Clio
Car rental reimagined.
The Promo
Skip the line, the paperwork, the frustration. Just drive.
Perfecting the car rental experience.
Renting a car is far too often a bumpy road of irritation and unpleasant surprises, like hidden fees and expensive insurance. Clio is the game-changer of the industry that solves the issue digitally. The entire renting process happens through the app, which saves you both time and money. My vision for the app was to combine the simplicity of Uber with seamless, user-centered design.
Defining the user and having a clear product goal.
When you create any human-centered design, knowing the user is key. That’s why the initial research focus on the target group; their needs, interests, and behavior. All in service of making the experience as seamless as possible. For this app, the target group mostly consists of early adopters who are into tech and expect digital solutions to simply work.
The Process
Let’s look at the different phases of the project, from initial idea to finished product.
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Product goal
The main goal of the app is established. What problem will it solve? What will make it stand out?
Research
The user is at the center of the research, every step of the way.
Wireframing
Based on the research, a blueprint of the app is created.
High fidelity
Testing and refining the design and the different flows.
Defining the user and having a clear product goal.
When you create any human-centered design, knowing the user is key. That’s why the initial research focus on the target group; their needs, interests, and behavior. All in service of making the experience as seamless as possible. For this app, the target group mostly consists of early adopters who are into tech and expect digital solutions to simply work.
Jacob King
Marketing Manager
Motivation
- Convenience 93%
- Time 70%
- Flexibility 82%
“When renting a car, I neither has the time nor the patience to wait in line and go through all the paperwork.”
Personality
Jacob King, 37, is married, has two kids, and works as a marketing manager. He uses digital solutions daily to order food, pay his bills, and buy clothes online. He is busy throughout the day with work, driving the kids to practice, and hitting the gym.
Research and Pain points.
Digging into the data revealed some big insights into the rental experience.
Third party Apps
When renting through a third-party app, there are several potential pain points. When there’s a third-party app involved, the booking or the insurance might differ from the rental company’s.
Long lines
One of the most common pain points for customers is long tiring lines to the counter at the rental.
Hidden costs
The final sum of your payment is often far higher than the initial price you see on car rental sites, which makes it hard to budget for your expenses.
Terms and conditions
It can be hard to pinpoint what terms and conditions apply to you. These documents are often long and unclear causing both confusion and irritation.
Trust
The sales representative doesn’t always convey trust, which is key when renting a car. The result is a lack of trust, where the customer feels insecure and reluctant to return.
Convenience
The renting process is often inconvenient as the customer typically spends a lot of time researching alternatives, and has to restart the process once they arrive at the rental counter.
Additional learnings based on the user interviews.
- A pre-paid booking confirmation does not guarantee that your car will be reserved.
- Few customers read and understand the terms and conditions when renting.
- Customers value rental companies that are trustworthy and well-known, especially if their prices are lower.
Product direction.
With all the data and information I had in hand, it was finally time to move some pixels around. I started by designing the most important pages such as the search page and the booking page.
While designing, I thought about the different circumstances that the users would be using the app. Is he stressed, on the bus, with the kids, or chilling at home?
Feedback from first tester based on wireframes.
Throughout the design process, I kept conducting user testing to get feedback and see how users would interact with the product.
Having the sign in just before payment rather than the more usual way was something that many of the users appreciated. After downloading an app most users just want to see what this new app has to offer rather than creating an account without really knowing much about it.
8 Point grid system.
The variety of screen sizes and pixel densities has continued to increase making the work of asset generation more complicated for designers. Utilizing an even number like 8 to size and space elements makes scaling for a wide variety of devices easy and consistent. The majority of popular screen sizes are divisible by 8 which makes for an easy fit.
UI Elements
The world fades, the words shine
Dark mode is more than just a neat trend. It’s a breathing space for the eyes, a moment of rest. The feature both improves visibility and helps users concentrate on the next step. The dark background enhances focal points and guides the user gently through the experience.
More testing.
Final Design
