NRMA
When ordering a new car battery through NRMA, customers had to call up and place an order for a van to come out. This was a lengthy and cumbersome experience that resulted in disgruntled customers (hanging up), lost revenue (in lower battery sales) and competitors taking those sales.
The goal was to provide an easier, streamlined way for customers to order a battery and complete the order journey from start to finish with ease.
We wanted to design a 'mobile first', online booking portal, that allowed customers to enter in the appropriate details (from contact details, to car make/rego details - to selecting a battery type and a date for instalment) when booking/ordering a new battery. We also wanted to give customers the control over managing their appointments and making adjustments if needed (as previously they would have to call back up to make a change).
We began the project by interviewing customers around their experience when it came to ordering a new car battery. We heard things like "I had to wait on the phone for 30mins", "It takes too much time" and "I have better things to do in my day". These were all very concerning given cars need batteries to run, and we were stopping our customers from going about their day due to a lengthy ordering experience.
We created user personas, and synthesised those common themes we were hearing from these interviews. We validated our assumption that being able to undertake and complete the battery ordering journey online from your mobile, would be a far better, and less invasive experience to our customers.
After creating some lo-fi wireframes, we were able to undertake some usability testing with these as as prototypes. The feedback was almost instantaneous that users enjoyed/were more comfortable with an online experience, rather than over the phone - for the many reasons already listed.
Working alongside the UX manager, I helped design components and UI elements that would be needed to create the online experience - making sure they tackled a mobile view first, with desktop following, and also ensuring that brand consistency was being adhered to.
We also made sure to point out visual markers of how long the journey would take, by giving "Step/Progress" signals throughout. This helped remove frustration by creating a transparent, and guided experience.
During our usability test sessions, it was pointed out that our current iteration still had too many pages/steps to complete for what seemed (to the user) a simple journey. This was partly due to wanting to make the experience 'look good' rather than 'feel good'.
We streamlined the designs, chose function over form, and ensured an efficient use of space to create a 3 to 4 step form that was concise, clear and smooth.
We released and MVP version of the 'Online Battery Booking Portal' that allowed customers to effortlessly order a new battery and manage an appointment booking time, from their mobile or desktop. We saw an uplift in battery sales by 22%, with that increase solely coming from the online booking form submissions.
This further cemented that the new approach was indeed successful and solved a pain point our customers were facing. It green lit the project for further iterations, proving that it was worth future investment.
