Working as a senior UX designer within the Checkout and Value-Add Products tribe, I have had the opportunity to work on key business initiatives such as the introduction of ancillary products, a new part exchange journey, the introduction of a basket page and a checkout restructure.
The key focus of this work has been optimisation within the purchase journey, with projects focussing not only on increasing conversion, but on improving the purchase and post-purchase journey experience for our customers.
Leading the design direction within the squad, my time at cinch has allowed me to implement process changes and integrate design within the agile development workstream.
I have also been a key contributing member of the Design Community of Practice and Accessibility Guild.
Discovery and conversion rate optimisation
My core objective working within the checkout squad has been to optimise the customer purchase journey.
I have been fortunate at cinch to work with a robust team of data analysts, service designers, user researchers and content designers, allowing for thorough and targeted product discovery and design. Solving complex customer needs has been the core focus.
Qualitative techniques including user testing, surveys, heat-mapping and heuristic UX assessments have driven meaningful insights that have led delivered dozens of successful ABn experiments and optimisations in the checkout.
Notable optimisations include improving the authentication step with additional social logins, improving the post-purchase comms suite, streamlining the delivery process, optimising the personal details capture stage and introducing additional payment methods like bank transfer and split payments.
A key factor in my time at cinch has been to increase understanding of designing with optimisation in mind. Integrating design into agile process and ceremonies within the squad and beyond, I have worked closely with product owners and stakeholders to extend the visibility of how effective design can be fundamental in delivering wider business goals. I have led various internal workshops across the business to share UX techniques and strategies to design through optimisation.
I have also completed a series of third party CRO training courses, expanding my own understanding of experimentation and delivery of iterative design.
The part-exchange journey
Almost half of all purchases at cinch involve the part-exchange of an old vehicle.
Over the course of my time at cinch we have completed numerous optimisations and experiments, increasing part-exchange attachment rates by over 15%.
We have implemented content pages to help with customer understanding, we have heavily optimised entry form content and we have created CRM content to increase customer retention. Working alongside content design, I have led the design of a new part exchange form, that makes customer understanding a priority, while incorporating business needs to maximise vehicle profitability. Using customer comprehension analysis and data analysis, we have created a calculator that significantly more customers are using successfully.
A major undertaking has been the introduction of negative equity and outstanding finance to the part exchange offering. These have been projects spanning multiple tribes and disciplines touching everything from design to compliance and customer services. The biggest challenge throughout has been designing solutions with so many moving parts and changing business requirements - while still achieving a solution that works for customers. By championing design, we have led the business vision for how success in this project should be defined.
A new basket page
A hugely complex project, driven by a customer need to see their full order breakdown before entering the checkout.
I led the design of a new basket step within the purchase journey, managing numerous business needs, stakeholder requirements as well as balancing involved technical constraints.
Using data analysis and qualitative insights, a thorough discovery piece has given way to the creation of a non-traditional ecommerce basket with complex functionality. Before launch we ran various rounds of user testing on both live content and prototypes, ensuring that we had confidence in meeting our customers needs.
Customers can add a part-exchange, see their finance breakdown and see their nearest available delivery date. We have worked in small increments, designing and analysing as we go - ensuring that every step forward is a step in the right direction.
Working iteratively like this has allowed us to add complex functionality in a meaningful way, that has seen an increase in conversion as well as improving secondary metrics such as an increase in finance orders and a reduction in purchase abandonment.
To date, this has been one of cinch's most successful projects (based on key conversion metrics).
A11y and the design community at cinch
A key focus of the design team at cinch has been to improve accessibility across cinch platforms. As a core member of the accessibility guild, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work closely with people from various disciplines to improve a11y standards. This has involved establishing accessibility clinics and knowledge sharing sessions, as well as developing my own understanding of the importance of good accessibility for all customers.
As a team we have established working guidelines and business standards to ensure that the work that we create achieves the best possible experience for users across all walks of life. We now have a shared understanding of language, accessible technology such as screenreaders - as well as best practice in design to development handover. We now even have a shared vision of design file structure and labelling systems - including aria labelling and behavioural markups.
Maintaining a strong design culture has been a crucial aspect to my own time here at cinch. Working remotely comes with challenges, so with other designers, we have created a strong Community of Practice, with regular meetups, knowledge sharing sessions, workshops and ceremonies.