Mercedes-Benz E-Commerce UX

Story

The three point star is one of the roads' most beloved icons. Yet, for all the brand affinity Mercedes-Benz holds, the automotive sector has been in a decade of flux. Once a World of diesel engines and sales forecourts, now a land of Electric Vehicles, the sharing economy, Connectivity (IoT) and digital user journeys. With these entirely unconventional market conditions, it was going to take an unconventional approach to develop a digital platform that wasn't just brochureware, but the foundations of a full, future-centric E-Commerce solution. Something that takes into account the way we buy, lease, or pool cars today; less big-ticket 'On The Road' prices, more micro-payments. This was all about helping modern consumers find the right mobility solution for them, via an intuitive UI and market-differentiating UX features. A big, brave moonshot.

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Approach

A problem such as this required a number of different perspectives. Taking various sources of data and insight, and applying a common lens that can be taken forward into design and build -- not just of webpages, but of an entire digital ecosystem. Our initial 'data lake' consisted of five key sources: 

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1. Past performance data of preceding 'car locator' tools. 

2. Qualitative study undertaken to understand how real people interactive with current site.

3. Trends and role model analysis to define best in class. 

4. User-Journey analysis based on persona segmentations. 

5. Pre-existing knowledge and insight from Best Customer Experience team.

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Audience Insights

Far from neat bundles, these were disparate and disaggregated sources of data. We had to pull together unifying themes, discrete insights and make sense of what was happening in the real World. It turned out that the main triggers for people buying new cars were significant shifts in their lifestyle -- new homes, emigrating to different parts of the country, starting a family or other such 'big life moments'. Further, user-testing and our analytics data suggested a strong tendency towards a light, visual UX. From this, we designed and validated 11 audience segments, and developed a number of User Personas which characterised the groupings.

 

Concept Principles & Vision

With better market-side insight, we were able to drive forth with product-side 'concept principles', which would become the basis of our features and functionality. These included some straightforward elements such as human storytelling and more intuitive navigation, with other more radical and market-leading concepts such as social proofing, colour search, video-game-esque motion design, and AI-backed curated search tools. Wide-ranging in utility and technical difficulty, we workshopped through the value of various tacts with the senior stakeholders, and devised a 'brave-o-meter' of possible roadmaps for the short and long term.

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Strategic UX

To ensure all these elements fused together in a way that was simple, effective and user-centred, we began framing the experience under 5 key strategic pillars, from Let's get started to Invitation to try, buy or grab a coffee. Each pillar would need to weave into existing digital platforms (eg the core brochureware website), and require an adjustment to human-systems in place, such as the showroom teams and in-dealership sales process. For the UI we adopted Atomic Design, building out from minutia elements into a visual language that was true to Mercedes' core "Sensual Purity" philosophy, but always referring back to how design could help solve real human problems, such as distinguishing between models best suited for a pram, or presenting a finance plan suited to a midlands family earning £35k. 

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Sprint, test & learn

Validation in motion. Each phase of the build, conducted using agile, was designed as a short sprint. This enabled feedback loops with senior stakeholders at various phases of the project, whilst also allowing for technical feasibility and problem solving as the project progresses; for instance, if a search would call for a specific tech capability such as in-car WiFi, the back-end would have to be adapted to enable this API. 

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Outcomes

These are just the first few phases of a much larger, multi-year project. Already the project has gained significant traction within the Mercedes-Benz business, with potential rollout internationally. In the years to come, this platform will be the foundation for a seamless and complete E-Commerce solution. A product fit for its moonshot ambitions.  

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"A number one priority project" 

CEO, Mercedes-Benz UK

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"We wouldn't have done it any other way" 

European Creative Director, Publicis Emil

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"Best in class work" 

Global Experience Director, Publicis Emil