Faulkner Automotive
Project Overview
Client: Faulkner Automotive
Product: Auto-Group Portal Websites (2)
https://www.tobesure.com/
https://www.faulknerdirect.com/
Team: Account Executive; Art Director; Supporting Designer; Onboarding Consultant; Software Engineer II
Role: Supporting Designer – Consultation, Build and Coding
Timeline: 8 Months
Steps: Project Intake; Research; User Journeys; Design System; Information Architecture; Mockups; Final Build; Retrospective
Summary of Requirements
Client’s request was to build an online portal to aggregate the used car inventory from all Faulkner stores called “Faulkner Direct”. This would provide an easy online shopping experience for customers to purchase a new vehicle during the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Target Audience was used car shoppers who were interested in a wide range of manufacturers and were starting to seek an online purchase experience. Competitors include Carvana & other third party used care aggregators.
Branding would be called Faulkner Direct; Allow shoppers to browse 1200+ used care inventory online; streamline the buying process to offline pickup/delivery.
Design expectations included a customer-focused, action-oriented portal; very clear funnels of action; clean modern design; online shopping experience; route leads to individual rooftops based on vehicle owner; upfront pricing/no negotiation strategy; Offer other revenue models for selling/trading vehicles & Finance.
Pre-Build
Research | User Journeys | Design System
The client was able to provide us with some initial customer data from the GTM campaigns on many of their child sites, giving us an overall impression of their existing customer base. We compared this with some additional internal research data & external user studies and were able to generate some conceptual user profiles of customers that would likely be interested in making an online vehicle purchase.
Simultaneously we worked with the client to build a design system that would be used for their re-branding. This included some modern aesthetics, consistent site styles, new logo and custom iconography.
Information Architecture & Mockups
Using the data provided by the dealer along with comparative/competitive analysis of other effective dealership websites, and e-commerce best-practices, a site map was generated to fit the need of this client. Working with the client, we went through multiple iterations and each detail of the page was thoughtfully designed to add value to the Faulkner brand.
Final Product
After months of work with an amazing client, and pouring over every design detail, thinking through each page on the website and working with outside vendors to integrate some additional products, the new Faulkner websites were launched.
Retrospective
This project started in the spring of 2020 as a request to launch a single online retailing website for used cars. By the summer the client was so happy with the work to that point, they signed a contract to rebrand their auto-group portal as well. Both sites were launched in the early winter of 2020 and were met with success. In early 2021 we redesigned their group collision website using the same brand standards that were created for the 2 portal sites.
The Faulkner Auto Group has 32 dealership locations as of 2023. Since the initial rebranding they have extended our partnership and we now host 15 of their 17 rooftop websites as well as advertising partnerships, SEO service partnerships and ongoing website maintenance.