was completed

Methods
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Setup Meeting Reintroduced ourselves Took notes and recorded responses Let the user tell us about the process Ask probing questions

Results
We found that the user was curious about the categorization and Rodger actually selected sedan to search. Interesting since we thought he would search rather than use categorization. His curiosity of the categories chosen caused him a bit of confusion however this was a good tradeoff to satisfy the users who needed guidance. The confusion wasnt grave enough to merit concern and in-fact the persona Rodger accurately guessed what each category was.

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User Testing Analysis

Notes

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-For Audio Refer to Appendix-

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User Testing Reflection

1. Make a revision of your wireframes 2. Revised Wireframes 1. New diagram 2. Summary of changes