Product Vision & Strategy
Working together with Product and Engineering to establish the team's direction.
Overview
I was Head of UX at Cazoo, collaborating with the Head of Product and Head of Engineering to create a vision and strategy for the Operations Domain
Operations Domain serves our internal colleagues and encompasses logistics, customer services and site operations
Supporting the business goal to improve margin contribution.
Using design and insights to visualise the vision
Operations vision
“Our vision is to transform the car-buying experience by delivering seamless and memorable customer experiences while keeping costs low”
Key challenges within the Operations Domain
At the heart of Operations are our internal colleagues who have to use poor tooling and manual processes to meet the customer promise.
-
Broken, costly processes
Our users rated our tooling 3/10. Returns are increasing and costing the business £1000s
-
Long cycle times
Takes over 7 days to process new cars
-
Underutilised fleet
Optimisation could reduce costs by 30%
-
Reliance on people to scale
People-driven processes and a lot of manual input across the network
We win by using technology to reduce cost and meet demand
-
Enhanced visibility
Real-time insights for proactive decision-making
-
Reduced operational costs
Reduce costs and allocate resources more strategically by minimizing human error
-
Customer Satisfaction
Ensure customer satisfaction through accurate deliveries by identifying and addressing potential issues
-
Scalable Growth
Accommodate business growth without high costs or more staff
-
Data-Driven
Use data to continuously improve processes and stay competitive in the market
Our strategy: consolidate, standardised and provide visibility
-
Consolidate tools, systems and data sources
-
Adopt a standardised user experience
-
Identify cost-cutting opportunities
Visualising the vision: Future of Operations
My team and I created a series of stories to demonstrate how the operations space could work for our users in the future.
Developing principles to guide teams in product development.
In collaboration with the Product Designers, Product Managers and Engineering Managers we:
Had a“How Might We” workshop and sketching session
Mapped common themes
Cross-referenced the themes with research insights
Key Principles
Interconnected
Systems that talk to each other
“We should have one simplified app instead of 4/5 apps, not having to repeat the same thing on 2 apps”
Intelligent
Systems that adapt based on the context
“I’d only expect this route to be planned from Liverpool if no DSs were available at hubs nearby, however, in fact, lots of DSs were available, so the plan isn’t efficient.”
Frictionless
Systems that users can trust to support them
“The camera on the ipad is not sufficient in dim light, and no good after dusk”
Roadmap of key initiatives
Worked with the team leads (Product Designers, Product Managers and Engineering Managers) to create a roadmap of key initiatives and milestones.
We identified the teams that should be involved in each initiative
This allowed us to slice and phase delivery
The first phase was to consolidate dashboards under one platform
Creating a best-in-class experience
A key initiative to help us meet business goals was to create a Target Product Experience (TPE). The aim was to help fix broken and inefficient processes by streamlining workflows across the domain.
Alongside myself, the team included a Principle Designer, Lead Researcher, Senior Product Manager and Architect.
The idea was to create a single curated view for users so that they can focus on the task they need to undertake
Our users workflows fell into 3 main buckets:
Planning and monitoring - usually desk-based
Executing tasks - usually field based
Reporting - uses a laptop and is both desk and field based
Outcome
“Simple to use, I’ve been on it 5 minutes and I know where I’m going ”
Unified multiple operations dashboards under one platform
Teams now have end-to-end ownership of value streams, which are brought together under a unifying framework to enhance impact and avoid bottlenecks. The release of a feature to allow drivers to sell warranty led to a 32% increase in contribution margin
The initiative for reporting exceptions laid the groundwork for centralizing data and reporting the accurate location of inventory. Reducing logistics failures by 76%
The business launched a new Vehicle Preparation system, decommissioning two platforms, saving £1000s in licensing costs and increasing data accuracy and productivity.