Mini Website Redesign Project
When Mini, a subsidiary of BMW, approached our agency for a website redesign, it wasn't just another project—it was a privilege. Collaborating closely with Mini, we aimed to significantly refine their digital user experience by diving deep into nuanced UX elements and campaign spaces. Our aspiration was not just to meet industry standards but, if possible, to exceed them. The project was structured around three primary focus areas: 'Finance and Offers', 'Contact Us', and 'Campaign'. Each section underwent meticulous planning and testing to fulfil Mini's brand goals and create a tailored user experience that stands out in the automotive industry.
Finance and Offers
Preliminary Steps:
Competitor Review: Conduct a comparative analysis of competitors across the automotive industry.
Gorilla User Testing: Utilize an unlimited team to perform real-time user tests to gauge existing issues and opportunities.
New User Flow and Workflow Suggestions: Map out potential changes to user flows and overall workflow on this section.
Key Considerations:
Financial Representations: Determine the most user-friendly way to display financial information, ensuring compliance with legal guidelines. Explore options for quick access to offers in the mobile version.
Filter Options: Identify necessary filters for offer selection and determine if a full private view option (e.g., Mini Select, PCH, HP) is required.
Filter Effectiveness: Assess if filters are easily discoverable and whether they deliver on user expectations.
Contact us
Preliminary Steps:
Competitor Review: Examine best practices among competitors for customer service and support.
Infinity Call Tracking: Implement call tracking software to quantify the efficacy of phone-based customer interactions.
Review FAQ Work: Evaluate existing FAQs for relevance and clarity.
New User Flow and Workflow Suggestions: Reimagine user pathways and interaction points for improved usability.
Key Considerations:
FAQ Integration: Strategize on integrating FAQs without compromising the visibility of contact information.
Map & Business Hours: Debate the ideal positioning for the map and opening hours on the webpage.
Human-Centric Design: Ensure the quote section remains central to the overall experience, reflecting customer interaction's 'human' aspect.
Campaign
Preliminary Steps:
Competitor Review: Assess how other brands manage campaign-related content and promotions.
Gorilla User Testing: Conduct tests to pinpoint customer pain points and opportunities within the campaign section.
New User Flow and Workflow Suggestions: Draft improved user flows to enhance customer engagement and conversions.
Key Considerations:
Promotion Placement: Decide on the optimal locations for campaign-specific promotions within this section.
Brand Building: Identify opportunities within the customer area to fortify brand engagement.
New Customer Onboarding: Exercise caution when introducing new customers to model pages, especially with regard to financial information.
By meticulously attending to these areas, we ensured a balanced and engaging user experience that met Mini's high standards and elevated the brand's online presence.
Competitive Analysis Findings for Mini: A UX Review
Overview
In redesigning Mini's website, a competitive analysis was instrumental in identifying industry norms and opportunities for innovation. The following insights, derived from observing competitors in the automotive industry, focus on key areas: Financial Representation, Contact Us, Filters, and Campaign Experience.
Financial Representation
Key Observations:
Priority on Financial Info: Many competitors do not prioritise financial representation on their new offers page, especially if a finance calculator is present.
Recommendations:
User-Centric Approach: Consider enabling users to explore a finance calculator to gauge what they can afford. This allows them to get interested in a particular car before presenting them with financial details, rather than risk turning them off with generic financial information upfront.
Contact Us
Key Observations:
Lack of FAQs: Surprisingly, none of the competitors include FAQs in their Contact Us section, possibly due to the need for regular updates.
Recommendations:
Ease of Access: If a contact number is easily accessible, it could render an FAQ section somewhat redundant.
Separate Yet Findable: Good UX design would separate FAQs from the Contact Us section to make both easily navigable—akin to the approach taken by Disney and Headspace—unless the objective is to minimize customer calls.
Filters
Key Observations:
Business Contract Hire: In Mini’s current design, business contract hire options are tucked away within filters, unlike competitors who separate personal and business offers.
Lack of Filters: Most competitors don't offer filtering options on their sites.
Recommendations:
Clarity in Business vs Personal: Consider segregating personal and business offers upfront to facilitate user navigation.
Enhanced Filtering: Adding additional filters could significantly improve user experience. Potential filters include:
Engine size
Specification packs
Colour
Gearbox
Mileage
Campaign Experience
Key Observations:
Image Quality: In the mobile version, images do not display correctly, and on a 27-inch desktop monitor, the main campaign image appears blurry and unprofessional.
Inconsistent Layout: On the mobile version, the layout of the title and body text alternates in sequence below images, conflicting with the desktop version.
Recommendations:
Improve Image Quality: Ensure all images are optimized for both mobile and desktop experiences.
Layout Consistency: Maintain uniformity between mobile and desktop versions to offer a seamless cross-platform experience.
